Further details emerge on Tony Khan/Shane McMahon meeting about AEW
The Shane McMahon/Tony Khan/AEW story came back to life Thursday following some comments made from a former WWE broadcaster on a podcast.
Jonathan Coachman claimed on his The Coach & Bro podcast that during the much-discussed meeting McMahon and Khan had last summer, McMahon asked for both equity in AEW and to “run the entire show.” He also said Khan never followed up or communicated with McMahon after the meeting, using the term “ghosted.”
Fightful Select then reported that according to sources close to McMahon, Khan indeed failed to follow up and while the equity claim couldn’t be verified, the claim of wanting to run AEW appeared to be accurate. However, he didn’t have the knowledge of AEW or their business to realistically be able to do so.
The source indicated McMahon didn’t take the lack of follow-up personally and felt that Khan thought he was joking when bringing up running AEW. That same source said McMahon saw “his insight and abilities to run a show as valuable after witnessing years of fans and people in the industry wanting anyone but Vince (McMahon) in that role.”
The two met in a private room in an Arlington, Texas, airport which led to a photo getting out. McMahon released a statement to Bully Ray, saying they had a “great meeting” that focused on their love of wrestling and “rewards and challenges” of working with family. Khan echoed similar sentiments and the news prompted Bryan Danielson, Jim Ross and Mercedes Mone to comment about the possibility with the Young Bucks even posting a picture with McMahon following their own chance airport meeting.
At this point, McMahon and AEW appears to be a dead deal if it ever was a live one to begin with.
Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He's a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.