Backstage update on Hit Row's status with the creative
Hit Row is WWE's latest returning talents under the Triple H regime. The team of Top Dolla, Ashante "Thee" Adonis, and B-Fab made their return to the company on last week's SmackDown. A recent update regarding their status with the creative has surfaced.
The faction was called up to the main roster in October 2021, but all members, including Isaiah "Swerve" Scott (now known as Swerve Strickland in AEW), were released from the Stamford-based promotion in November 2021.
A recent report from PWInsider states that the group has been listed as babyfaces on SmackDown's internal roster. This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who saw the crowd's reaction to their return on Friday Night.
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Hit Row's return is the latest in a trend of previously released superstars returning to the company.
Since Triple H took over as the Head of Creative and EVP of Talent Relations in WWE, he has brought back the likes of Dakota Kai, Karrion Kross, Scarlett Bordeaux, and Dexter Lumis, who were released over the last few years.
Hit Row's Top Dolla was in contact with Triple H even after WWE release
Hit Row's Top Dolla (AJ Francis) recently described his relationship with former NXT overseer Triple H and how the two were in contact ever after the former's WWE release.
While speaking on Busted Open Radio, Francis discussed how he never stopped talking to The Game. He even sent clips to Triple H of the group (called The HitMakerz on the indie circuits) working together in Game Changer Wrestling (GCW).
Francis even revealed that the current incarnation of the group was what was initially planned, adding that Swerve to the group back in NXT was Triple H's idea.
When describing how their WWE return came to be, Dolla said:
"When he gets the reigns and is like, ‘I want to bring my guys back,’ we were one of his top priorities to get back because he knew what we could bring to the table. About a week and a half ago, he hit me up and was like, ‘How are the rest of the guys?’ ‘We’re good.’ ... He was like, ‘How fast can I act and get you guys here?’ This was on Wednesday of last week. ‘If you really want us, we can be there tomorrow.’ We ended up having a Zoom call with him, the three of us, and planned out what would happen the next couple of days. This week, we got physicals and contracts." [H/T WrestleTalk]
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While Hit Row would be an excellent addition to SmackDown's tag team division, it seems that they are not the last of the earlier released talent brought back into the fold by The Cerebral Assassin.