WWE: Maxxine Dupri reveals her blazing fast path to the Main Roster

Over the course of a week, Maxxine Dupri went from Sophia Cromwell on NXT to the new leader of the Maximum Male Models on SmackDown.

After a, shall we say, unusual turn by Max Dupri on the main roster that rapidly called for the return of LA Knight, the Maximum Male Models needed a new leader to keep their shtick alive on the main roster, with Maxxine Dupri, the former's sister, tabbed as the faction's new leader.

But before Maxxine Dupri was Maxxine Dupri, she was Sofia Cromwell, an associate of Rober Stone and valet of Von Wagner in NXT. Stopping by Out of Character with Ryan Satin to discuss her time in WWE, which is less than two years if you can believe it, Dupri explained how she first heard about the Maxxine character and why she didn't believe she would be afforded the opportunity.

“I signed in October 2021, and then I went up in July (2022). I was only on TV for a month or two,” Dupri said via Fightful. “I fractured my fibula. That happened in May or June. In hindsight, I think that was a really big blessing because I wasn't doing much in NXT because I was injured. When they were looking at who was going to be Maxxine, that ended up being a positive and allowed me heal. I was in NXT working with Von (Wagner) and (Robert) Stone, which was amazing and so much fun. I obviously wasn't doing very much because Stone was managing Von, and I was with him, and I would get a few lines, but it was still ‘she's new, let's dip our toes in it.' They started advertising this new character Maxxine was going to join Maximum Male Models. They promoted it for like three weeks, and I didn't know that whole time, I had no idea.”

Fortunately for Dupri, the opportunity did come her way, and she made the most of it despite a very fast turnaround.

🗣️ @maxxinedupri didn’t know she was getting called up to be in MMM until the day before.

This and more on the latest #OutOfCharacter pic.twitter.com/JQvIHIhYUD

— Possibly Ryan Satin (@ryansatin) May 31, 2023

Maxxine Dupri explained just how fast she jumped from NXT to WWE.

Turning her attention to actually getting her new character, Dupri described just how quickly the opportunity came together, with her life going from Sophia Cromwell on Wednesday to Maxxine on Friday with a single day to prepare in between.

“The week before, they were in Orlando, we all went and watched, they advertised it again, and I thought, ‘it has to be someone who is LA Knight's sister, there's no way. I'm not ready yet. I'm not healed.' The next week, the week Maxxine is supposed to debut, I go to sleep on Wednesday and don't get a text. ‘Okay, it's not me,' but I had this weird gut feeling. ‘It's not me, next opportunity.' I wake up on Thursday to go to training at 7 AM and I have a text from travel, ‘we need you at SmackDown tomorrow,'” Dupri said.

“I text the lead writer at NXT, ‘I'm heard I'm needed for SmackDown. Do you know what's going on?' I go to skull to watch film, I pulled my coach aside, ‘I got this text, I don't know what's going on.' ‘No stress, they probably want to see you in person or maybe they're bringing Von up for a dark match.' Now, it's 10 AM and I get to meet with the lead writer and he's like, ‘What's going on?' ‘I don't know, I heard I'm needed for SmackDown.' ‘Let me check my email. Alright, you're Maxxine. You're flying out today.' My flight is in four hours. I ran home, had to get a spray tan, packed my bag, hit the road, and took off from there.”

Ultimately, for how rushed her debut apparently turned out to be, the debut of Maxxine Dupri was widely viewed as a success, with her energy creating all sorts of interesting dynamics that eventually allowed LA Knight to spin off into the character he was always meant to be. She led Mace and Mansoor in feuds against Los Lotharios and Hit Row, was a focal point of the very fun Making it Maximum YouTube show, and has since moved on to become a member of Alpha Academy, even if that's led to some shade sent her way by her former factionmates.

Though only time will tell what fans of WWE will see from Dupri moving forward, with her spot in Alpha Academy still not firmly defined and her association with the Maximum Male Models still dubious, the future looks bright for the RAW Superstar, which was almost impossible to imagine when she was spending her time hanging around with Robert Stone and Von Wagner with no direction in NXT.