All Elite Wrestling has a rigid roster, but the company operates as a revolving door for the professional wrestling industry. Talent like NJPW’s Will Ospreay or Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide’s El Hijo del Vikingo will pop in for a couple of matches before venturing back to their home promotions. Independent standouts like Matt Cardona will work a limited dates contract and then return to their outside of AEW endeavors. While not all of these cameos turn into main cast roles, some talent arrive within the All Elite ropes and are put on Tony Khan’s books shortly after.
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That is true for Stokely Hathaway, the fan-favorite manager who made his AEW debut at AEW Double or Nothing 2022. After AEW TBS Champion Jade Cargill successfully retained her championship over Anna Jay, Hathaway hit the ring to align himself with the undefeated star.
Hathaway was being discussed for AEW in the weeks leading up, but things didn’t officially materialize until the night of AEW Double or Nothing itself.
“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,” Hathaway said on Talk is Jericho. “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.”
Hathaway revealed that at the time of the pay-per-view and he subsequent debut, he was not under contract.
“I was not signed, I was just backstage,” Hathaway continued. “I debuted, it was a handshake deal, and it became official a few hours after that.”
While this may seem unorthodox, handshake deals are fairly common in AEW. Cody Rhodes infamously worked his final AEW weeks without a contract, holding the AEW TNT Championship without being on company payroll. Jon Moxley recently revealed that he spent the entire Summer 2022, a period where he reigned as Interim AEW World Champion, on a handshake deal with the company.
Hathaway’s AEW debut was coming just one month after he left WWE. There, he utilized the name Malcolm Bivens and managed various acts including Indus Sher and Diamond Mine. He never truly picked up significant momentum within WWE and had turned down a contract renewal offer shortly before he was released in April 2022.
