Anthony Joseph Francis (born May 7, 1990) is an American
professional wrestler
Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...
and former
American football player
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
. He is currently signed to
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). He is best known for his tenure in
WWE
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...
, where he performed under the ring name Top Dolla as a member of the stable
Hit Row
Hit Row is an American professional wrestling stable consisting of Ashante "Thee" Adonis, Top Dolla, and B-Fab. The stable is currently performing in WWE on the SmackDown brand. They previously performed on the NXT brand. After their release fr ...
.
Francis played
college football
College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States.
Unlike most ...
at
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
. He was signed by the
Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...
as an
undrafted free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...
in 2013 and has also played for the
Seattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...
and
Washington Redskins
The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...
.
Professional football career
Miami Dolphins
After going un-drafted in the
2013 NFL Draft
The 2013 NFL Draft was the 78th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in ...
, Francis signed with the
Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...
on April 30, 2013.
New England Patriots
The
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...
claimed Francis off waivers on September 1, 2013. He was released on September 7, only to be signed to the team's
practice squad
In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...
three days later. Francis remained on the practice squad until being re-signed by the Dolphins in November.
Miami Dolphins (second stint)
On November 27, 2013, Francis was signed off the Patriots'
practice squad
In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...
.
Francis was put on injured reserve on August 27, 2014. On November 14, 2015, he was waived by the Dolphins.
Seattle Seahawks
On November 16, 2015, Francis was acquired off waivers by the
Seattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...
. On November 24, he was released by the team, but signed to the practice squad two days later. On November 30, 2015, he chose to be promoted to the active roster in Seattle rather than re-signing with the Dolphins to their active roster. On March 8, 2016, Francis signed his one-year exclusive-rights tender deal to return to Seattle. He was waived on May 9, 2016.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
On May 17, 2016, Francis signed with the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...
. He was waived by the Buccaneers on September 3, 2016.
Washington Redskins
On October 12, 2016, Francis signed with the
Washington Redskins
The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...
. He was promoted to the active roster on November 29, 2016. He was waived on December 10, 2016, and was re-signed back to the practice squad. Francis signed a futures contract with the Redskins on January 2, 2017.
On September 2, 2017, Francis was waived by the Redskins. He was re-signed to their practice squad on October 18, 2017, and was promoted to the active roster the next day. He was waived on October 25, 2017. He was re-signed on November 21, 2017.
Francis was waived on April 30, 2018. After his release, Francis publicly stated he was grateful that he was no longer a part of team due to the organization's lack of appreciation for him and adding his view that the team's mascot was racist.
New York Giants
On May 2, 2018, Francis signed with the
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
. He was released on September 1, 2018.
Professional wrestling career
WWE (2020–2021)
Francis signed with
WWE
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...
in January 2020. Francis made his wrestling television debut on the May 4, 2021, episode of
''NXT'' where he aligned himself with
Isaiah "Swerve" Scott
Stephon Strickland (born September 30, 1990) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Swerve Strickland and is a former AEW World Tag Team Champion (with Keith Lee). ...
by helping him defeat
Leon Ruff
Dartanyon Ruffin is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his time in WWE where he performed under the ring name Leon Ruff, and was a one-time NXT North American Champion.
Professional wrestling career
Evolve (2018–2020)
...
in a Falls Count Anywhere match, establishing himself as a
heel
The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower Human leg, leg.
Structure
To distribute the compressive for ...
in the process. The following week, Francis was introduced as Top Dolla and formed a new stable,
Hit Row
Hit Row is an American professional wrestling stable consisting of Ashante "Thee" Adonis, Top Dolla, and B-Fab. The stable is currently performing in WWE on the SmackDown brand. They previously performed on the NXT brand. After their release fr ...
with Scott,
Ashante "Thee" Adonis, and B-Fab. Despite Top Dolla being drafted to
SmackDown
''WWE SmackDown'', also known as ''Friday Night SmackDown'' or simply ''SmackDown'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that as of currently airs live every Friday at 8 p.m. ET on Fox. Fox Deportes simulc ...
along with the rest of Hit Row as a part of the
2021 WWE Draft
The 2021 WWE Draft was the 16th WWE Draft produced by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE between their Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The two-night event began with the October 1 episode of ''Friday Night SmackDown'' (in Baltim ...
