Ever since AEW was launched in 2019, Tony Khan has been adamant that his promotion is competition with WWE even though the numbers in terms of viewership and live attendance dictate otherwise. Over the years, Khan has spared no expense to beat the competition including signing former Stamford-based company's talents.
Former WWE Superstars Mercedes Mone (Sasha Banks), Chris Jericho, Jon Moxley (Dean Ambrose), Christian Cage, Adam Copeland (Edge), and many others have all jumped ship and are currently performing in Jacksonville-based promotion. However, it now looks like All Elite Wrestling is looking to hire someone very close to the heart of its rival company - Shane McMahon.
Rumors of Shane McMahon becoming All Elite have been surfacing for the last few weeks. Recently a leaked photo of a private meeting between Shane McMahon and Tony Khan surfaced online, creating a buzz in the wrestling world. The meeting was reportedly held at an airport in Arlington on July 29th.
Given Shane's experience in WWE, he would make a fine addition to the AEW roster. But what role would he play in the promotion and when could he likely make his debut? It was reported that Shane-O-Mac's contract with the global juggernaut ended in June and he is not under a no-compete clause, so he could show up as early as this week's Dynamite. But it would be more apt for the promotion to save a debut of this magnitude for its biggest pay-per-view of the year - All In.
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And a debut like this can't just take place randomly. The WWE legend should be brought into a storyline immediately and the perfect to do this is by having him align with Bryan Danielson after helping him win the AEW World Championship from Swerve Strickland.
Why Danielson? Well, both Shane and Danielson teamed together at WrestleMania 34 against Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens. Moreover, both of them have a history together as they were in charge of SmackDown Live for a couple of years. This could be the perfect way for them to resume their partnership. With Jon Moxley reportedly stepping away for a bit, McMahon could even join the Blackpool Combat Club and play the role that William Regal was supposed to play.
AEW star Mercedes Mone claimed to have taken the leaked picture of Shane McMahon and Tony Khan
The leaked photo of Shane McMahon and Tony Khan confirmed that a meeting took place and it sent shockwaves through the industry. The picture was taken by someone else who was not in the frame leaving many to question who else was in the meeting.
Mercedes Mone took to social media to claim that she was the one who took the leaked picture of Shane McMahon and Tony Khan hinting that she was part of the meeting.
"Lol, I took that pic," Mercedes wrote.
Check out her tweet here:
Mone will also be present at All In pay-per-view in London. The CEO is set to defend her TBS Title against Brit Baker. It will be interesting to see whether Shane McMahon's arrival in AEW will help boost the ratings and viewership of the company.