Shane McMahon Met With Tony Khan About A Role In AEW

The McMahon Family has been connected to professional wrestling for nearly a century. Dating back to Vince McMahon, Sr., and his WWWF promotion, the family has helped change the pro-wrestling landscape. While Vince McMahon, Jr. would change the world by essentially killing off the territory system, his children would also serve a major role. Stephanie McMahon would end up serving in numerous roles throughout her time in WWE, including the Chairwoman and Co-CEO for a short time. Yet the person most felt would take over WWE one day was Shane McMahon.

Shane went to college and earned a business degree. He then served the company in several positions, including a role as Brand Officer. During that time, he helped WWE expand its television deals into more countries and secured some pretty impressive television rights deals. However, after a falling out with his father, Vince, Shane left the company. Shane was ahead of the game in many ways and seemed to know where many good business moves could be made.

In fact, it was Shane who once suggested to Vince that WWE buy the UFC. Not only could WWE afford to do so, but Shane was in advanced talks about it before Vince killed the deal. They also disagreed creatively, and Shane constantly felt he was in an uphill battle. We even found out recently that Shane was aware of some of Vince’s “negative activity” and tried to end it. However, when he was unsuccessful, he washed his hands of WWE and left.

THE SHANE McMAHON MOVE

Shane McMahon eventually returned to WWE. While he came back mostly in a wrestling and television personality position, he eventually became an executive again. It was not at the level he once had in the company, but it was a pretty useful gig. He even had a bit of backstage power, which was notable. Of course, he was used less and less for one reason or another. A move he made at the Royal Rumble PLE a few years ago led to Vince essentially firing him. However, Shane still returned anyway.

When the big Vince McMahon scandal happened, Stephanie was immediately thrust into a major role with WWE. The idea was that Shane would likely be invited to be part of the action. However, Vince slowly killed off an internal investigation against him and forced his way back in as the Chairman of the Board and sole CEO.

Shane and Stephanie were supposed to eventually inherit or buy WWE. However, Vince sold it off for billions of dollars even as WWE was seeing record numbers. To most, it was done as a last-ditch move for Vince to get paid big money for the company, knowing that he would likely be battling potentially prison time over the Janel Grant scandal. Stephanie, for her part, did not stick around and left WWE altogether once Vince forced his way back in. Shane was also out for a while.

Now that WWE is no longer in the hands of a “McMahon” for the first time in over half a century, it makes sense that Shane would consider other options. Especially as he knows there is no chance of getting into a major role at the TKO Group.

SHANE TO AEW?

This led to Bryan Danielson being put in charge of the locker room to act as the judge. Whatever he suggests, Tony goes with.

Shane McMahon has proven he can handle himself in a boardroom and can take tremendous punishment. He is afraid of no one and has earned the respect of his peers as a result. Unlike his father, he does not come at anyone in a rage, resulting in idiotic decisions. He’s relatively calm and handles his business in that fashion. The on-air character of Shane has been similar over the years. However, most of the McMahons are like the people we see them as on television (outside of the obvious character arcs).

THE MEETING:

While the rumors of Shane McMahon and Tony Khan meeting were out there, the two hadn’t met up. However, Fightful reports that the two met on July 29th in what was supposed to be a private meeting. The two met up at a private airport somewhere in Arlington, Texas. While the meeting was supposed to be private, an image of the two together was taken and eventually leaked to the internet. In the image, Tony seems to know the photo was being taken, while Shane does not appear thrilled about it.

WrestleVotes has since reported that there has been a lot of talk backstage in WWE over this. They reported that most were unsurprised by it, which might seem odd to fans. They elaborated, writing:

“Asked a longtime WWE employee friendly with Shane for thoughts on the Tony Khan picture. The response: ‘Shane’s as smart as they come; taking a preliminary meeting doesn’t surprise anyone here.'”

Of course, as they referenced, this seems like a preliminary meeting. This means that Shane and Tony are only discussing a “possible opportunity.” Most feel that Shane might want to wrestle again at some point. However, he’s aware that he’s not getting any younger. As a result, if he had a meeting with Khan, they would likely be talking about some type of role on the business side. Of course, Shane McMahon would most certainly have an on-air role due to his name power. It just won’t be his main role.

Tony has reportedly wanted to work with Shane and has repeatedly praised him for his business skills and wrestling. His respect for Shane might mean he’ll be capable of bringing him in. We’ll have to wait and see, however.