Anthony Joseph Francis (born May 7, 1990) is an American

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

and former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player. He is signed to

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (abbreviated as TNA Wrestling or TNA) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment, a Canadian media company owned by busines ...

(TNA), where he is a former one-time TNA Digital Media Champion and Canadian International Heavyweight Champion. He also makes appearances for its partner promotion

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

, on its NXT brand as well as performing on the

independent circuit In professional wrestling, the independent circuit (often shortened to the indie circuit or the indies) is the collective name of independently owned promotions which are deemed to be smaller and more regionalized than major national promotions. ...

. He is best known for his previous tenures in WWE, where he performed under the ring name Top Dolla, where he was a member of

Hit Row Hit Row was an American professional wrestling stable consisting of Isaiah "Swerve" Scott, Ashante "Thee" Adonis, Top Dolla, and manager B-Fab. They performed in WWE on the NXT and SmackDown brands. After their release from WWE in November ...

from 2020 to 2023. He also makes appearances for

Major League Wrestling Major League Wrestling (MLW) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in New Rochelle, New York. The promotion was founded in 2002 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by former WWE writer Court Bauer. The promotion markets its product as ...

(MLW), where he is a member of World Titan Federation. Francis played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Maryland Terrapins The Maryland Terrapins, commonly referred to as the Terps, consist of 19 men's and women's college sports in the United States, varsity intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Maryland, College Park in National Collegiate ...

. He was signed by the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager 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 a contract at present ...

in 2013 and 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

Professional football career

Miami Dolphins (first stint)

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

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. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

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 gridiron football, 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. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

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'

. 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

. 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 (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

. He was waived by the Buccaneers on September 3, 2016. AJ Francis 2017

Washington Redskins

On October 12, 2016, Francis signed with the

. 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

. He was released on September 1, 2018.

Professional wrestling career

WWE (2020–2021)

Francis signed with

in January 2020. Francis, now assigned to the NXT brand, 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 and rapper. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Swerve Strickland. He also appears on the independent circuit. Strickl ...

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 leg. Structure To distribute the compressive forces exerted ...

in the process. The following week, Francis was introduced as Top Dolla and formed a new stable,

with Scott,

Ashante "Thee" Adonis Tehuti Miles (born November 23, 1992) is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Ashante "Thee" Adonis. Early life Miles was born in Hammonton, New Jersey. Miles enliste ...

, and

B-Fab Briana Brandy (born November 22, 1990) is an American professional wrestler and musician. She is signed to WWE, where she performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name B-Fab. Early life Briana Brandy was born on November 22, 1990 in Cant ...

. 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. It airs live every Friday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on USA Network in the United ...

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 B ...

, 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 and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Independent circuit (2022)

Following his release from WWE, it was announced that Francis and the rest of Hit Row, minus Scott, would begin wrestling on the independent circuit, 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 circuit, independent professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion based in New Jersey. The promotion was original ...

’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)

After owner

Vince McMahon Vincent Kennedy McMahon ( ; born August 24, 1945) is an American businessman and former professional wrestling promoter. McMahon, along with his later-estranged wife Linda McMahon, Linda, is a co-founder of the modern WWE, the world's largest ...

stepped down in July 2022, Francis, reprising his "Top Dolla" character, made his unannounced return to WWE on the August 12, 2022, episode of ''SmackDown'', where he and Adonis (accompanied by B-Fab), thus reuniting Hit Row 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 The American professional wrestling promotion WWE has maintained several men's and women's tag team championships (except for a two-year interim between 1967 and 1969) since Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC) seceded from the National Wrestling ...

by defeating The Viking Raiders and

Legado Del Fantasma Legado Del Fantasma (sometimes shortened as LDF) is a Mexican professional wrestling stable that performs in WWE on the SmackDown brand. The stable consists of leader Santos Escobar and Los Garza (Angel and Berto). Los Garza are the current AAA ...

in a triple threat tag team match but failed to defeat

The Usos The Usos were a Samoan-American professional wrestling tag team which consisted of twin brothers Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso. They are signed to WWE, where Jey performs on the WWE Raw, Raw brand while Jimmy performs on the SmackDown (WWE brand), Sma ...

