According to a series of tweets released by AEW Owner and President Tony Khan, the anti-AEW sentiment online is not real. In fact, Khan states that an independent study is proving that the accounts who are behind the bashing of AEW recently and those same accounts who are trying to get fans to join the anti-AEW brigade is nothing more than a group of employees being paid to run multiple accounts and that bots are being used to boost their reach.
Khan posted a number of tweets on Friday morning and stated: “An independent study has confirmed that much of the staunch anti-AEW online community aren’t real individuals, it’s a staff running thousands of accounts + an army of bots to signal boost them. Look closely, these aren’t real people. Who’d pay for such a *wildly* expensive thing?" The responses were immediate, many of them having to do with Ryback, but the point was not lost on a number of his followers. He added, "Ever wonder why so much of the activity of these accounts is retweets and replies? Like who actually has 80% of their activity as straight-up retweets? "
Khan is suggesting that Twitter accounts are being created in an attempt to run down AEW and many of them are getting around Twitter's auto-bot filters. Khan urged fans to look into it to prove his theory. He wrote, “Research this one yourselves. You internet detectives thrive in these situations." He then promoted what was happening on AEW Rampage tonight.
Khan also joked, “Their boiler room staff is going to be working overtime on a Friday, and I love it!”. It was a tweet many took to suggest Khan was suggesting his competition might be behind the attempt to shine a negative light on AEW.
Where Is This "Independent Study" Khan Is Talking About?
While there is a lot of talk about bots and how fake news travels much faster than real news on social media platforms like Twitter, it is interesting that Khan didn't actually link the study he was referring to and asked fans to do the digging. Some called him out on it, while others suggested it's clearly something that happens. Many are suggesting Khan is either trying to make a joke that isn't all the funny or he's handling negative criticism about his product poorly. Others believe pro-WWE fans have had it out for AEW since day one.