Former WWE superstar Top Dolla was released from WWE as a part of the cost cutting process in September last year. Since then, he has signed a deal with TNA and has been one of the major stars in the roster. However, for the first time following his release, the former Hit Row star was present backstage on Raw during the 3/11 episode.
AJ Francis addressed his backstage presence on Raw with a post on X stating that he was in Houston for some other work and learned that the red brand’s episode was set for the same location. He then headed backstage and loved the response his former colleagues gave him.
During a recent appearance on Eric Bischoff’s Strictly Business podcast, Francis was asked about the reason he went backstage of Raw. Similar to what he revealed in his post, the former WWE superstar revealed that he went in as a surprise after taking Triple H’s permission and the stars backstage were happy to see him.
“I was just backstage at Raw literally on Monday. I was in town for Bun B’s Houston Rodeo. Bun B invited me to his show so I pulled up because that’s my OG. While I was at the rental car place, the guy who was giving me my car was a fan and he said, ‘Yo, Top Dolla. Are you coming back tonight?’ I was like, ‘What the hell are you talking about?’ He’s like, ‘RAW is in Houston.’ I was like, ‘What?’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, RAW is in Houston.’ So RAW just happened to be in Houston.’ I text Triple H. I said, ‘Yo, I’m just trying to come back see the guys. It’s not that big a deal. I’m not out here trying to be like, yo, bring me back right now. I’m not doing that. I’m just trying to see the guys right. That’s all. All my friends, all my people I work with.'”
“He set it up and I was able to go backstage and everybody that I saw from Paul Heyman to Jey Uso to Triple H to Road Dogg to Becky Lynch to Cody Rhodes to Seth Rollins to Tomasso Ciampa to Finn Balor to Jinder Mahal to Drew McIntyre. Everybody that saw me, it was nothing but love. It was nothing but, ‘I’m so happy for you. You’re killing it…”
While there were speculations that WWE was getting AJ Francis back into the company, it seems like that wasn’t the reason he was present backstage of Raw. However, it is clear that the star doesn’t have any heat with the promotion. Ringside News will keep you updated on the story.
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