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 event, produced annually since 1988 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. It is named after, and centered on, the Royal Rumble match, a modified Battle royal (professional wre ...

qualifying match. After the match, Hit Row attacked Ricochet. Hit Row were drafted to the SmackDown brand in the

2023 WWE Draft The 2023 WWE Draft was the 17th WWE Draft produced by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE between their Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The two-night event began with the April 28 episode of ''Friday Night SmackDown'' (in Cor ...

. On September 21, nine days after WWE's merger with

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. The larg ...

to form

TKO Group Holdings TKO Group Holdings, Inc. (TKO) is an American media conglomerate created by Endeavor as part of a merger between World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (WWE) and Zuffa, LLC, the parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Since ...

, Francis 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,

(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, working for Game Changer Wrestling (GCW), where he is the promoter of the Joey Janela's Spring Break event series. Janela is most known for his work with All Elite Wrestling ...

. This would lead to a match between the two at ''Look At Me'', which Janela won. On January 11th, 2025, Francis would make an appearance at

Reality of Wrestling Reality of Wrestling Platinum (ROW Platinum) is an independent professional wrestling promotion based in Houston, Texas. It was established as Pro Wrestling Alliance (PWA) in 2005 by WWE Hall of Famer Booker T. and later changed its name to Reali ...

's Battle of the Belts, where he would compete in the Street Justice Rules Gauntlet, in a losing effort.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2024–present)

On January 13, 2024, Francis appeared at

Hard To Kill ''Hard to Kill'' is a 1990 American vigilante action-thriller film directed by Bruce Malmuth, written by Steven McKay, and starring Steven Seagal, Kelly LeBrock, William Sadler and Frederick Coffin. Seagal's second film after '' Above the La ...

under his real name, attacking

Joe Hendry Joe Hendry (born 1 May 1988) is a Scottish Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and musician. He is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), while also making appearances for partner promotion WWE on its NXT (WWE brand), NXT WW ...

and marking his debut for Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling. On March 14 episode of ''TNA Impact!'', he would defeat Hendry with the help of

Rich Swann Richard Anthony Swann (born February 15, 1991) is an American professional wrestler. he is best known for his tenure in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). He is a former Impact World Champion, TNA World Heavyweight Championship (2020–2021), ...

, with the duo now called First Class (stylized as Fir$t Cla$$). On the June 6 episode of ''Impact! 20th Anniversary Show'', Francis won the

TNA Digital Media Championship The TNA Digital Media Championship was a professional wrestling television championship created and promoted by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). It was an intergender tertiary championship, openly available to both male and female wrestlers. ...

from

Laredo Kid Laredo Kid (born December 30, 1986) is a Mexican ''luchador enmascarado'', or masked professional wrestler. He is signed to both Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) and Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide. In TNA, he is a former TNA Digital Media Cham ...

, his first title win in TNA. On the June 15 taping of ''TNA'' ''Impact!'' (aired on tape delay on June 27), Francis (in

kayfabe In professional wrestling, kayfabe (pronounced ) is the portrayal of staged events within the industry as "real" or "true", specifically competition, rivalries, and relationships between participants. The term has evolved to become a code word ...

) bought the

Canadian International Heavyweight Championship The Canadian International Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship that was defended in the American promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). It was originally the top singles title in the Montreal-based wrestl ...

, a title that was promoted in Canada for many years and had been retired since 1987. As the new owner of the title, Francis declared himself as its new champion, making himself a double champion in the process. At

Slammiversary Slammiversary is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) List of TNA pay-per-view events, event produced by the American promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. It is one of TNA's “Big Four” PPV events (along with TNA Hard To Kill, Hard ...

on July 20, Francis lost the TNA Digital Media Championship and the International Heavyweight Wrestling Championship to PCO in a Montreal Street Fight, ending his reign as TNA Digital Media Champion at 62 days and his reign as Canadian International Heavyweight Champion at 35 days. On December 13 at

Final Resolution Final Resolution is a professional wrestling TNA+ event held by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in December. Initially introduced as a pay-per-view by TNA in 2005, the event originally took place in January until 2008, when TNA moved the event to ...

