Stokely Hathaway Loves Black Culture And Is Working To Blend It Into AEW

As it stands right now, Stokely Hathaway has three goals in AEW. The first is to make his clients in The Firm, Lee Moriarty, the Gunn Clubb, Ethan Page, W. Morrissey, and maybe Private Party and Matt Hardy, as successful as they can be in AEW. The second goal is to get MJF back on his good side following two weeks of issues between to the two.

But perhaps the most important goal Hathaway has in AEW, which he explained during a recent interview with The Root, is working in elements of Black Culture into AEW through his work.

"I try to appeal to everyone but obviously I'm Black," Hathaway said. "I love Black culture, as I should, [and] I wouldn't change who I am, what I love, for the world. When I first got into this, my goal was to have other people who look like me go 'Oh, I can do this too.' Not to necessarily be a manager, but whatever they want to do, right? I'm on national television, twice a week and hopefully some kid who looks like me or who can identify with what I do, they can hear the references, they can watch the promos, and they go 'Oh, that's cool, he's appealing to me. Maybe I can do this too.' So it may sound crazy but that's been my goal."

Hathaway, who has also managed Jade Cargill and the Baddies during his five months with AEW so far, freely admitted that there have been occasions so far in AEW where some of his references to Black Culture have gone over the heads of the fans. But that doesn't mean he's not up for the challenge, or that he won't continue what he's doing.

"The other interesting part of that is honestly some of what I say may fly over people's heads, so it's been kind of a struggle to appease both worlds," Hathaway said. "Obviously, I want to keep doing what I'm doing, but AEW's demographic is a little different. It's me trying to blend in so many things and so many demographics and just trying to make it work. I don't think I'm there yet but obviously, that's a challenge. And people like me look forward to those challenges and just trying to make it work to where, even if you aren't Black, you can go 'Oh, I know what he's talking about. I get it. That's funny.'"