Stokely Hathaway Wants To Inspire A Black Audience With His Role On AEW Television

AEW star and leader of the Firm Stokely Hathaway recently joined The Root to discuss his role in the company, as well as his hope to inspire an audience that look just like him. Check out Hathaway’s full thoughts on the subject in the highlights below.

Says he wants to be appealing to everyone but hopes to inspire a black audience:

“I try to appeal to everyone but obviously I’m Black. 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.”

Says he is trying to blend many styles for the demographics:

“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. 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.’”