Fulham's billionaire owner Shahid Khan made a surprise appearance on All Elite Wrestling (AEW) after his son Tony was 'attacked' in a staged event.

Khan, who took over the Premier League side in 2013, has been financially supporting his son's venture into the wrestling business. AEW has emerged as a rival to WWE in the United States since its launch in 2019.

However, he had previously avoided getting involved himself - until last night (April 24). The 73-year-old, ranked by Forbes as the 164th richest person globally with a net worth of $12.1billion (£9.7bn), made an appearance at the end of the weekly Dynamite broadcast.

This followed an attack on The Elite members Nick and Matt Jackson, who co-founded AEW alongside Tony, setting up what appears to be one of the company's most significant storylines to date. The plot revolves around the real-life drama involving CM Punk and Jack Perry, who physically clashed at their All In event at Wembley last year, leading to the former quitting and later returning to WWE, reports the Daily Star.

After an eight-month absence, Perry made a shock return of his own at AEW pay-per-view Dynasty at the weekend with his new 'scapegoat' gimmick. In a supposed attempt to clear the air with Tony, he was instead attacked.

The Jackson brothers came forward, accompanied by former New Japan Pro Wrestling star Kazuchika Okada - but rather than help Tony, they joined in on the attack. The show's closure saw Tony lying in the centre of the ring supposedly needing medical attention.

His father, looking visibly distressed in front of the TV cameras, arrived instigating an eruption from the Jacksonville crowd, where Khan owns Jaguars, the NFL team. Reservations had been expressed when a wrestling enthusiast all his life, Tony, presented the idea of supporting a start-up.

Fast-forward to now, AEW holds the prestige of being the third most valuable combat sports promotion globally, valued at around $2bn (£1.6bn). Recalling a 2021 Forbes interview, Khan said: "I absolutely didn't think this was a good idea. But I told Tony, 'Look, when I'm dead and gone, I'm going to be leaving you and your sister a lot of money'. Why don't you blow some of that while I'm alive? ".