Ariel Helwani Recalls Using Myspace To Land First Interview With Kurt Angle

In a recent conversation with Denise Salcedo, Ariel Helwani discussed how he got into his current role. It was quite the lengthy journey, and it all started with a few random interviews from an iconic social media platform.

“I would literally go on Myspace and I would write to fighters and personalities,” Helwani said. “I’d be over the moon when Georges St.-Pierre and Tito Ortiz would write me back. The first interview that I ever got on that site… Kurt Angle was my first guest. You can see it, it’s still there from October 2007.” 

Helwani then discussed his strategy of not having anyone for too long that way there’s always a reason for them to come back. Having interviewed the top names across the industry, it’s crazy to think of how things started via a phone called that stemmed from messages on Myspace.

While Helwani is most known in the combat sports industry, he’s become more of a household name due to his recent pro wrestling interviews. Helwani’s beef with Tony Khan was well documented, but the two have since come together for an interview.