Top Dolla Talks Michael Cole, WWE Departure, Canned Food Drive (Patreon)

Fightful Select had the opportunity to speak with former WWE Superstar A.J. Francis (Top Dolla) in an exclusive interview as Francis prepares for his 7th annual Canned Food Drive at SECU Stadium in College Park, Maryland, this Saturday, November 18th.

Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp spoke to the former NFL veteran on numerous topics. A.J. said he’d been doing the canned drive before even playing College Football. A.J. mentioned that he does multiple charity drives for Sarah’s House yearly.

We mentioned his WWE 90-Day Non-Compete is coming up, and he will be a free agent soon. Sean asked A.J. if he plans to continue to wrestle. A.J. told Fightful Select, “I will be doing everything, man. I’m going to be making music and acting. I will never stop wrestling; wrestling is a bug that bit me, and I will have it for the rest of my life.” He added there is nothing like your music hitting and walking out.

A.J. talked to us about the potential storyline between him and Michael Cole. He was referring to the June 16th edition of SmackDown, where Cole, on commentary, would take digs at Top Dolla in Hit Row matches.

He said when he got hit with a Brogue Kick from Sheamus and lost his match. Cole had a line in which he would say, “Thanks for coming, Flop Dolla.” A.J. told us that Michael Cole was trying to get him more opportunities. He mentioned that Cole was one of the first to reach out to him after being released and would add, “The fact that people think that was real beef shows how good he is at his job and showed that Kayfabe is not dead, brother.”

A.J. told us that he loves Michael Cole. He said Cole tried hard to get a match for them, which was the end game. A.J. says Cole would have been going over in the match. A.J. would also tell us, “I’m very grateful for my time in WWE and very grateful I got to work with guys like Cole. I didn’t want to leave, but they didn’t want me there. Now, I can go anywhere, and I plan on it”.

Sean mentioned the music he collaborated on with Lio Rush and asked A.J. what musicians he would recommend for people to listen to. A.J. mentioned being on one of Lio’s tracks and mentioning Josiah Williams. He said that he and Josiah would be doing some stuff soon. A.J. added that people should listen to artists like Westside Gunn in Hip-Hop; outside of Hip-Hop, he said his favorite artist is Hosier.

Sean mentioned that he would be wrestling Shazza McKenzie, with the proceeds going to NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness). Sean asked A.J. for advice on how he could beat Shazza. A.J. told him his best bet would be for him not to show up. He would note that Sean will likely be the biggest heel in the building, and he needs to embrace it.

The Canned Food Drive will occur this Saturday, November 18th, in College Park, Maryland, before the University of Maryland Football game. A.J.’s alma mater, Maryland Terrapins, will host the number 3 ranked Michigan Wolverines. Below is a link for more information regarding Sarah’s House. https://cc-md.org/programs/sarahs-house/