Update on Shane McMahon Reaching Out to AEW Talent to Potentially Join AEW – Tony Khan Says He’s Never Met or Talked to McMahon

As noted before, a recent episode of the Grilling JR podcast featured co-host and notable wrestling podcaster Conrad Thompson stating that he had recently heard Shane McMahon had reached out to AEW talents about the idea of him potentially joining AEW in the future.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that several high-level AEW and WWE officials spoken to stated that they had never heard anything close to it while others spoken to stated that they were being asked all day about it but heard nothing but what Thompson had said about McMahon. Those spoken to within AEW who would be the type to have knowledge about this type of situation reportedly stated that they have either heard nothing or only heard what Thompson had stated but have no independently confirmed it.

Meltzer speculated that while it could be possible that McMahon would be interested in working in AEW as a performer more than in management, he speculated that he would be more likely to want to leverage AEW to get a deal from WWE President Nick Khan instead.

When reached for comments, AEW CEO Tony Khan stated “I’ve never met him or talked to him in my life.”

In regards to the potential origin of the rumor, one person spoken to reportedly stated that there was a conversation between McMahon and an ex-WWE talent in AEW that was described to not have been as a pitch to get in to AEW or anything similar but instead just two people chatting. McMahon reportedly was stated to have said something to the effect of “can you imagine if I walked out there on Dynamite?” and not in a way as if he was actually pitching anything. This same person reportedly stated that McMahon’s comments was not serious. Meltzer reported that this would help explain why key people within AEW were not aware about this until after Thompson made his comments.