Much has been said about Shane McMahon's recent meeting with AEW President Tony Khan. It's pretty obvious that photo didn't "leak" by accident and, at this point, it's beginning to feel like the son of WWE Chairman Vince McMahon could soon be named "All Elite."
Shane and Tony met at a private Arlington airport and, while the former has said it was a "great meeting" which saw them talk "mostly about our shared love for the business and the rewards and challenges of working with family," Khan has now broken his silence.
"Well, as I understand, he’s not doing anything with WWE, and I had a really nice visit with him," the executive said on the Sedano & Kap Show. "I heard from a lot of people that he was interested in talking, and it had become, frankly, a big media story to the point where I was getting asked on the record questions about it, and I answered them just like I’ll answer you now."
"In advance of, I had never met him and my first conversation with him, there was a lot of buzz about this. I thought it would certainly be worth talking and I have a lot of respect for him. I had never met him, but he seemed like a really nice guy. I sat down with him. He was fantastic. I really enjoyed talking with him. He is a very smart person about wrestling and I thought he was a great guy."
" I was down there in Dallas and he was in Dallas. We have a lot of mutual friends and we both happened to be in Dallas," Khan continued. "A mutual friend linked us up, who is one of the bigger names in pro wrestling, and that friend put us on a group chat. I had a really nice talk, and I really enjoyed visiting with him. Clearly, there was a lot of interest in it. Somebody, in the middle of talking at an airport conference room, somebody just busted in and took a photo. I think that’s fine."
"I enjoyed the conversation, and there is nothing wrong with a couple of people getting together and talking about wrestling. That’s part of what makes wrestling so great. There is a lot to talk about, and we’re all fans at heart. It’s a big thing. It’s exciting. It was nice to talk to him. I don’t know what’s to come, but it’s an exciting time in AEW," he concluded.
As we said above, there's no way the photo was taken by some random passerby and, if nothing else, Khan is using this as an opportunity to drum up interest in AEW.
A McMahon appearing - and potentially competing - for a rival promotion would be a huge deal but will WWE splash the cash to bring Shane back into the fold? It seems doubtful following reports about the last time he worked behind the scenes and, seeing as he blew out both quads when he last competed, they may see little value in him.
Stay tuned for updates as we have them.