Hit Row’s return to WWE came together quickly, and it started with a text message.
WWE released Top Dolla, B-Fab, Isaiah “Swerve” Scott, and Ashante “Thee” Adonis in November 2021. Scott, now known as Swerve Strickland, signed with AEW in March, but WWE brought back the rest of Hit Row in August 2022. The group returned on the August 12, 2022 episode of WWE SmackDown.
Speaking on Wrassle Rap, Adonis and Top Dolla looked back on how their return came about.
“I was feeling some type of way and the day after SummerSlam, I was like, ‘I’m just going to text Hunter [Triple H] and say what’s up and tell him how I feel,'” Adonis said. “I literally sent him a book, a whole message, just telling him how I felt. He got back to me the next morning and was like, ‘Let’s talk soon.
Top Dolla then described how he and Triple H maintained communication after the group was released. He recalled how “The Game” texted him two days after SummerSlam, and their re-debut came a week later.
“Me and Hunter never stopped talking, even after we got released,” Top Dolla said. “We would always text once in a while, we’re not like best friends, but we would text once in a while. Just like Ashante, I’m watching SummerSlam and I see IYO (SKY) and Dakota (Kai) come back and I was like, ‘that’s so cool that they get to come back. I wonder if they want to bring Hit Row back.’ In my mind, I’m thinking that, but in my mind, ‘he’s probably got a long list of other people they want to bring back.’
“He did, obviously, have a long list of people he wanted to bring back. I’m thinking, if he brings us back, it would be two, three, six months from now. After SummerSlam, he texts me like two days later. ‘Do you have anything right now? When can I have you?’ ‘Tomorrow, if you want.’ The next couple of days, we had a Skype call with all three of us and a week later, we re-debuted.” (Transcription credit of Jeremy Lambert of Fightful)
Hit Row remains part of SmackDpwn’s tag team division, and they turned heel earlier in 2023.
