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A new report claims Vince McMahon’s son Shane McMahon had a private meeting with AEW CEO Tony Khan to discuss “possibilities moving forward.”
Shane, who has had on-and-off responsibilities for his dad’s WWE over the past three-plus decades, reportedly took the meeting with Khan in an office at a private Arlington airport on Monday, July 29, 2024, according to Fightful Select.
Sources confirmed that the meeting did, in fact, take place and an image shared by WrestleTalk also appears to validate the report.
Khan is said to have been “very open” to “using” Shane McMahon for several weeks now, and has also made it clear that he was open to the idea of talking to McMahon when people have brought the topic up to him backstage. Those that Fightful spoke to on Tuesday had not been briefed on a meeting.
Shane McMahon last appeared publicly for WWE at WrestleMania 39 in April 2023 when he tore his quad in a match against The Miz.
He is also reportedly under no kind of contract with WWE, so is free to work with AEW should he choose to do so.
Shane’s father Vince McMahon sold WWE in September of 2023 to Endeavor Group Holdings, the company that owns the UFC.
Vince has since sold a majority of his stock in the company in the wake of numerous sexual abuse and sex trafficking accusations that were made against him in a lawsuit by a former WWE employee.
Shane McMahon previously served as a referee, producer, announcer, wrestler, and Executive Vice President of Global Media for WWE in the years between 1998 and 2023.
In 2001, he was involved in a storyline angle in which he purportedly bought WWE rival WCW out from under his father and began a feud with him and WWE.
From July 2002 to March 2003, Shane would not appear on WWE television.
He would later take another hiatus from WWE between 2009 to 2016, when he left the company to pursue business ventures outside of WWE. While away he would found a financial technology company called China Broadband Inc., became the CEO of You On Demand, and joined the Board of Directors for International Sports Management.
A 2022 report claimed that Shane McMahon left the company because “he realized that his father Vince, saw his sister Stephanie and her husband Triple H as the heirs to the throne” and “was tired of his father Vince, overlooking his ideas.”
Should he decide to now join forces with Tony Khan and AEW he would certainly be free of any influence from his father, sister or brother-in-law. Then again, he could also be discussing some sort of merger and/or business deal that sees the two companies working together now that WWE is out from under Vince McMahon’s rule.
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.’
— WrestleVotes (@WrestleVotes) July 31, 2024