33-year-old says he was "p***ed off" after being shockingly released from WWE 

A former WWE star has confessed he was angry after the Stamford-based promotion released him last year. The name in question is AJ Francis, who went by the name Top Dolla during his time in the global juggernaut.

Francis has had a topsy-turvy journey in the wrestling business. He first signed with WWE in January 2020. The 33-year-old became a member of the popular stable Hit Row in NXT alongside names like current AEW star Swerve Strickland. However, his run in the company ended unexpectedly when he, alongside all his stablemates, was released in November 2021.

Though Top Dolla returned to WWE in August 2022 when Triple H assumed leadership in the company, his run quickly fizzled out again. Just over a year later, in September 2023, he was shown the door for the second time. In a chat with WrestlingInc, Dolla explained that he was "p***ed" after being let go by the global juggernaut last year:

"I let myself be p***ed off for 24 hours, and then it was time to gameplan," Francis said. "Actually, I get an opportunity now to show, and I've already been doing it, that I'm a star. I'm not background. I'm not just another person that happens to be on your roster. I can carry your roster if you give me a microphone and let me go. I am at the point now where I'm hotter than I ever was in WWE, and I'm doing it all on my own."

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Michael Cole wanted to face Top Dolla in WWE

Last month, in an interview, Top Dolla spoke about when he and Michael Cole were keen to have a match in the Stamford-based promotion. The TNA star mentioned that the two even pitched the possibility of locking horns at SummerSlam 2023 to the creative team, but the idea wasn't taken seriously.

"We went to Vince [McMahon] and were like (...) it's not like they said no, it's just like, it wasn't even a concept to them. Like me and Cole were trying to put these things in order, and it didn't work. There are a million reasons why you could say it didn't work. The biggest reason why I think it didn't work was because we never got to cut promos to cut promos."

For those unaware, Michael Cole often took digs at Top Dolla whenever the latter took to the ring during his time in the company.

Do you think Triple H would ever bring back Top Dolla to WWE? Let us know what you think in the comments section.