Tony Khan finally reveals all about meeting Shane McMahon: "As I understand, he's not doing anything with WWE"
Tony Khan has finally opened up on his meeting with Shane McMahon. The AEW boss recently met with the longtime WWE star and son of Vince McMahon, adding to speculation on a potential appearance for the young promotion. Khan is now revealing details of the meeting.
The sons of billionaires had a "private meeting" at a Texas airport in late July and reportedly talked about potentially moving forward together. The meeting was revealed when a "leaked" photo of Khan and McMahon hit social media, and the reactions were both positive and negative. People within WWE were not surprised to hear of Shane taking the meeting because he's "as smart as they come."
Khan gave lengthy remarks on his meeting with McMahon today on ESPN's Sedano & Kap Show. The 41-year-old said Shane is not working with WWE right now, recalling how good their meeting was. He also said they have several mutual friends, which is how the meeting happened:
"Well, as I understand, he's not doing anything with WWE, and I had a really nice visit with him. I heard from a lot of people that he was interested in talking, and it had become a big media story to the point where I was getting asked on-the-record questions about it. I answered them, just like I'll answer you now. In advance of 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," Tony Khan said. [From 5:22 to 6:10]
Tony Khan said Shane McMahon was fantastic and a great guy, and he really enjoyed their talk. He noted how smart Shane is when it comes to wrestling, and said they have a lot of mutual friends, but both just happened to be in Dallas.
"A mutual friend, who is one of the bigger wrestling names, linked us up and put us on a group chat. We had a really nice talk, I really enjoyed visiting with him. Clearly, there was a lot of interest in it. Somebody, while talking at an airport conference room, just busted in, I guess, and took a photo. [laughs] I think that's fine, and I enjoyed the conversation. There's nothing wrong with a couple people getting together to talk wrestling. That's part of what makes wrestling so great. There's a lot to talk about, we're all fans at heart," Tony Khan said. [From 6:50 to 7:27]
Tony Khan may have slipped up in agreeing that Shane McMahon coming to AEW is "a big thing," and the whole situation is exciting. He said he does not know what's to come, but AEW is exciting right now with so many cool things happening.
Shane McMahon's statement on Tony Khan meeting
Shane McMahon issued a statement to Bully Ray last week, to address his "private meeting" with AEW President Tony Khan.
Bully noted on Busted Open After Dark that he had a phone call with Shane. The 2018 WWE World Cup winner issued the following statement:
"Tony and I were connected through a mutual friend and we had a great meeting. We talked about many things, but mostly about our shared love for the business and the rewards and challenges of working with family. I congratulated him on the five year anniversary of AEW and look forward to how he evolves the business moving forward."
Bully added that McMahon holds his cards tight, and likes to keep things close to the vest.