Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite show in New Orleans, Louisiana featured Stokely Hathaway making his surprise return to AEW from a lengthy abscense and aligned himself with FTR’s Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood as their new on-screen agent.
Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that AEW officials’ idea of Hathaway managing FTR was something that was first pitched last year.
It was reported that prior to his abscense, Hathaway was seen “scouting tag teams” including being spotted in the background of an FTR match during one of his vignettes for his storyline at the time. Hathaway being paired with FTR reportedly wasn’t a sudden pivot and instead plans for them was nearly finalized several months ago.
In regards to Hathaway’s lengthy abscense, it was reported that AEW officials’ plans for the group had shifted when The Outrunners gained momentum with fans. AEW officials reportedly decided to lean into The Outrunners popularity at the time and made the decision to delay their plans for Hathaway and FTR.
It was reported that AEW officials had felt that the time was right to bring back Hathaway for FTR’s new heel characters and resume their original creative direction for the group.
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