AEW Star Was On "Handshake Deal" During Debut

Tony Khan had a "handshake deal" with this performer during his AEW debut.

by Jamie Kennedy
AEW All Out 2022 Stokely Hathaway
AEW

AEW manager Stokely Hathaway has revealed that he was working on a "handshake deal" with company boss Tony Khan during his All Elite debut at Double Or Nothing 2022.

Khan hadn't thrashed out terms on a full-time contract with Stokely, and some backstage for the pay-per-view didn't even know he was going to be there. That, almost hilariously, included Chris Jericho - Hathaway laughed on 'Talk Is Jericho' when he remembered the Canadian being like, "Who is this guy?!".

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Stokely debuted on-screen then sat down with TK for contract negotiations. Everything was wrapped up by the time Double Or Nothing went dark, meaning Khan trusted Hathaway enough to debut him on pay-per-view before actually sitting down to talk business.

The ex-WWE NXT manager (as Malcolm Bivens) didn't have a problem with that. He was happy to be in AEW, and knew they'd be able to sort things out quickly anyway. Reaction behind the curtain at DoN did tickle Stokely though, but he still managed to get along with everyone.

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Hathaway freely admits that only "half the people" there for AEW's show really knew who he was.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.