AJ Francis, formerly known as Top Dolla, discusses his WWE release.
Top Dolla, Isaiah "Swerve" Scott, B-Fab, and Ashante "Thee" Adonis had a successful run as Hit Row in NXT. But they were released in a series of cuts in November 2021 following a brief stint on SmackDown. Scott (now known as Swerve Strickland) signed with AEW, but the three remaining members of the group returned to WWE in August 2022. However, following another run where they weren't frequently used on TV, the group broke up, as WWE released Top Dolla in a round of cuts in September 21.
Speaking on Busted Open Radio, AJ Francis was asked to share his opinion as to why WWE released him.
“I feel like they didn’t have an idea of how to use Hit Row. I feel like the idea of the hip-hop stable just didn’t really gel with what they had creatively and what they wanted to do creatively. The music videos that you guys see me release every week, I was doing them every week while I was there. They didn’t really have an idea or a way to integrate them into the show. Even when they asked me to do a diss song, and I did a diss song on The O.C., and it got millions of views online, and it went viral, and it was one of the biggest things people talked about that week in wrestling," he said.
Francis continued by recalling the tag team match between The O.C. and Hit Row. He went on to point out that the feud ended there, and it was never followed up on. Francis emphasized his belief that WWE did not know what they wanted to do with Hit Row.
"Then we had the tag team match, they beat us. AJ Styles gives me the Phenomenal Forearm, which was awesome, by the way, to be able to do that, and then it was funny because he told me afterwards, he was like, ‘I’m glad you were where you were supposed to be.’ Because if you look at it on tape, when he jumps off the top rope, he does the springboard, his hood comes up, and he said he couldn’t see at all. So he was just happy I was where I was supposed to be. But then that was the end of it. There was no follow-up on that. There was no continuation of the storyline. We could have done a million things. So I genuinely feel like they just didn’t know what they wanted to do with Hit Row, and they had different plans clearly, for the three of us," Francis said.
Francis then stated that he was happy that B-Fab and Adonis are still there, and he noted that they were seemingly getting involved on WWE television. He then made it clear that he intends to prove he can succeed by himself.
"I’m just happy that Brianna and Tehuti, which is B-Fab and Ashante ‘Thee’ Adonis, I’m happy that they’re still there, I’m happy they’re still getting money, I’m happy that they seem to be getting involved on the show. So I have no ill will towards anyone there. It’s just, now I gotta worry about me. I’m worried about me. I don’t care about nobody else but me. That’s why I don’t want to be in no factions. I don’t want to be in no groups. I don’t want to be in no tag teams. I’m tired of people pretending that I need other people. I can do it by myself, and I’m gonna do it by myself," he said.
Francis recently said that he would listen if WWE called, but he was not waiting around the phone. Check out his comments here.
As previously announced, AJ Francis and DJ Whoo Kid are set to debut a new music video at TNA Hard To Kill.
AJ Francis is set to compete at GCW Don't Look At Me. More information is available here.
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