Why AJ Francis (Fka Top Dolla) Believes WWE Wanted Him To Fail

AJ Francis may have moved on following his release from WWE last September, finding comfortable ground on both the independent scene and TNA, where he's been working since debuting at Hard to Kill. Even still, the former Top Dolla can't help but shake the feeling that his second WWE run was doomed in some regards.

During an appearance on "Keepin' it 100 with Konnan," Francis admitted that a part of him felt that WWE wanted him to fail, even though he believes he had a good relationship with most of the WWE higher-ups. Francis' belief comes from the fact that WWE often refused to air music videos he would make for himself and his group, Hit Row, and even when WWE would do so, they wouldn't follow up.

"It's hard to not have that feeling when I'm making those videos, you know what I'm saying?" Francis said. "I'm making those videos every single week, I'm posting them on my social media, and then all the times they asked me to make them and post them...They asked me to do one for The OC and AJ Styles. I made that one, and I dropped it on all my social media Friday morning before 'SmackDown' at noon.

"In the eight hours between noon and when 'SmackDown' started, it had over 2 million views across all platforms. So it was absolutely a success, it was exactly what they were looking for. We had the match with The OC, they beat us. AJ Styles gives me the Phenomenal Forearm. It's a huge segment, it's one of my favorite things I ever did when I was on 'SmackDown.' And then it was just...nothing ever came from it again."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Keepin' it 100 with Konnan" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription