Stokely Hathaway says he was on a handshake deal when he debuted in All Elite Wrestling.
Hathaway, formerly known as Malcolm Bivens, was released by WWE in a round of cuts on April 29, 2022. He subsequently arrived in AEW at AEW Double or Nothing on May 29, where he signed with TBS Champion Jade Cargill.
Speaking with Chris Jericho on Talk Is Jericho, Hathaway looked back on his move to AEW and described how he was on a handshake deal when he made his first appearance.
“So I was available, and then Dax [Harwood] is one of my good friends. So we were talking back and forth, and then he sent me a screenshot because he was having a conversation with Tony, and the screenshot was Tony just being like, ‘Let’s f—- go’ in all caps with like 37 exclamation marks. That was the beginning of the talks of me coming in, and then we didn’t meet face to face until Double or Nothing.
“I remember I met you, and you were like, ‘Who is this guy backstage?’ Because I just walked in, and half of the people knew me. So I was not signed, I was just backstage. I debuted, and it was a handshake deal, and it just became official a few hours after that.”
Hathaway was then asked about his pairing with Cargill, and he noted that it was never meant to be a long-term storyline.
“The idea was, I wouldn’t say temporary,” Hathaway said. “It’s interesting because a lot of people thought that Jade and I was this long-term plan, and the idea, which I take a lot of responsibility for, it wasn’t really conveyed, the fact that, when I was with Jade, the idea was I was a con artist, I was a scammer. So I was using everyone to get to this position in The Firm, and obviously, after [All Out], plans changed. But the Jade storyline was actually the beginning of the next chapter.”
In recent months, Hathaway has been the mouthpiece of The Firm. The group centers around Ethan Page, Big Bill, and Lee Moriarty. Matt Hardy and Isiah Kassidy had been members of the stable, but they turned on the faction.
Hardy has challenged The Firm to a Firm Deletion match, but it’s currently unclear when the match will take place WrestleZone will provide more information as it became available.
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