Shane McMahon’s potential move to AEW has sparked speculation among fans. It all began when Jim Ross discussed the topic on his Grilling JR podcast during a Q&A session, stating that McMahon in the promotion would be so insane that it might just work.
Ross’ co-host, Conrad Thompson, stated on the most recent podcast that he heard from a friend who told him that it is not as unlikely as people think, as Shane has reached out for hypothetical interest.
Conrad stated, “Last week, we got a lot of chatter online about some of the things we talked about. One conversation in particular really stuck out, and people were talking about it. It was about the idea of Shane McMahon possibly working with WWE. If you recall, you said, ‘It’s so crazy to think it might work depending on how it was positioned or introduced. Shane called me the other day. He’s called two or three times, which I appreciate. He’s always been sensitive in that respect. That’s only a question that Shane can answer. Shane and Tony being together, how would that work creatively? Heck, who knows, it might be great.’ I saw a few fans, one in particular, who thought this was the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard. One guy in particular said, ‘JR is f**king senile now.’ I took issue with that. I engaged a little with that. There was a friend of ours, I shouldn’t say their name, but he went out of his way to text me and say, ‘Hey, that’s not as crazy as you think. I know for sure that Shane McMahon has reached out to wrestlers on the AEW roster to at least hypothetically discuss the idea.’ Are we saying that’s going to happen? No, but we are saying it’s not that crazy of an idea. It could happen.”
In the most recent edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reported that from the AEW side, people who should know have either heard nothing or only Thompson’s statements.
AEW President Tony Khan did make a comment, saying, “I’ve never met him or talked to him in my life..”
Meltzer stated, “One person noted to us that there was a conversation between McMahon and an ex-WWE talent in AEW, and it was described as not a pitch to get in or anything, just two people chatting when McMahon said something to the effect of can you imagine if I walked out there on Dynamite?, not as if he was pitching anything.”
According to the source, it was not serious, which explains why the key members of AEW were unaware of it.
