Mark Henry says WWE stars were fired for speaking up against creative
WWE legend Mark Henry opened up about Hit Row's exit from the company during their first run in the company and what caused it.
Hit Row was a faction that debuted on NXT in 2020. Faction members Top Dolla, Ashante Adonis, B-Fab, and Isaiah 'Swerve' Scott were called up to WWE SmackDown in 2021. Their time on the main roster didn't last long and just a few weeks later, they were released by the company. They were re-signed earlier this month.
On the Busted Open show, Mark Henry said that the company told Hit Row that they had big plans for them but told them that B-Fab would not be a part of the faction. Top Dolla spoke up against that decision, which eventually led to all four members of the faction being released from the company.
"They gave them the, you know, let me preface this with, they took them to Titan Tower [WWE headquarters] and they told them the day before they killed them that, 'Hey, we got big plans. We're gonna do this with y'all, we're gonna do that with y'all,' and then they softened them up and said, 'Yeah, but we're gonna let, B-Fab go.' AJ [Top Dolla] spoke up and said, 'No, she's an intricate part of what we do. She's a charter member,' and that was the end of them," said Mark Henry.
Henry continued:
"And I don't think that speaking up is grounds for dismissal. If anything it's grounds for starting a conversation about, 'Well, how about let's do this and let's do that, let's negotiate something.' But that's how it went out." [From 2:40 to 3:35]
🏽 #HitRow 
#OG3
“This industry ain’t gotta like us, but they gon’ respect it…” 👌🏽 #HitRow 🔝💵 #OG3 https://t.co/86JMpRPSmR
The Hall of Famer is pleased to see Hit Row return to the company and is curious to see what plans the company has for the faction going forward.
What are WWE's plans for Hit Row?
And if you didn't know, now you know.
@AJFrancis410 @tehutimiles @TheVibeBri #SmackDown https://t.co/mWoplvoHOE
Hit Row, the trio of B-Fab, Top Dolla, and Ashante "Thee" Adonis are reportedly set to be a babyface faction on WWE SmackDown, as per a report by PWInsider.
On their second debut on the main roster, Top Dolla and Ashante "Thee" Adonis faced and defeated local talent on SmackDown last week.
Top Dolla also stated on social media that they will not be adding any more members to the faction as they are not "accepting applications at this time". With Triple H in charge of creative, the former NXT faction could get more time to showcase their talent on the Blue brand.
If you use any of the above quotes, please credit Busted Open and H/T Sportskeeda for the transcription.