SHANE MCMAHON LEADING AN AEW INVASION ISN'T WHAT THE COMPANY NEEDS

On the August 28 episode of AEW Dynamite, the show started with the return of Jon Moxley, who had been on hiatus from the company for many weeks. Right away, there was a difference to Moxley, which became even more pronounced with a bizarre in-ring promo segment with Tony Schiavone. The cryptic words immediately got fans thinking about where this storyline could be going and many came to one conclusion: an invasion by Shane McMahon. If this happens, it will bring a lot of attention to AEW, but it won't all be good. Please, Tony Khan, if this is what you're planning, don't do it. It's a decision you'll quickly regret.

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Back in June came the stunning news so out there that there was no way it could be possibly be true. On the Grilling JR podcast, host Conrad Thompson said that Shane McMahon had reached out to AEW talent he knew about possibly joining the promotion. This was followed by Shane being seen speaking to Mercedes Mone at the airport following Forbidden. Maybe that was all a big nothing, though. It turned out not to be, as the heads of wrestling fans exploded at the end of July, not only with the news that AEW's Tony Khan had met privately with Shane McMahon, but a photo of the two together even leaked.

For hardcore AEW fans, the idea of Shane McMahon in the promotion is a very bad idea. Vince McMahon is seen as wrestling's greatest real life villain, and even though Shane is not his father, having a McMahon in AEW feels icky. It also could seem like an act of desperation for a company which is hurting with ratings and attendance and desperately needs to find a way to somewhat keep up with the booming business WWE is doing. While Shane McMahon should never wrestle again, it can't be denied that he is entertaining and has a mind for the business. He could not only be an asset behind the scenes, but could be a compelling character as an authority figure on screen, a role that Tony Khan has wisely never tried to be much of.

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The latest Dynamite began with the return of Jon Moxley, with his fun entrance music replaced by something a little darker. Mox looked a little darker too, and then he spoke in the ring with Tony Schiavone. Moxley said he'd been doing a lot of thinking about things that need to get done. At first, he gave a normal, short promo about wanting to have a talk with Darby Allin, but as he left the ring, Moxley changed his mind and went back to Schiavone. He pointed at the commentator and growled, "This is not your company anymore."

Everyone was left confused by what in the world such a comment could have meant. Social media users and wrestling websites began to speculate, and the majority came together to put out one theory: Moxley was speaking about an invasion that will be led by Shane McMahon. To further prove that something was amiss, the end of the night saw Moxley and Marina Shafir of all people together backstage, beating up security guards. Is Moxley simply recruiting a new member to the BCC or is something bigger going on?

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No offense to Marina Shafir, but her joining the Blackpool Combat Club isn't really an exciting storyline worthy of leading to cryptic show opening promos. There has to be more to it, and as insane as it may have sounded a few months ago, it makes sense that Mox is alluding to something to do with Shane McMahon. AEW could badly use a shocking angle that gets fans invested every week, and they nearly had it with the new Elite attacking Tony Khan, then strangely did nothing with it. Bringing in Shane to take control of AEW and push out Tony Khan would surely be the way to do it. It might even make sense, with Shane targeting Khan over his bad decisions and touting his lineage and who he worked for.

It's the last thing AEW needs though. Ratings would surely surge for a few weeks because of curiosity, but if Shane McMahon takes over AEW, then what happens? Do we get a Team Shane vs Team Khan angle? That would make AEW feel like WWE light, as if they were desperately trying to hook fans by bringing back a past storyline from the bigger company. Khan is aware of the storyline, even referencing Shane's famous WCW purchase of WWE promo when he announced on Dynamite that he had bought Ring of Honor. Still, it's not a place AEW should go. WWE went there and it failed miserably. When WWE bought WCW in 2001, Vince McMahon tried to start a war between WCW vs. WWE, with Shane leading the rival promotion, but with WCW's biggest stars not part of it, fans didn't care.

The longtime criticism of AEW has been that they don't focus enough on stories to make casual fans care about tuning in. They deserve to be commended for changing that the past several months, with intriguing longterm storylines now happening in both the men's and women's divisions. If Shane McMahon comes in, all of that disappears. The shock of Shane McMahon in AEW takes up all of the oxygen in the room. That's not a good thing for a company trying to set itself apart.