 So much fun, our very first guest is a, our first guest in the new studio is a former NFL defensive tackle who played for the Patriots, the Dolphins, the Seahawks, the Giants and Washington is the unaccomplished rapper, maybe we'll get some bars here today on a Thursday morning and now a WWE certified superstar, AJ Francis aka Topdoll, I haven't seen you in years. I know it's been great to be back with you again, I mean we used to do this in New York and now we're out in LA, I didn't expect LA to be the cold and rainy city, you know. Yeah, not fun. I need that highlight package because I was looking good, I'm telling you. We will bring it for you, we have it for you, we have SmackDown tomorrow, are you excited? Very much so, like a year ago watching WrestleMania from home, not being a part of the festivities, after everything I wanted to do while I was in WWE, being back now, being able to be a part of WrestleMania weekend in LA, it's incredible, I'm very, very excited. Do you have a favorite WrestleMania moment? Uh, yeah. Ever. As a fan? Just either. Yeah, I would say WrestleMania 18, the Rock vs. Hulk Hogan in Toronto, Hulk Hogan was the reason that I first started wrestling when I was like one years old and like the Rock is the reason that I'm sitting before you today, so like the two of them have one of the greatest matches of all time at WrestleMania 18 and that would be my favorite. Now last time I saw you, I'm just gonna say you look a little different. I do. You look a lot different. Yeah. How much weight have you lost and how short of time? In about the last eight months I've lost 105 pounds. I was like 370 when we re-signed to WWE and then I'm 265 now. It took a lot of work, a lot of water, a lot of good choices with food, a lot of days and nights. This is what's so annoying about men. You just stopped drinking like diet soda and you dropped 100 pounds. See the problem was it was a diet, it was straight sugar soda. Really? Yeah, you know, a lot more, I'm drinking like two, three gallons of water a day now. We said earlier it's the truth, I go to the bathroom every half hour, but you can either go to the bathroom every half hour or you can be 370 pounds. There's choices there. What's motivating you? You know the guys at the top of the car, the guys I see in the locker room, they got great bodies, great physiques and they work all the time on their physiques and like I want to get to where they're at and like I don't want to be the big chubby guy. I want to be the big shredded guy. Can I just ask you why you don't want to be the chubby guy? Because listen, everybody's shredded now. When I look at WWE, everyone's shredded, everyone's an athlete. So why not be, you know, you're always looking to stand out, right? I would want to put on the most weight and then just sit on people. I mean, that's an option. Like the old days. Yeah, see, I mean, I could do that just like Andre the Giant. But the thing is, to me, in this new age of wrestling, the way that the guys move around and the way that they are athletically gifted is just like trying to be a different person is something that I could do and something that I did do very well as you showed the highlight. But I also enjoy sleeping through the night and not coughing, you know, on my own spit while I'm sleeping because I am trying to like actively make better decisions with my life because I've been through a lot and you know, I have a lot of family history with different medical things and I have to take care of myself. Yeah, yeah. Actually, we were on studio together and when it happened, it was in New York and I found out in between our sets and that was, yeah, it was. And I went out there and I mean, did the thing with you guys and, you know, I pushed through it to finish what I was supposed to do there. But like that was a rough day. And that really puts it in the back of your mind like my mom died. She was 46. I was 28 at the time. Like if I live her life, then my life's already halfway over. So I had wanted to start making better decisions. It's good perspective for everybody watching. We can all use that. You are living your dream. And I think I'm so happy that I get to sit and talk to you and I'm wishing you like I don't want, I will watch Smackdown tomorrow just to cheer you on. I will, I will absolutely because you're someone who I talked to years ago and you went through what you tried, you know, went team to team in the NFL. You did your thing and you sat with me years ago now before the pandemic and said, what I really want is WWE and now you're doing it and you're popping off. How did you do it? Man, it was, you know, I'm blessed with the fact that I played in the NFL and WWE is really big on athletes, right? So you got college athletes now that have NIL deals with the WWE before they even leave college, right? So like back then it wasn't like that for me. I knew getting to the NFL was all I had to do to make sure that I would get a trial in WWE because like I said, they love pro athletes. And so I get an opportunity to go to try out and I killed it. And then six months later, I was signed. So like it was only a year between the end of my football career and the beginning of my WWE. My man, we love it. You have your persona, top dollar. We're going to get into all of that and you can see it on Smackdown. I mean, WWE fans are going crazy for you, which is amazing. But you, you know, you played for all the teams that I mentioned, which means you had a stop in Seattle. I want to talk about that really quick. I asked you before we came on, what was your favorite stop in your NFL career? You said that. Are you surprised Pete Carroll is still doing this? No, because Pete is like a fountain of youth himself. You know what I'm saying? Like he personally gets you energized every day. Like you would think a lot of coaches, players at least, hear their coaches