Subscribe
Follow Us
When Roderick Strong made his debut in AEW, it was a pretty big deal. Last seen in the hospital demanding that Ivy Nile and the Creed Brothers, Brutus and Julius, “win” their feud with former Diamond Mine faction member Damon Kemp, Strong's surprise arrival in AEW made fans pop and got folks very excited about his future as a key member in one of the promotion's factions.
But recall, if you will, that this wasn't the first time a leader of the Diamond Mine left the greater WWE Universe for AEW; far from it, in fact. No, almost one year prior, DM's original leader, Malcolm Bivens, known as Stokely Hathaway on the indies, made the jump from WWE to AEW, where he went on to manage Jade Cargill and ultimately formed The Firm in a loose partnership with MJF.
Discussing his decision to move to AEW and the process that entailed on Talk is Jericho with Chris Jericho, Hathaway noted that his debut with Tony Khan's company came on rather quickly, with no official contract in place when he made his on-screen debut.
“I was available. Dax is one of my good friends so we were talking back and forth,” Hathaway said via Wrestling News. “He sent me a screenshot because he was having a conversation with Tony. The screenshot was Tony just being like, ‘Let's go' in all caps with like 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 was backstage. I debuted. It was a handshake deal, and it became official a few hours after that.”
While Stokely's initial run with Cargill didn't quite work out, with the current TBS Champion transitioning to having just Leila Gray in her posse plus “Smart” Mark Sterling when needed, it's hard to argue that the diminutive manager hasn't made an impact in AEW, producing moments both funny and compelling as the leader of The Firm. Even if his faction isn't what you would call “long for this world,” as they might just get deleted before Memorial Day, it's hard to imagine Hathaway not landing on his feet, as some people are just meant to hold microphones on wrestling television shows.
Stokely Hathaway has been scouting Hook's family since before AEW.
Turning his attention ever so slightly from the past to the future, Hathaway was asked about his current program with Hook, which saw the Son of Taz knock him out of action following a failed attempt to get out of the match. For Hathaway, facing off against Hook felt like a full-circle moment because of his long-time fandom of the “The Human Suplex Machine.”
“It's pretty surreal because I remember watching Taz in ECW, watching his WWF debut during the Royal Rumble, and years later, I'm wrestling his son. It's bizarre,” Hathaway said. “But I'm very appreciative of that feud from Hook and Taz and just being allowed to do what we did, because I think it saved us. I think we were just, I wouldn't say floundering, like I think we were just there. Once it turned into Lee And Big Bill feuding with Hook and Jungle Boy, it was like, ‘Oh, now we have a clear cut direction.' That's when we were kind of empowered to have a little more say. That's when I pulled all the guys aside and said, ‘Hey, I think this is the direction we should kind of go in', and I think it worked out. Hook is a tremendous performer. I know he was excited to do the match and it's like, ‘No dude, I am excited to wrestle you.' As you know, there's not a lot of real estate on Wednesdays. Tony has hired like 200 or 300 people so it's one of those things where once you're given that opportunity, you have to knock it out of the park and wrestling Hook was probably my favorite moment out of the past few years.”
Was Hathaway's match against Hook “good?” Technically speaking, no, probably not, but it was fun, funny, and most importantly of all, a storyline pusher that helped to progress The Firm's storyline to its ultimate conclusion, “The Firm Deletion” match, which will be coming to AEW fans on Rampage broadcast with limited commercial interruptions from the Hardy Compound. “All Ego” Ethan Page and company, watch your back, as when Matt Hardy and company get going at his estate, there will be fireworks, there will be lawnmowers, and maybe even a dip or two into the Lake of Reincarnation.
