Last summer, much was said about Shane McMahon's meeting with AEW President Tony Khan. It was pretty obvious the photo didn't "leak" by accident and, for a time, it looked like the son of former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon might soon be dubbed "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 later hinted at there being more to it.
"Well, as I understand, he’s not doing anything with WWE, and I had a really nice visit with him," the AEW President said. "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 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 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.
Nothing ever seemed to come of it, though former WWE broadcaster Jonathan Coachman is claiming that Shane was looking for a piece of the company, leading to Khan ghosting the eldest McMahon child.
"I have it on good authority that Shane McMahon asked for the world," Coachman said on his podcast. "He asked for equity in the company and he asked to come in and run the entire show. It was probably the first time that I said to myself I actually agree with Tony Khan ghosting him, because Tony ghosted Shane, it wasn't the other way around."
"And the fact that Shane was at the Super Bowl with his dad, it's like he can't figure out what he wants to do," he added, suggesting Shane might be planning to play a role in his father's recently launched (and rather mysterious) entertainment company.
Fightful Select has since chimed in to reveal that a source told them Shane was interested in running AEW, despite having relatively little knowledge about the product. However, despite Coachman's claim that Khan ghosted him, it sounds like Shane wasn't too bothered when the billionaire failed to get back to him to further discuss his offer.
It also sounds like there was never a firm plan for Shane to appear on AEW television and, as per usual, the whole thing (on Tony's part, at least) was meant to increase interest in the company, hotshot booking-style.
Stephanie McMahon has recently started making regular appearances on WWE programming again, so time will tell whether Shane joins her or perhaps chooses to work with Khan or their father instead.