and they're like, oh man, I'm not trying to hear him. He just keeps running off. But Pete actually makes you want to like do things. Like and everything in Seattle is just competition based. Like practice is harder than games sometimes. But like everything else is cool. Meetings are cool. Lifting is cool. The city is cool. It was my first time living on the West Coast. Yeah. So like and we made the playoffs is the only time I ever made the playoffs. So it was like definitely my favorite time on that team. Who would have had the best persona? I mean, Pete Carroll could have been it. Oh, gosh. Michael Bennett for sure. Michael Bennett was on that team. Michael Bennett was on there at Camp Chasler. Sherm, Richard Sherman, like I play with all those guys. I know. So who would be the best WWE persona? Oh, Bennett. Yeah, it would be Mike because he's got the size, the athleticism, the gift of gab. But you know, Sherm also has that too. You got that dance, though, with with Bennett. Yeah, it's true. Bennett can dance. Yeah, true also. That's good. OK, now let's talk quickly about you were in Washington. Were you with Kirk Cousins then? Yes, I was. So let's just his persona has taken a bit of a turn. Yeah. Hey, Jay, let's talk about this because he was from Captain Kirk, the Kirk O'Banks. So then, you know, he was Mr. Michigan State, Sparty on nerd, and then this happened. Hey, big drip, Kirk, I see you. Hey, it's funny because, like, Kirk is he has this personality. He always did it like this. Did he? Yeah, he just didn't show it off. No, no, no. Tell me what his personality is then. What are you talking about? He's like the nerdy homeboy that hangs with all the brothers on the team. No, nerdy homeboys that hang with the guys on the team do not drive conversion vans and have, like, bumper stickers. Like, what are you talking about? Hey, man, you know, he went to Minnesota. He had to change his vibe up a little bit. When he left D.C., like, I thought he was going to be in D.C. forever. I mean, D.C. still hasn't got a quarterback in him, you know what I'm saying? They just kept backing up that Brink's truck into his backyard. And he could have kept doing that in D.C. And they decided they wanted to go a different direction and it's worked better for Minnesota. You know, you're being too nice. How can Kirk Cousins work on his persona? Like, have you seen the man dance? Yes, wear more chains, you know what I'm saying? More. We need more Kirk O'Chains. Oh, gosh, that's absolutely terrible and terrifying. OK, let's talk about audience here. You know, I know what it's like to be at an NFL Stadium. You know what it's like to play in front of fans. How does it compare to the crowd at a WWE situation? So it's completely different because fans at football games are reactionary. Like, they react to what happens on the field. So do you. And so, like, if good things are going for the home team, the crowd's going crazy. If bad things are going for the home team, it's pretty much silent. In WWE, fans are going to be a part of the show. They're going to be interactive. So if it's boring that they're watching, they're not just going to sit on their hands. They're going to literally chant boy, you know what I'm saying? Like, if they love what they're seeing, they're going to chant, this is awesome. They're going to do everything. Like, whatever they got to do to get themselves involved. And that's cool because you can play off that as a performer. Like, I say things a lot of the times, like, especially we go to, like, D.C. Like, I'm from D.C. Yeah, so you've got it. And I played in D.C. But, like, the whole time I was on the mic, all I did was talk bad about the commanders, right? Because I knew all that would do is big them. Hate me, which is my objective, right? OK, so if you were to say what your persona is in Top Dala, give me, like, what your persona is for being a way out. Hip-hop CEO, Street Garden, is ready to throw down at all times and it will not let you play with his name. See, because Top Dala is a cool name, but it's the kind of name that people try to, like, play with and come up with other ways. And I use, I don't know if you've ever seen The Wire, but I use, like, Marlo Stansfield in The Wire. And I'm always, like, my name is my name. OK, you do that. See, that's my thing. So, like, that's how I, someone calls me, you know, they call me Flop Dala or they call me Bottom Dollar or something, and I got to make amends to that and let them know that my name is my name. That's how we do that. So when you, do you, like, do things that fall flat ever in front of the crowd? Like, do you do a workshop at, like, a comedian? Yeah, no, I did, I went to do a dive one time and my leg was like, you ain't diving, big fella. Really? And I got caught on the top rope and it happens. It's live TV, but you got to keep going with it. Like, I'm still recovering from, like, my leg is still recovering from that. That was months ago, but it's like, you still got to just push through and cut. I mean, it's just like in football, like, if I played, when I was on the Dolphins, I played a whole game with a torn meniscus. You just got to do what you got to do. Okay, they want me to, what did they want me to ask, the finishing move? Yes. Okay, can we see this finishing move, top dollar finishing move? I think we have some footage of it. Here it is. What do you call this, talk me through? Oh, AJ, AJ, AJ. So, right here. Oh my gosh! This is called the world's strongest wasteland. All right, Maya, get over here, we're gonna practice this. Because the move for the guy I'm holding in my arms is called the world's strongest slam. And the move for the guy in my shoulders is called a wasteland. So I call it the world's strongest wasteland. And why was your niece about to come and get put through a table? Maya, I can come here whenever she wants. Maya, you want to come