Maxxine Dupri is beneath the microscope. Each milestone match of hers has performed out for a world viewers. With the WWE girls’s intercontinental championship resting on her shoulder, that will not change anytime quickly.
Probably the most profitable wrestling characters are sometimes amplified projections of the folks portraying them, and Dupri embraces that philosophy. She’s as novice as she is bubbly, and nobody is pretending in any other case. Whereas some could take difficulty together with her successful a singles title so early, many followers join with Dupri as an genuine underdog.
“Probably the most stunning half about Maxxine’s character is that it is actually me. I am studying on the street,” Dupri advised CBS Sports activities whereas selling WrestleMania 42, which returns to Las Vegas on April 18 and 19.
“You get to see my first match on Monday Evening Uncooked, and people emotions. You get a behind-the-scenes take a look at who I am and what I am going by. I feel it is particular that followers get to take that journey with me.”
Dupri is approaching 5 years with WWE, however little or no of that point was spent contained in the ring. She primarily labored as a valet for Most Male Fashions and Alpha Academy, and did not wrestle her first match till August 2023. That debut wasn’t tucked away on a pre-taped episode of Essential Occasion or NXT; it occurred beneath the brilliant lights of WWE Uncooked. Two years later, she pinned future WWE Corridor of Famer Becky Lynch to win singles gold.
That sort of fast ascent can rub folks the unsuitable manner. Many WWE superstars spend a long time plying their craft with out ever touching singles gold. Backstage, nonetheless, Dupri is reportedly well-liked, and her humility seems to go a good distance.
“They’re all very conscious that my fiftieth match, together with reside occasions, was after I beat Becky Lynch for the title,” Dupri mentioned. “That is the journey I am on. I am very sincere about the place I am at. I am not going to fake to find out about issues that I do not.”
Dupri’s bubbly persona is starting to present technique to a extra severe edge. WWE not too long ago aired a dramatic vignette displaying her coaching with Natalya inside The Dungeon, the wrestling faculty run by Natalya and her husband, WWE producer TJ Wilson. The Dungeon is a non secular successor to Stu Hart’s legendary Hart Dungeon, which formed the careers of Bret Hart, Owen Hart, and numerous others. True to kind, the character shift mirrors Dupri’s rising confidence as a wrestler.
“I feel it is time we present them precisely why Maxxine is enhancing…” Dupri mentioned of the intention behind the cinematic video. “It is due to the Dungeon. It is due to Nattie and TJ. It is due to these moments. I believed it was particular to peel that curtain again and present the followers.”
With WrestleMania 42 on the horizon, Dupri is not shying away from the highlight; it is the one world she is aware of. And if she has it her manner, Becky Lynch will likely be ready for her in Las Vegas.