MR. TITO: Tony Khan Meeting With Shane McMahon is a Desperate Move for AEW

The Internet Wrestling Community (IWC) is LOSING THEIR MINDS about a photo leak of Shane McMahon meeting with AEW President/CEO Tony Khan. Prior to this, there were rumors Shane possibly showing interest in working with AEW. Many online fans, particularly AEW diehards, have been rooting on this decision for a while.

Me? Not so much…

Why? Because I remember who Shane McMahon was in the WWE… He was a wrestler wannabe who forced fully trained and full-time performers to sell for him. And I remember the last Royal Rumble event where he performed and had creative influence to make himself look good over valid wrestlers.

Fact is that this photo with Tony was leaked by Tony Khan to generate hype because his existing wrestling product can’t. Despite signing Adam Copeland (Edge), Okada, Will Ospreay, and Mercedes (Sasha Banks), they can only draw just below 800,000 when they give away Pay Per View like matches and under 700,000 when they don’t shoot their load. Dynamite and Collision shows are jokes and aren’t worth watching due to the low effort creatively put into both, while ticket sales for AEW’s television shows are horrendous.

Yet, Tony places hope in a 54 year old Shane McMahon who has already over-exposed himself in the WWE.

Sure, he could be an OK authority figure and the gimmick would be that AEW now has a “McMahon running things”. But how long does that last before Shane wants to wrestle again? He’ll turn bright read as if his heart is ready to explode, which makes me think if the blown quad at Wrestlemania saved his life?

Here is the issue with both Tony Khan and Shane McMahon… They are NOT managers of people, which is what their prospective wrestling companies needed. No, they are MARKS. Instead of managing people, managing the financials, or making decisions for others, they want to be more involved. They grew up such fans of the business that they want to be involved ON CAMERA rather than managing the company behind the camera.

Furthermore, both Tony Khan and Shane McMahon, since they are marks, exude the aura of being “one of the boys”. In other words, instead of managing wrestling talent, they act and behave just like wrestling talent. Instead of being their bosses, they are their friends. This includes partying and hanging out with wrestling talent. They are in the wrestler “friend zone”.

Another example of this would be Eric Bischoff BEFORE November 1996 versus AFTER November 1996. Before November 1996, he was the boss and in charge of talent, creative, and events for WCW while clearly indicating that he was the boss. After November 1996 when he joined the New World Order as an on-screen heel character, all he cared about was getting himself over and keeping the NWO strong so that he could be an on-screen star. In other words, Eric went from being a boss or manager of a wrestling company to morphing into a MARK of his own NWO idea. He became “one of the boys” and wrestlers took advantage of him by feeding more logs into that mark fire.

It makes sense that Shane McMahon and Tony Khan are talking… The are both immature MARKS of pro wrestling and are quite full of themselves, thinking that people would actually pay money to see them perform or that anything they say matters. Meanwhile, the wrestlers backstage are LAUGHING at these marks because they can be easily played to keep them employed for easy money. With a mark backstage, all you have to do is tell them that every idea they come up with is a great idea. The mark falls for the flattery easily and then gives anyone who compliments them with multiple rewards. Many wrestlers got paid well when Eric Bischoff joined the NWO and could get played by wrestlers, just as many wrestlers who praise Tony get paid very well. Many wrestlers played Shane to be his friend just to win over favor of Vince. Eventually, Vince McMahon saw through Shane’s game and pushed him out.

Triple H wants NOTHING to do with Shane McMahon, trust me on that one. He knows what a mark that Shane is and how everything must center around him. While Triple H finally got the wrestling out of his system, Shane will still want to perform with AEW. HHH is sitting backstage and is empowering others to succeed instead. When Shane McMahon had that opportunity to empower others with the creative behind the men’s 2022 Royal Rumble match, Shane booked big spots that focused on him instead.

Shane McMahon won’t come cheap, either… In order for him to “betray” the WWE and join AEW, he’ll command a few million for his services. Add that to the expense side of the Income Statement and after an initial pop, viewership will come back down once they realize that it’s the same old mark Shane McMahon in the company who just can’t stop trying to backyard wrestle.

He could make a decent authority figure, but we all know that he’ll try to wrestle again. Once a mark inside the wrestling business, always a wrestling mark. Tony Khan is the ultimate enabler of bad behavior and I anticipate he’ll let Shane McMahon wrestle often.

What AEW needs is NOT someone from WWE’s past who has already given them their best. Shane McMahon is a ghost from WWE’s past and him going to AEW is Shane setting for them because WWE and TKO doesn’t want him or aren’t willing to pay him. Same issue with Adam Copeland and other ex-WWE stars before them.

What AEW truly needs is a developmental system that recruits, trains, and develops wrestlers who we’ve either barely seen in WWE or never witnessed on a WWE screen. Then, they can just debut in AEW as fresh new talent. Oh, and find guys with actual size. 6 feet is the minimum height to get on the AEW ride, as they already have plenty under that threshold. Wrestlers who look like real athletes, too, and can fit the “larger than life” idea rather than just a guy you play video games with on a Friday night.

Signing the wrestlers or wrestling personalities of yesterday is a bad move for AEW… WWE doesn’t just let talents go for fun. No, they release and refuse to pay for wrestlers based on their value as it relates to their prime years. Believe me, if they want to keep a wrestler, they can easily pay them to remain with the WWE.

Only time loading up on free agents ever worked was WCW during 1996, but they had a shelf life of only 2 years before those veterans demanded more money and say from “mark” Eric Bischoff through 1998. But I’d argue Eric signing a bunch of younger talents to fill the midcard made a major difference in hooking fans to watch the entire 2-3 hours of WCW Nitro. That 1996-1997 WCW roster was LOADED. The AEW roster of 2024 is not and is too dependent on veterans from other promotions in who are at the tail end of their prime or past it. Combine that with Tony Khan’s AWFUL creative ideas, it exposes those veterans completely.

Think about this, IWC… If Shane McMahon is hired by AEW, he has to deal with Tony Khan’s creative ideas. Uh oh…

Marks of a feather, flock together!

CLICK HERE for the Mr. Tito Column Archive @ NoDQ