There's little chance A.J. Francis will ever send a heartfelt thank you note to Dave Gettleman.
Perhaps he should.
It was in the summer of 2018 when Francis was released by the New York Giants. Not long after, he made the switch from the gridiron to the squared circle and has never looked back.
Once an NFL defensive lineman who by his admission was on the roster bubble autumn after autumn, Francis now finds himself in the biggest pro wrestling match of his burgeoning career, challenging Nic Nemeth for the Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling world championship on Friday night.
"Friday's honestly the biggest moment of my career," Francis told NFL.com ahead of his matchup at the Center Stage Theater in Atlanta and streaming on TNA+. "It's my first world title match. Some people wrestle for 20-30 years and never get a world title match on the caliber of TNA. As far as world titles in wrestling, there's not many as prominent, as historic, as important as the TNA world title. So, to be given the opportunity to even be in a match for it, is an honor and a privilege."
A product of Gonzaga High School (the same alma mater as Caleb Williams) who was an undrafted free agent out of Maryland, Francis was a defensive lineman whose NFL career ranged from 2013 to 2018 with time spent in the Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, Seattle Seahawks, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington and Giants organizations.
When Friday night rolls around, Francis won't be the only former NFL player on the TNA card.
Quinn Ojinnaka, better known now as "Moose," was an offensive lineman from 2006 through 2016 for the Atlanta Falcons, Patriots, Rams and Indianapolis Colts. "Moose" is two-time former TNA world champion, but this is Francis' night upcoming, his name adorning the marquee.
"I've only been wrestling for six years," Francis, 34, said, "and this past year's been by far the best of my career, and I think I've earned this opportunity, so I'm really excited to prove why I belong in this world title picture."
It's been a long road and a short ride all the same for Francis, whose career has stunningly grown and prospered since he was released by WWE, easily the most well-known professional wrestling brand to the casual fan and general public.
Francis' pro wrestling genesis came in many ways because of what he believes myriad Big Blue rooters can relate to: a bad decision by Gettleman.
"I definitely played well enough to make the team, but, you know, Gettleman decided not to keep me," Francis said. "And, if you ask any New York Giants fan, that's not the only mistake he's ever made."
Francis was officially released by the Giants on Sept. 1, 2018.
As fate would have it, the last NFL game he would end up playing had come nine months prior on New Year's Eve 2017 and it was against the Giants, as Francis was then playing for Washington. It was likely his best career showing, having logged a career-high 44 snaps for Washington and posted a career-best six tackles in an 18-10 loss to New York.
Following his New York release, Francis quickly found his true calling.
With minimal experience after taking part in a wrestling battle royal at his friend's party of all things, Francis enrolled at Team 3D Academy, a wrestling school helmed by WWE Hall of Famers Bubba Ryan and D-Von Dudley. He'd had his first wrestling match in late October of 2018, but by January of the following year his agent came calling. Francis says he had offers from the Cleveland Browns and Raiders for futures contracts. He'd come to a realization, though, on the autumns behind him and what could lie ahead.
"I was the utility guy that had to be able to do everything," Francis said of his NFL days. "I was always the bubble roster guy, fringe guy, practice squad, called up, play in a couple games, go back down. That was my whole career. That's the career of so many undrafted free agents."
Francis set his sights forward on wrestling, but remains grateful for each and every opportunity provided him by his past football exploits.
"The NFL opened so many doors for me in wrestling," Francis said. "Even before I got to WWE, I was getting booked on the indies like three, four months into wrestling training because they were booking me as, I was getting booked in D.C. as a former Commanders players. I was getting booked in South Florida as a former Dolphins player. Just the NFL helped me so much in my wrestling career, as well as obviously my media career."
It was his NFL pedigree that also helped him to get a tryout with the WWE.
Eventually that turned into a contract, where he was once more part of a team: Hit Row. Along with Francis' "Top Dolla," Isaiah "Swerve" Scott (now "Swerve" Strickland in Tony Khan's AEW), Ashante "Thee" Adonis and B-Fab comprised the Hit Row faction. It became a hot act on NXT -- WWE's developmental brand.
When Hit Row got to the main roster, though, it wasn't pushed as it was on NXT.
Originally released in November of 2021, Francis and Co. rejoined the organization in August of 2022 (sans "Swerve"). However, Francis and his squad never reclaimed the buzz they had in NXT. Perhaps the most notable low was a Francis botch when he attempted a front dive over the top rope. Botches happen plenty in the world of pro wrestling, though this one was exasperated by the commentary team surprisingly making light of it time after time, shining a light on his mishap.
Once again in September -- this time in 2023 -- Francis was released.
"A year ago, I was a laughingstock in wrestling," Francis said. "A year ago, I was a joke, a punchline. And now, I'm the best heel in the business. And all it took was an opportunity."
Undeterred, Francis' NFL experience -- the ups and downs of having worn so many jerseys -- proved pivotal.
He looked back at the time when Pete Carroll and the Seahawks sent him packing in the spring of 2016 as an example of how to fuel his fire.
"I didn't really have a problem with [my Seahawks release], but I knew right then and there, I was like, 'Oh you think you don't need me, you don't think I'm good enough to stay around, OK well I'm going to show you that I am,'" Francis said. "I ended up playing three more years."
Since joining TNA in January of this year under his real name, Francis has become one of wrestling's best bad guys.
His gift of gab and hustle to get his name -- and TNA's -- recognition have worked to aplomb. His approach was much the same with the WWE, but viewed much differently.
"WWE doesn't need anybody. WWE is a brand name," Francis says. "But because of that, they can pick and choose who they want to be their guys and girls. And they've done a very good job of that over the years. But they've also missed on some people, like for example, Cody Rhodes."
Rhodes, whose late father Dusty was one of the industry's biggest stars in the 1970s and 80s, was in the WWE ranks for years, but rarely advanced past the mid-card. Upon his release, Cody Rhodes trotted the globe, including stops with TNA and eventually helping to launch Khan's AEW. He then returned to WWE and is currently one of its headliners.
That's the road Francis is endeavoring to travel: becoming a brighter star than he was while with the largest pro wrestling league in the world.
He's made appearances on The Pat McAfee Show, had appearances with ESPN's Scott Van Pelt, been on Super Bowl media row and landed a gig with the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl.
"I never needed the machine," Francis said of the WWE. "I am a machine."
Now, Francis has arrived at Final Resolution. He's headlining against Nemeth, another legit athlete -- having been a standout wrestler at Kent State -- and former WWE talent performing under his real name.
Just as Francis' release by the Giants led him to wrestling, his release by the WWE has led him down another path that he couldn't be happier to travel.
"In WWE, I felt like I was like a backup O-lineman," Francis said. "They would use me when they needed me, but they didn't really have a need for me. In TNA, I'm a quarterback. A Pro Bowl quarterback. A Super Bowl-contending quarterback."
Francis' Super Bowl kicks off Friday night, and he's positive anyone who gets a ticket will be entertained to the highest level.
"It's gonna be a crazy environment," he said. "And it's gonna be, I'm calling it now, I think the best match of my career and I'm very much looking forward to proving to everyone who a year ago thought I was an afterthought, that I'm the first thought that you should have every time."
