Tony Khan: WWE is ‘like the Harvey Weinstein of pro wrestling’

During a Friday appearance on the NFL Network, Tony Khan took a shot at WWE by calling it “the Harvey Weinstein of pro wrestling.”

Khan has received media attention after appearing in a neck brace during the first round of the NFL Draft. He was selling the effects of an attack that took place on AEW Dynamite this Wednesday. The main event angle of the episode saw Khan laid out by a punch from Jack Perry and a spike Tombstone piledriver from The Young Bucks.

The opening round of the NFL Draft then took place one night later. Khan, whose family owns the Jacksonville Jaguars, was in the team’s war room wearing his neck brace. 

Khan kept kayfabe while discussing the “injury” on the NFL Network. He also spoke about AEW’s competition with “really evil juggernaut” WWE: 

AEW, we’ve been doing this for five years. We are the most successful sports start-up since the AFL (American Football League), pre-merger [with the NFL]. There has not been a challenger brand that has gained as much market share as AEW in many, many, many years. We are like the Pepsi of pro wrestling, and we’re up against a really evil juggernaut. WWE is our competitor, that’s who we’re facing. AEW [is] like the Pepsi of pro wrestling, WWE’s like the Harvey Weinstein of pro wrestling. And I’m really proud of what we do down here.

The comparison to disgraced Hollywood producer and accused sexual predator Harvey Weinstein comes amid the sexual abuse allegations Vince McMahon is facing in the lawsuit that former WWE employee Janel Grant filed earlier this year. McMahon, WWE, and John Laurinaitis are listed as defendants in the suit.

McMahon resigned from WWE and its parent company TKO Group Holdings after Grant’s lawsuit was filed. Earlier this week, he responded to Grant’s allegations in a court filing.