AJ Francis Says Locker Room Jealousy Runs Deep for Celebs and Athletes Getting a Shot

AJ Francis isn’t sugarcoating the reality of football players breaking into pro wrestling—and he’s not holding back on those in the locker room throwing shade about it.

During a recent interview on Busted Open After Dark with Denise Salcedo, the former NFL player turned wrestling star broke down why making the jump from football to wrestling isn’t as easy as people think—and why some wrestlers still can’t stand it.

Francis explained that the hardest part of transitioning to wrestling isn’t the bumps or physical grind. For him, it’s the harsh reality that athletes like him aren’t always booked to dominate, no matter their background.

“The thing that I think is the hardest transition for football players to professional wrestling, it isn’t learning the act of putting on a match. It isn’t taking the bumps. It isn’t even—most for the most part, because most professional football players have to be showmen, ’cause like, it’s entertainment. Football is entertainment. The hardest part… is dealing with the fact that you’re not going to be booked like Goldberg. You’re not gonna be booked like all these guys who came in and got pushed to the moon immediately.”

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Francis shared how tough it can be to go from battling elite athletes on the football field to being told to lose to someone smaller and less physically imposing.

“For example… I played in games against 300-pound silverback gorillas that were trying to murder me, right? I’ve slammed 300-pound men to the ground, I’ve broken ribs, I’ve done some of the most physically demanding things there is to do. And then I get in a wrestling ring and I have to lose to a guy that’s $1.65 and can’t tie his shoes and chew bubble gum at the same time.”

But it’s not just about booking. AJ made it clear there’s plenty of jealousy in the locker room toward athletes like him who enter wrestling through a different path.

“A lot of wrestlers want to belittle your road to getting where you are… They say, ‘You only got here because you played football.’ Well yeah, bro, that is how I got here… I have nothing but respect for you grinding on the indies for 10 years. But I grinded in football for 16 years AND I was on the indies. I can do what you did, you can’t do what I did. So why you hating on me?”

To drive his point home, Francis used Logan Paul as a prime example of someone who didn’t take the traditional path but earned every opportunity with undeniable performances.

“People hate on Logan Paul all the time… but Logan Paul has zero stinker matches. ZERO. He goes out, does incredibly athletic feats, makes people care, brings in views… He deserves the spot at WrestleMania. Whether he was on Raw the three weeks before or not—it doesn’t matter. That’s just how business works.”

Love it or hate it, AJ’s right—the wrestling business has never been about how long you grind, but how much you deliver when the lights are on. And judging by his attitude, he’s not apologizing for how he got here.

Please credit Ringside News if you use the above transcript in your publication.