,
B-Fab was released on November 4, and the rest of Hit Row were released 15 days later due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
.
Independent circuit (2021–2022)
Following his release from WWE, it was announced that Francis and the rest of Hit Row, minus Scott, would begin wrestling on the indies, under the team name, The HitMakerZ.
They would reunite at MCW’s Spring Break event, where Francis and Miles defeated Boom Hayden and Clay Jacobs.
At
Game Changer Wrestling
Game Changer Wrestling (GCW), formerly known as Jersey Championship Wrestling (JCW), is an American independent professional wrestling promotion based in New Jersey. The promotion was originally founded by Ricky Otazu in 1999, it was rebranded un ...
’s For The Culture event, Francis and Miles would lose to the team of
Shane Taylor and O’Shay Edwards.
Return to WWE (2022–2023)
On the August 12, 2022, episode of ''SmackDown'', Top Dolla made his unannounced return to WWE with Hit Row where he and Adonis (accompanied by B-Fab) defeated two local competitors.
On the December 16 episode of ''SmackDown'', Top Dolla and Adonis won their first main roster championship opportunity for the
Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship refers to both of the following:
* WWE Raw Tag Team Championship, the men's tag team championship of WWE's Raw brand
*WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship, the men's tag team championship of WWE's SmackDown bran ...
by defeating
The Viking Raiders
The Viking Raiders are an American professional wrestling tag team consisting of Erik and Ivar, and are managed by Valhalla. The team is currently performing in WWE on the SmackDown brand.
Erik and Ivar were previously known as War Machine and ...
and
Legado Del Fantasma
Legado Del Fantasma is a professional wrestling stable composed of leader Santos Escobar, Joaquin Wilde, Cruz Del Toro and Zelina Vega currently performing in WWE on the SmackDown brand. The trio was formed in 2020 when El Hijo del Fantasma tur ...
in a triple threat tag team match but failed to defeat
The Usos
The Usos (born August 22, 1985) are an American professional wrestling tag team composed of twin brothers Joshua Samuel Fatu and Jonathan Solofa Fatu, who are known professionally by their respective ring names Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso. They are ...
for the championship. On the January 6, 2023 episode of ''SmackDown'', Top Dolla was defeated by
Ricochet
A ricochet ( ; ) is a rebound, bounce, or skip off a surface, particularly in the case of a projectile. Most ricochets are caused by accident and while the force of the deflection decelerates the projectile, it can still be energetic and almost ...
in a
Royal Rumble
The Royal Rumble is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event, produced annually since 1988 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. It is named after the Royal Rumble match, a modified battle roya ...
qualifying match. After the match, Hit Row attacked Ricochet. Hit Row were drafted to the SmackDown brand in the
2023 WWE Draft.
On September 21, Top Dolla was again released from his WWE contract along with a host of other WWE superstars.
Return to the independent circuit (2023–present)
In December 2023,
Game Changer Wrestling
Game Changer Wrestling (GCW), formerly known as Jersey Championship Wrestling (JCW), is an American independent professional wrestling promotion based in New Jersey. The promotion was originally founded by Ricky Otazu in 1999, it was rebranded un ...
(GCW) announced Francis' return to the promotion at ''Look At Me'' on January 26, 2024.
At the GCW Holiday Special, Francis would attack
Joey Janela
Joseph Janela (born July 3, 1989) is an American professional wrestler. Janela is most known for his work with promotions such as All Elite Wrestling (AEW), Game Changer Wrestling (GCW), Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW ...
