The opening days of 2023 have been a wild ride in the world of professional wrestling, and things could be about to go to a whole new level. AEW boss Tony Khan is reportedly in a “pool of potential buyers” for WWE.
Tony Khan currently owns All Elite Wrestling with his father Shahid Khan, while he is also the owner of NFL franchise the Jacksonville Jaguars and English Premier League team Fulham FC.
Incredibly it has now been reported that the Khan family could link with a financial partner and make a sensational bid to buy WWE. A hypothetical deal between the two parties would be the biggest deal within wrestling since WWE gained control of WCW in 2001.
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A further report has now claimed that should the Khan family purchase WWE, they would be interested in merging their two wrestling assets. The report from Alex Sherman of CNBC, states that this tip has come from someone close to the family.
“All Elite Wrestling, a professional wrestling league owned by the Khan family, is interested in merging with World Wrestling Entertainment, according to people familiar with the matter.”
It should be noted that such a deal between the Khan’s and WWE has been labelled a “longshot.” There have also been “no discussions” over a deal.
Following up in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer added that a hypothetical deal could cause issues with the Khan’s creating a monopoly by controlling both companies. However, this wasn’t a factor when UFC bought rival MMA promotion Strikeforce.
“Tony Khan didn’t comment on either report of AEW and his family being interested, although obviously it is a story he is following closely. There could be an issue regarding creation of almost a monopoly in the business if the Khans are in control of everything, but that never played a part in UFC’s purchase of Strikeforce which created a somewhat similar situation at the time. Similarly WWF’s purchase of WCW led to no antitrust scrutiny even though it created a virtual monopoly of the U.S. industry.”
It has also been reported elsewhere that Triple H and Stephanie McMahon opposed the idea of WWE being sold.