Released WWE star defends Seth Rollins after recent Booker T comment
AJ Francis, known as Hit Row’s Top Dolla in WWE, believes Seth Rollins was right to call out Booker T’s recent RAW Talk comments.
The two-time Hall of Famer recently said that Rollins had a “relatively easy” route to the top of WWE compared to Cody Rhodes. In response, the former Shield member tweeted that he worked hard for several years to build a reputation for himself.
Francis played in the NFL before joining WWE in 2020. Speaking on the Public Enemies Podcast, the 32-year-old explained that he can relate to how Rollins feels.
“I love Booker but Seth made a good point,” Francis said. “Seth was like, ‘Man, I worked my a** off to get to WWE, making no money, losing money, long drives, wrestling in high school gyms and UAWs and all these different things to build a name that got erased the moment I signed with WWE.’ I felt that because it was like I did so much before I got to WWE.” [34:38-35:02]
In addition to his NFL career, Francis worked in music and television before signing with WWE. He also participated in community programs and earned a Master's degree in international security and economic policy.
Why did Booker T comment on Seth Rollins’ past?
This narrative is false. I started wrestling at 18 years old in back rooms of bars, in pole barns, at UAW Halls, the occasional parking lot. Lost money. Broke bones. Drove countless hours alone just to build a name that got erased the second I walked in the WWE door. twitter.com/WWE/status/152…
In his role as a WWE analyst, Booker T was asked whether Cody Rhodes or Seth Rollins needs the win more at Hell in a Cell on June 5.
The 57-year-old answered with Rollins’ name, simply because Rhodes won their two previous meetings. He then discussed The Visionary’s path to becoming one of WWE’s top guys.
“Cody Rhodes, he’s not one of those guys that had the easy route,” Booker T said. “He had to work for everything. Seth Rollins is a guy that made it to the top relatively easy, but I must say he had a lot of help. Cody had to break himself down and rebuild himself, and that’s the Cody Rhodes that we see today.” [0:18-0:39]
From a storyline perspective, Rollins was hand-picked by WWE executive Triple H as the future of the company when he joined The Authority in 2014. However, in reality, the former WWE Champion had many struggles early on in his career and even came close to being fired in NXT.
Please credit the Public Enemies Podcast and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.