. This would lead to a match between the two at ''Look At Me'', which Janela won.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2024–present)
On January 13, 2024, Francis appeared at
Hard To Kill
''Hard to Kill'' is a 1990 American action thriller film directed by Bruce Malmuth, starring Steven Seagal, Kelly LeBrock, William Sadler and Frederick Coffin. Seagal's second film after '' Above the Law'', it features him as Mason Storm, a d ...
under his real name, attacking
Joe Hendry
Joseph Samuel Hendry (born 1 May 1988) is a Scottish Amateur wrestling, amateur wrestler, Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, and musician better known as Joe Hendry. He is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). H ...
and marking his debut for
Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling.
Music career
On October 13, 2017, dropped a music video on his
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
channel by the name of Olympic Gold featuring an artist by the name of J-Lew and the song is actually featured on A.J. Francis debut album by the name of "O.T.A" that has made it on
ITunes / Apple Music. On March 15, 2022, A.J. Francis was featuring in a music video by the name of Digits alongside music group Swerve City which has former
Hit Row
Hit Row is an American professional wrestling stable consisting of Ashante "Thee" Adonis, Top Dolla, and B-Fab. The stable is currently performing in WWE on the SmackDown brand. They previously performed on the NXT brand. After their release fr ...
member
Isaiah "Swerve" Scott
Stephon Strickland (born September 30, 1990) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Swerve Strickland and is a former AEW World Tag Team Champion (with Keith Lee). ...
in it.
On March 6, 2023, Hit Row was partially fully reunited as a music video was dropped where it was musical artist Monteasy featuring A. J. Francis (aka FRAN¢ / aka Top Dolla), Rich Latta, Swerve Strickland (aka Swerve The Realest / aka Isaiah "Swerve" Scott former member) & Briana Brandy (aka B-Fab) dropped a music video by the name of Price Went Up.
On July 21, 2023, three members of Hit Row by the names of B-Fab, Top Dolla and Ashante "Thee" Adonis dropped a freestyle single by the name of Barbie Barz.
Other media
In April 2021, Francis began starring in the
A&E series ''
WWE's Most Wanted Treasures'' as the historical expert where he travels with
WWE
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...
Legends as they search for lost memorabilia from private collectors, museums and occasionally other WWE Legends.
Top Dolla, alongside his Hit Row members Ashante "Thee" Adonis & B-Fab (as a non-playable manager), made their video game debut in ''
WWE 2K23'' as DLC characters in the Steiner Row Pack DLC bundle.
Personal life
![Francis speaking at Uber Event](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Francis_speaking_at_Uber_Event.jpg)
In April 2015, Francis went viral for signing up to be an
Uber
Uber Technologies, Inc. (Uber), based in San Francisco, provides mobility as a service, ride-hailing (allowing users to book a car and driver to transport them in a way similar to a taxi), food delivery (Uber Eats and Postmates), package ...
driver in the off-season, while playing for the Miami Dolphins.
Francis said that he was diagnosed with
type 2 diabetes
Type 2 diabetes, formerly known as adult-onset diabetes, is a form of diabetes mellitus that is characterized by high blood sugar, insulin resistance, and relative lack of insulin. Common symptoms include increased thirst, frequent urination, ...
in December 2022, with his
blood sugar level
Glycaemia, also known as blood sugar level, blood sugar concentration, or blood glucose level is the measure of glucose concentrated in the blood of humans or other animals. Approximately 4 grams of glucose, a simple sugar, is present in the blo ...
at 626 mg/mL.
Championships and accomplishments
* All Caribbean Wrestling
** ACW Championship (1 time)
* Sausage Castle Wrestling
** SCW Championship (2 times, current)
References
External links
Maryland Terrapins bioMiami Dolphins bioNew England Patriots bio*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Francis, A. J.
1990 births
Living people
Players of American football from Washington, D.C.
American football defensive tackles
Gonzaga College High School alumni
Maryland Terrapins football players
Miami Dolphins players
New England Patriots players
Seattle Seahawks players
Tampa Bay Buccaneers players
Washington Redskins players
New York Giants players
African-American professional wrestlers
American male professional wrestlers
Professional wrestlers from Washington, D.C.
21st-century American sportsmen
21st-century African-American sportspeople
21st-century professional wrestlers