After making all sorts of headlines for having a meeting with Tony Khan in the lead-up to the final AEW Dynamite of July, Shane McMahon released a statement to Bully Ray on Busted Open Radio on the situation to hopefully clear things up regarding his relationship with the promotion.
*spoiler alert* Shane-O-Mac said nothing to quiet the chorus of fans who want to see him get back into the ring.
“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,” McMahon told Ray via Cageside Seats. “I congratulated him on the five-year anniversary of AEW and look forward to how he evolves the business moving forward.”
See what I mean? If McMahon really wanted to close the door on joining AEW, he easily could have but instead he put over TK and everything he's done for the business. Very interesting stuff.
Would bringing in a McMahon to run a faction, cut promos, and ultimately draw in new eyes to the promotion help to “evolve the business” moving forward? Um yeah, considering how much Shane's father is in the news for all of the wrong reasons, bringing the McMahon family back into the wrestling business as a positive, non-problematic manager for one performer or another has the potential to really make wrestling fans see AEW in a different light, as if it's good enough for the son of McMahon, a performer fans have seen do insane spots and cut crazy promos, maybe watching Dynamite, Rampage, or Collision is worth their time too.
Jim Ross would love to see Shane McMahon in AEW
Of all the people in the professional wrestling ranks, few have as much authority to speak on what Shane McMahon brings to the table as Jim Ross, the current special event announcer for AEW who spent much of his professional life working alongside Mr. McMahon's son.
Discussing the prospects of a McMahon becoming #AllElite on his Grilling JR podcast, Ross fully endorsed the idea, noting that he believes that a pairing between the two sides could be mutually beneficial for all parties involved.
“If Shane could help us, help AEW, then Tony would hire him, and Shane would accept the offer. I had never seen that picture [of Khan and McMahon meeting]. That’s surprising. That’s pretty cool, actually. Shane, he could add a lot. He could do some physical things, within reason. He has great name identity. People who know he is. You don’t have to stop and explain, ‘This is Vince McMahon’s son.' That goes without saying. But if Tony’s an entrepreneur, and if he thought that Shane could help us in AEW, and if Shane thought he could have some fun, make a couple of paydays, I’m sure Shane is not in need of a significant cash influx, but he wants to have fun and contribute,” JR explained via Fightful.
“Look, the wrestling business is in Shane’s blood. Where else does he go if he wants to stay in that vocation? I’m a Shane McMahon fan. I like him. I’ve known him since he was in high school. He’s full of p*ss and vinegar, always, to the point of being almost humorous at times, but he’s smart. Again, the audience, our target audience, knows who the h*ll he is. He’s got a good reputation. If he does come there to work for Tony and AEW… where else does he go if he wants to stay in the pro wrestling business? I think he could help us in a lot of ways, strategically, as a TV character, obviously the main thing. So we’ll just have to wait and see how that works out. I don’t have any outstanding hope or any inside info that he’s the guy, but he might be a new addition at some point in time. If so, between both their creative abilities, he would be entertaining.”
Now granted, McMahon isn't some can't-miss signing like, say, Will Ospreay, who was going to succeed in AEW whether he was a heel, a face, a singles star, or as part of a faction, he really does need the “right” storyline to become a major player long-term once the initial excitement of his addition wears off. Still, with proverbial money to spend and pre-existing relationships with multiple stars inside the promotion and out of it, there's little reason to believe the two sides couldn't come up with something that makes everyone happy.
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