AJ Francis Calls His Ladder Bump At TNA Slammiversary ‘The Gnarliest Bump Ever’

Francis looks back on the moment.

The 2025 installment of TNA’s Slammiversary pay-per-view featured a four-way Ladder match for the TNA World Tag Team Championships. The bout featured The Hardys (Matt Hardy & Jeff Hardy), The Rascalz (Myron Reed & Zachary Wentz), First Cla$$ (A.J. Francis & K.C. Navarro), and The Nemeths (Ryan Nemeth & Nic Nemeth).

As the bout was ongoing, there was a point when Francis was pushed off a ladder and sent through another ladder that was positioned on the outside of the ring. Both of Francis’ legs went through the gaps in the ladder as he came down.

He looked back on that moment while appearing on the Battleground Podcast. He stated that he leaped off the ladder instead of just falling straight down because had he not jumped, he would have tripped over the top rope. Francis said he was just trying not to die doing the spot.

He called it the ‘gnarliest bump ever’ and added that people were asking him if he was fine, but K.C. Navarro was the one who was hurt.

“So, I can give you a play-by-play breakdown. I actually haven’t done this on anybody’s show. So, what actually happened was K.C. (Navarro) was legitimately hurt and is legitimately hurt. So, at that spot, in the back, they were telling the refs and eventually told Myron (Reed), ‘Don’t let K.C. take the bump…’ As we’re climbing the ladder, I’m hearing Myron tell K.C., ‘Yo, they don’t want you to take the bump, they don’t want you to take the bump,’ and K.C. says, and I quote, ‘Just push the f*cking ladder, bro.’ But as this conversation’s going on, I’m watching them and I’m not paying attention to the fact that one of my feet is not on the rung it needs to be. So when the ladder’s being pushed, I realized, oh sh*t, I’m gonna trip on this rope if I don’t jump over it. So I jumped over it and at that point, I’m just trying not to die… I literally actually land on my feet, but just roll through with it on the ladder. But it’s the gnarliest bump ever and it’s crazy because… people have talked about it for so much and it’s like, I add so much to an already great match to take that bump. Especially after the moonsault I did right before then. But, then, everyone’s like, ‘A.J., are you okay!? Are you okay? Are you okay? Are you okay?’ And I’m perfectly fine but, K.C.’s actually hurt. But everyone’s asking me if I’m okay. So that’s why it’s crazy to me.

I knew that was my last spot. So, I didn’t have to do anything after that anyway and I knew that. Once I took the bump, you know, you land and you’re like, ‘I’m alright,’ and as I’m realizing, I’m like, yo, my feet went right through the ladder. This is crazy. I bet this looks nuts. So then I, as I’m selling, get into position so I can see the jumbotron and I look up at the jumbotron and they do the replay and I’m like, oh, everyone thinks I’m dead. I’m like, ‘This is awesome.’ Everyone thinks I’m dead. I’m perfectly fine. So then now I just crawl over to K.C. and I’m like, ‘Yo, you good?’ He’s like, ‘Nah bro, I’m not.’”

Navarro’s injury status was confirmed on the 8/7 TNA iMPACT. He suffered a torn ACL and will be undergoing surgery. As a result, Francis kicked Navarro out of First Cla$$ and replaced him with original First Cla$$ member, Rich Swann.

If the quotes in this article are used, please credit the Battleground Podcast with an H/T to Fightful for the transcriptions.