, Francis fought

Nic Nemeth Nicholas Theodore Nemeth (born July 27, 1980) is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he performs under his real name, stylized as Nic Nemeth, where he is one-half of the TNA World Tag T ...

for the

TNA World Championship The TNA World Championship is a professional wrestling world championship created and promoted by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). It is the promotion's principal championship. Like most professional wrestling championships, the title is won ...

in a losing effort.

Major League Wrestling (2024)

On February 17, 2024 at Burning Crush, Francis made his debut for

(MLW) debut in a pre-taped vignette, calling out

Alex Kane Alex Kane (born October 21, 1993) is an American professional wrestler, currently signed to Major League Wrestling where he is a former MLW World Heavyweight Champion and a former MLW National Openweight Champion. Professional wrestling care ...

and was revealed as the newest member of the World Titan Federation. On night 2 of Intimidation Games, Francis made his MLW in-ring debut, defeating Mr. Thomas.

National Wrestling Alliance (2024)

On March 2, 2024, Francis made his debut for the

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and governing body owned by Billy Corgan and operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA be ...

(NWA) at Hard Times, defeating Bryan Idol in a

no disqualification match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a storyline. ...

Second return to WWE (2025–present)

On the June 3, 2025 episode of ''NXT'', Francis returned to WWE, where he and

KC Navarro Christian Michael Navarro (born July 21, 1999), better known by his ring name KC Navarro, is an American professional wrestling, professional wrestler. Known for his high-flying style, Navarro has competed in several promotions, including Combat ...

assisted

Trick Williams Matrick Mondre Belton (born May 26, 1994) is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on its NXT brand, under the ring name Trick Williams. He also makes appearances in WWE's partner promotion Total Nonstop Acti ...

in retaining his TNA World Championship against

Mike Santana Mark Sanchez (born February 4, 1991), known by the ring name Mike Santana or simply Santana, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). He also makes appearances for partner promotion WWE on their ...

Music career

On October 13, 2017, dropped a music video on his

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

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

member

in it. On March 6, 2023, Hit Row was partially 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

;Other digital appearances *In April 2021, Francis began hosting the A&E series '' WWE's Most Wanted Treasures'' in which he travels with

Legends as they search for memorabilia owned by private collectors, museums and occasionally other WWE Legends. ;Video games *Top Dolla, alongside his Hit Row members Ashante "Thee" Adonis & B-Fab (as a Manager; and probably Non-Playable), made their video game debut in '' WWE 2K23'' as DLC characters in the Steiner Row Pack DLC bundle.

Personal life

In April 2015, Francis went viral for signing up to be an

Uber Uber Technologies, Inc. is an American multinational transportation company that provides Ridesharing company, ride-hailing services, courier services, food delivery, and freight transport. It is headquartered in San Francisco, California, a ...

driver in the off-season, while playing for the Miami Dolphins. Francis said that he was diagnosed with

type 2 diabetes Type 2 diabetes (T2D), 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 ...

in December 2022, with his

blood sugar level The blood sugar level, blood sugar concentration, blood glucose level, or glycemia is the measure of glucose concentrated in the blood. The body tightly regulates blood glucose levels as a part of metabolic homeostasis. For a 70 kg (1 ...

at 626 mg/dL.

Championships and accomplishments

*The Wrestling Revolver **PWR Remix Championship (1 time, current) *

(1 time) **

(1 time) *

** ROW Television Championship (1 time, current) * * Cheez-It Citrus Bowl ** Cheez-It Championship (2 time, current) * AML Wrestling ** AML Tag Team Championship (1 time, current) – with White Mike *The Establishment Wrestling ** 24 Karat Battle Royal (2024) *2econd Wrestling ** Maxwell Street Heritage Championship (1 time) * All Caribbean Wrestling ** ACW Championship (1 time) *Miscellaneous Championships: **WNRN All Florida Championship (1 time) **WNRN Internet Championship (3 time)

References

External links

Maryland Terrapins bio

Miami 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 sportsmen 21st-century male professional wrestlers 21st-century American professional wrestlers TNA/Impact Digital Media Champions