AJ Francis Responds To Comments From Swerve Strickland On WWE Exit

AJ Francis has given his side of the story.

Despite finding success in NXT, and being promoted to SmackDown, Hit Row was released just weeks after their main roster debut in 2021. B-Fab was the first to be let go, and two weeks later, Top Dolla, Ashante “Thee” Adonis, and Isaiah “Swerve” Scott (Swerve Strickland) were also released.

During a new interview, Swerve Strickland looked back on the group’s WWE release, and how it came about. The now-AEW star said he was told that one member of the group acted aggressively in response to B-Fab being let go.

This caused the remaining members of the group to have heat with members of management, and they were quickly released.

AJ Francis Has His Say

Although not named by Strickland, the member of the group who upset “the office” is believed to be Top Dolla, now wrestling in TNA under his real name AJ Francis.

In an exchange on social media, Francis denied he was ever aggressive, pointing to the fact that the group minus Strickland eventually returned to WWE. He explained that at no point did Strickland say he’d been aggressive, he’d only be stating what he’d been told.

However, he later confirmed he spoke up in support of B-Fab after she’d been fired. Appearing on Unlikely with Adrian Hernandez, Francis challenged the unnamed person who criticised him to “stand on it.”

“I’m just supposed to be cool with her being gone? Clearly — she’s back and doing everything, so clearly I was f*ckin’ right! But I say that, supposedly I’m the asshole,” Francis pointed out. “So stand on it! If you were the person that said I was aggressive, stand on it!”

Francis added that he has a good idea who the person is, but their identity has never been confirmed.

B-Fab, Ashante “Thee” Adonis, and Francis returned to WWE in August 2022 as part of SmackDown. The trio was billed as Hit Row, but the group disbanded after Francis was released for a second time in September 2023.

H/t to Wrestle Zone