He signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment on February 10, 2009 and was assigned to their developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) where he competed under the ring name Tonga. Later in March, he joined the Washington's Secret Service stable under the ring name Agent T. where he competed alongside Agent D. and Agent C. After that was over, he changed his ring name to Donny Marlow and teamed with C.J. Parker. On July 21, 2011, Marlow and Parker defeated Calvin Raines and Big E. Langston to win the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship but lost the Tag Team Championship to Brad Maddox and Briley Pierce on November 3.