Stokely Hathaway Made AEW Debut On A Handshake Deal

Stokely Hathaway was known as Malcolm Bivens in NXT and he was one of many who were released from their WWE NXT contract last year. After a gap, he made his way to AEW last year as well and now it appears that Hathaway debuted in the company on a handshake deal.

WWE offered Stokely Hathaway a new deal in February last year but he did not sign it. He opted to not accept a main roster deal and stayed in NXT until he was finally let go by the company.

Stokely Hathaway finally made his debut in AEW during Double Or Nothing. The former WWE personality has since become one of the mainstays of AEW television since then and fans agree that he is a worthy addition to the company.

While speaking on Talk Is Jericho, Stokely Hathaway talked about his debut in AEW last year. Hathaway revealed that his good friend Dax Harwood played a major role in his AEW debut. Hathaway added that he made his debut on a handshake deal and wasn’t signed with the company at that point.

“I was available and Dax (Harwood) is one of my good friends. We were talking back and forth, and he sent me a screenshot. He was having a conversation with Tony (Khan) and the screenshot was Tony just being like, ‘LET’S GO!!!!!!!’ in all caps with 37 exclamation marks. That was the beginning of the talks of me coming in. We didn’t meet face-to-face until I would say Double or Nothing. I met you [Jericho], and you were like, ‘who is this guy?’ I walked in and half the people knew me. I was not signed, I was just backstage. I debuted, it was a handshake deal, and it became official a few hours after that.”

Stokely Hathaway is currently aligned with Ethan Page, Lee Moriarty, & Big Bill on AEW television as part of The Firm. We’ll have to wait and see what AEW has in store for the faction in the coming weeks.

What’s your take on Stokely Hathaway in AEW? Do you think he has been doing great here? Sound off in the comments!