over here and sit with me? No, okay. I was joking, I thought maybe, would you want to try that? Yeah, I mean, you went on the biggest roller coaster in the world. This is top dollar, this is my friend AJ, this is my husband. I like your jacket. Doesn't she look cool, want to come sit with me? All right, let's keep talking here. So, you are here in Los Angeles, he's gonna be in WrestleMania, wrestling, which is super fun. You are participating in the Andre, the giant battle royale tomorrow. Give me the lowdown. Like, what's the best storyline? So the Andre, the giant moral battle royale is a traditional over-the-top battle royale. The only way that you can be eliminated is by being thrown over the top rope. A lot of greats have won it. You got guys like Jay Huso, who won it recently. Look at that. Yeah, and he's one of the top guys on the card right now in one of the biggest storylines. So, you know, there's a lot of opportunities that get to be given to people when they win this, and I'm very much looking forward to winning. Yeah, is there camaraderie between you guys, like in an NFL locker room, or is it like your... Yes and no, yes and no. It's just like NFL locker room where like... Are y'all in one locker room though, so it's like you're in there with your competition? Yeah, so it's just like the NFL. So like, I might be... No, because if Richard Sherman's not out there with Michael Crabs, you're in the same locker room before a game. No, but he's in the locker room with other defensive backs, because we gotta earn a job over. Yeah, that's true. So it's like, I might be best friends with an offensive lineman, but when we do one-on-ones, we ain't homeboys. You know, like I gotta eat, you gotta eat. We out here working for it, and it's the same way in WWE locker room, like we're all cool, we kick it back there, we play video games, we play cards. It's a great time, but at the end of the day everybody's trying to get to that top spot, and if you gotta step on somebody to get there, that's just how I'd be. Yeah, so that's what it is. And if I had a WWE persona, what would it be, or a name, or a good kind of... Slay K. Slay K, okay, I like that. I don't know what my finishing move would be, just talking someone to death. I'm just trying to talk to somebody. I think that's what it would be. Okay, I think, I mean, that's kind of it. I think, are we good? What else do we wanna ask you about? What else do you wanna talk about? I'm just really excited to be here in LA. Wanna talk about music? Yeah, let's do that. I mean, what's going on with your music? I know that that's been a huge part of your career. You could basically have done anything that you wanted to with wrestling right now, but you could have a music career, right? It's cool because music has always been my lifeblood, and yet, I found a way to incorporate it into what I love in WWE, right? And it's cool because my crew hit row, me, myself, B-Fab, Ashanti, the Adonis, the three of us, we are like a big family, right? So we're, even though we are a group in wrestling, like we don't do nothing without each other. Like for example, last night we went to Roscoe's, and then on the way home, my car got a flat tire, so in the rain in Crenshaw, we was putting a doughnut on the back tire, you know what I'm saying? So like, but I called him, I was like, yo, I need your help, you know what I'm saying? And he was like, all right, cool, they just came through. Well, it's not supposed to rain here. I know, that's what I'm saying. I was told that it never rains in Southern California. The taxes are too high here. It's not good to rain. So it's like- But you dropped a new song. Yeah, I got a new song coming out. I just debuted it last night on DJ Who Kid for Shade 45. Okay, let's hear it. You debuted it last night? Yeah, yeah. That's amazing. Okay, let's listen. So much bread, I got a wheel, and that's really real. Got a crib like Uncle Phil, and that's really real. Whoa! Where can we hear it? It's really real. When it comes out, it'll be on all platforms, but it has not, it hasn't been released yet. It's just I'm doing my press forward now, getting everybody's ears open to it so that I can drop it very soon. Has there been a successful athlete turned rapper? Yeah, there's a little bunch. Who's the best one? Dame Dala is actually a good rapper. There's a lot of athletes that have songs, but they're not good rappers. Yeah, Conrad and my ear are saying Shaq has bars. Oh, Shaq definitely has bars. Shaq has a song with Biggie. It's one of my favorite songs ever. You can't not mention Nate Burleson, because I want to be sad. You got one and Nate's got bars. Nate be spitting too, you know? Every time me and Nate were on set together, you know I always had to show him who the real spitter was, but you know, that's my guy. He's passionate. Do you have any that you want to drop some bars for us? You got a little something? Yeah, I mean, you know what? Tomorrow's the Andre, I'll do something for you. All right. Here we go. Last week, I got the text I was going to be in the Andre. First thing I did was hit a shantae. That's the way you start mania in LA after party with shorties at the telé. The telé, bracing will contribute to sensation and jubilation across the nation. The day my haters dreaded like a Haitian. From the top of giant shoulders, you can see what's shaking. Not John Tentor, but I see the earthquake in, and avalanche, a Haitian, wrap God forsaken, kiss my, no hesitation. Yeah, that's cool. Woo! AJ! Thank you. Check out his new music. Good luck to you and smash them. Say good luck, Maya. Good luck. Appreciate it. Shake Bo, we love you, AJ. I'm about to get some gear made like that. That looks cool. That's live. This, she looks a lot cooler than I do. She got blue hair and I got it all going on. She could be in the WWE. She could. You can come back right here. I'm up and out.