“Who had a better year than me?” 34-year-old star makes bold claim on 1-year anniversary of his WWE release
Former WWE Superstar claims to have had the best year in professional wrestling since being fired from WWE.
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AJ Francis makes bold claim after being fired from WWE (via WWE)
WWE releasing superstars is an unfortunate part of the business. They only have a limited amount of screen time each week. Thus, it is tough for them to retain all their superstars that are not being used much. Thankfully, many of these superstars go to find success in other wrestling promotions, as has been the case with AJ Francis, formerly known as Top Dolla.
The erstwhile Top Dolla recently penned down his thoughts on X exactly a year after getting released from WWE. He posted a few photos from his tenure in TNA and boldly claimed that he had the best year among any professional wrestler. While this statement likely isn’t true, there is no doubt that his stock has shot up massively since he went to TNA. He barely received any screen time while in WWE and never crossed the lower mid-card.
This wasn’t even the first time that Francis had gotten released from WWE. The 34-year-old joined NXT in January 2020 after an attempt in the NFL. He was eventually brought to the main roster on SmackDown in 2021 as part of the Hit Row faction. However, they were released just a month later due to the company’s pandemic budget cuts.
A year ago I got released… Who had a better year than me? Don’t worry I’ll wait.AJ Francis on X
Francis was rehired by the company in 2022 once again, but this run didn’t go very far either. He was released once again on September 21, 2023, due to further budget cuts. Since then, the former Hit Row member has worked for TNA, MLW, NWA, GCW, and other promotions on the independent wrestling circuit.
AJ Francis claims that Hit Row was a missed opportunity in WWE
Despite having some great talent on board, Hit Row unfortunately never amounted to much other than lower mid-card talent. Speaking on Straight Talk Wrestling, AJ Francis recently said that the faction was a wasted opportunity. They could have been much bigger talents if perhaps the promotion had used them properly.
Francis brought up the current success of his former stablemates. Swerve Strickland had become a main-event player in AEW. He recently main-evented their biggest show of the year and is involved in a high-profile feud with ‘Hangman’ Adam Page. Even Ashante Adonis was doing well for himself in NXT.
There was a lot of greatness that was left on the table for one reason or another. I think that it’s only a matter of time before history corrects itself, especially with the fact that how well I’m doing.AJ Francis on Straight Talk Wrestling
Francis asserted that it was only a matter of time before ‘history corrected itself.’ It had already begun with how well he was doing in TNA, and the Hit Row members would all eventually get the stardom that they deserve. He believed that those who fired them from WWE must be looking at them now and thinking that they should have done something different with the faction.
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Mokshit Batra
(1337 Articles Published)