Shane McMahon and Tony Khan met, but no deal was reached.
Fightful and Wrestletalk reported in the Summer of 2024 that Shane McMahon and Tony Khan met in Texas. Since then, we've heard of no follow up or plan to work together.
On February 20, former WWE broadcaster Jonathan Coachman on the Coach and Bro Show said he had details about the meeting:
Andrew Baydala appropriately summarized it on X, saying "Today on the Coach & Bro show- @Thecoachrules stated that Shane McMahon, during the meeting that he asked for with Tony Khan, Shane asked for equity in the company(#AEW), & Shane wanted to come in and run the entire show. Jonathan Coachman then stated Tony Khan "ghosted" McMahon."
We can't verify the request for equity. However, we've heard a lot more about the meeting between the two sides.
According to a source close to Shane McMahon, Khan did not follow up with Shane. That source also claimed that they couldn't speak on the desire for equity, but that is seemed like Shane McMahon did want to "run things" but didn't have the product knowledge or familiarity with AEW or their business model. That source close to McMahon also said that Shane didn't seem to take it personally that Khan didn't follow up after that, and that it seemed like Khan almost thought Shane was joking when he mentioned the possibility of running everything.
The source indicated that he believed that Shane viewed his insight and abilities to run a show as valuable after witnessing years of fans and people in the industry wanting anyone but Vince in that role.
There was never an expanded plan for Shane McMahon to appear on AEW TV, or be involved in the company. Those that we've spoken to within AEW say that Tony Khan hadn't spoken about it extensively outside of noting that the two sides simply met and aren't working together.
The source close to McMahon that we spoke with claimed that they wouldn't rule out a cameo appearance, but didn't think they would extensively do business together at this stage.
This article first appeared on our premium service, Fightful Select and was republished here on Fightful for SEO reasons. If you complain about it being "old news," you have to fight everyone that is mean to SRS. Subscribe to get exclusive news every day, and a half-dozen weekly podcasts.
To directly support us and our continuing breaking news, interviews, and the like, subscribe to FightfulSelect.com. You'll get exclusive news sent to you directly before anyone else, and dozens of podcasts monthly including Alex Pawlowski's Sour Graps, Sean Ross Sapp's Q&A, Retro Reviews and more
