After turning themselves into one of the hottest factions in NXT during a fantastic run headlined by a big North American Championship win over the Bronson Reed, when Hit Row made it to the main roster in 2021, it felt like Vince McMahon had absolutely no idea what to do with the fast-rapping quartet of Swerve Strickland, B-Fab, Ashonte “Thee” Adonis, and Top Dolla, aka AJ Francis.
A group as famous for their musical output as their work in the ring, as WWE still curiously refuses to introduce a trios championship, Hit Row as fans knew it was gone almost as quickly as they showed up on SmackDown, with B-Fab being released by promotion in November and and the rest of the group following suit a few days – literally – later.
Discussing his first release from WWE in an appearance on Busted Open Radio, Francis explained that, in his opinion, WWE's main roster creative department had no clue how to book Hit Row, as they were simply unlike what Mr. McMahon was used to putting on television each week.
“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,” AJ Francis said via Fightful.
“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.”
Could Hit Row have been a hit on the main roster? If booked correctly, you bet; the group was seemingly tailormade for the modern era of professional wrestling, where performers garner interactions not just on television but on social media too, but unfortunately, WWE just didn't see it. Call the group ahead of their time, call Strickland too small to be a main event performer, but in the end, under Mr. McMahon, it simply wasn't meant to be.
AJ Francis is happy to see his former friends still on WWE television.
Continuing his conversation surrounding Hit Row, AJ Francis discussed the remaining members of the faction who are still employed by WWE, B-Fab and Ashante “Thee” Adonis. While the duo aren't currently working together under the Hit Row name, Francis is happy to see them continue to get opportunities on television, as he believes the duo can shine if given a chance.
“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,” AJ Francis said. “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.”
What does the future hold for B-Fab and Adonis? Only time will tell, but considering Francis is rapidly filling up his schedule with matches on the indies for promotions like GCW and TNA, it's clear he's enjoying his newfound freedom.