Tony Khan has finally addressed his 2024 meeting with Shane McMahon in detail, revealing that the encounter was pleasant but ultimately led nowhere — and that McMahon showed little interest in becoming an on-screen character in AEW. Speaking on The Coach and Bro Show, Khan walked through the full story of how the meeting came together and why a photo from it generated so much speculation.
“Shane reached out to me and said, ‘I’d love to get together.’ I was going to be in Dallas, so we met at the airport and talked for a few hours. I thought it was really strange that a photo came out from it. It could just be somebody who worked at the airport — I had nothing to do with it,” Khan said. He also noted the asymmetry in their reactions to being photographed. “You can see in the photo I’m very surprised. I noticed he wasn’t as surprised.”
Tony Khan Says Shane McMahon Wasn’t Interested in Being a Character on His Show
Khan was candid about what the meeting ultimately amounted to on the professional side. “I don’t think the role of being an on-screen person in a wrestling show seemed like the thing he was particularly interested in. I don’t think he went into it thinking, ‘I want to be a character on this guy’s show.'” Previous reports had indicated McMahon expressed a desire to take on a leadership role and potentially “run things” in AEW, but concerns about his familiarity with the company’s product and business structure ultimately prevented anything from developing. Khan described the conversation as genuinely enjoyable while making clear it was a one-time chat rather than the beginning of a professional relationship.
