Top Dolla On How Hit Row Came Together As a Faction In WWE, Initially Wanting Lio Rush To Join

In a recent interview on After the Bell with Corey Graves, Top Dolla discussed Hit Row’s call-up to WWE SmackDown, how Hit Row came together as a faction, and much more. You can read his comments below.

Top Dolla on Hit Row’s call-up to SmackDown: “It’s amazing because this is an idea I had for years, the record label faction. I did it on the indies. It’s something I wanted to do my whole life. I’ve watched WWE literally since before I could walk, before I could talk, with my dad. Even when I was in the NFL, my dream was to always be in WWE. People thought I was crazy that I was in the NFL and I would tell them that I hadn’t accomplished my dream yet. To get the opportunity with the Most Wanted Treasures TV show which led to my debut in May, and then less than five months later be on SmackDown, clearly not only was the idea good about the record label crew, but also the guys that I’m with are also, like it’s not me carrying it like when I was on the indies, I got stars with me on this crew who all bring something to the table which gives everybody something to relate to depending on what sports entertainment you like.”

Top Dolla on how Hit Row came together as a faction: “I came to WWE with this idea. When I first got here, I actually wanted to do the faction with Swerve and Lio Rush because I knew they both rapped. But Lio got released, and Swerve was doing that scientist character he was doing. So I said, let me just focus on myself. Then Ryan Katz, who works at the Performance Center, sent me a text message and was like, ‘What do you think about working with [Ashanti Adonis]?’ I was like, oh, I can still do the record label thing, make the music, me and Tehuti can be a tag, the three of us can all work, and it will be a great thing. We did that for like a year in the PC and we were known as ‘The Hitmakers.’ Everybody in the PC loved it. It’s the same thing we’re doing now. The only difference was I did the WWE’s Most Wanted Treasure show. Three days after that show debuted, and it did great numbers and all that, Hunter pulled me and Swerve aside, and said, ‘What do you think about Swerve joining your guys’ crew?’ Swerve was a rapper. Swerve didn’t know this, but I wanted him in from the beginning. When he asked us, I was like, ‘Oh yeah, absolutely, for sure. That would be awesome.’ Not only is he a rapper, but he brings something different to the table, and he already traveled the world of wrestling. That immediately answers the question of, ‘Well, can these guys wrestle, as if that even matters.’ Swerve was down with it, and we were down with him joining up with us.”

If using any of the above quotes, please credit WWE After the Bell with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.