Tony Khan Reveals He First Met Stokely Hathaway On Day Of AEW Double Or Nothing

AEW President Tony Khan has revealed that he first reached out to Stokely Hathaway (fka WWE’s Malcolm Bivens) on the day of Double or Nothing.

During the show, Hathaway aligned himself with TBS Champion Jade Cargill.

In the post-show media scrum, Tony Khan stated that he has been interested in working with Hathaway since 2018.

Explaining how his Double or Nothing appearance and AEW signing came to be, Khan said:

“I was in a very unique position. It was pretty unusual. Stokely’s (30) days expired yesterday. I had never met him or spoke to him until today, because I do things the right way, with honor. It just so happened that his (30) days expired and I had this idea. We were lucky. There is a lot of independent wrestling and stuff going on, I guess he’s been around Vegas.

“I had never met him until day, I swear on my life, never had a conversation with him. I’ve had him in mind since 2018, actually. I remember, way back in the day, actually with Cody (Rhodes). I was saying, ‘I really like Stokely Hathaway.’ I’m a big fan of him.

“He came in today as Stokely Hathaway and having had another name, recently, with another promotion, I never had this conversation with him. Today, I told him, ‘I want you to be Stokely Hathaway. I’m the owner of Ring of Honor, you have a great history with Ring of Honor.’ Not only did I explain that I want to pair him with the world’s greatest network champion, the top undefeated pro wrestler, two years in, with a sparkling record and add to the presentation that has already come so far and so fast. Like Jade said, he’s a great talker, and I literally never met him or spoken to him until today, which is pretty cool that it worked out.

“It made for a great moment, it was a great surprise for the fans. The timing, we are fortunate sometimes, it was great timing that (his non-compete) expired yesterday. It’s an obvious solution, putting one of the great champions, who already has so much charisma, with a great talker and they can be like (Nick) Bockwinkel and (Bobby) Heenan, a great talker with another great talker and a great mind. They could be the new Bockwinkel and Heenan.”

Noting that plans to work with Hathaway came as a surprise to her, Cargill said:

“Seriously guys, I didn’t know anything until…I didn’t know anything, this was a surprise to me as much as it was everybody else in this room. Trust me, I was excited just as much as you are.”

You can read our live results for Double or Nothing right here.

Transcription via Fightful.

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