Since the Maximum Male Models officially debuted on WWE's SmackDown, the stable of suave-dressed studs has been, um, polarizing, to say the least.

Some people get it; they get the humor, they appreciate the innuendo, and ultimately understand that, as a heel stable, they are intended to garner boos, not cheers, from assembled audiences from across the nation.

… and then there are the fans who hate the group with a burning passion and already consider the stable one of the worst things WWE has intentionally put on their television program in years, which, when you consider some of the segments Vince McMahon has chosen to put on his television programs – Otis puking a hotdog? Piggy James? Katie Vick? – is really saying something.

Naturally, these opinions are going to vary drastically from person to person, with one WWE legend, Booker T, falling into the former camp and another, Jim Cornette, really not a fan of the role thrust on the man formerly known as LA Knight in NXT.

Jim Cornette, Booker T feel differently about WWE's Maximum Male Models.

Booker T is a big fan of WWE. He still works for the company, talks up their product on his various outlets, and is even featured on their Premium Live Event pre-shows when his schedule allows it.

This, understandably, leads some to call him a homer, who gives The Fed the benefit of the doubt on angles he would rag on if they were on AEW television instead. Here's what he had to say on his Hall of Fame podcast as dictated by Sportskeeda.

“I like it [MMM]. You got to be different. This business is character-driven, it really is. You can't have a wrestling show and just have people excited about people wrestling. Being able to bring something interesting, like the Maximum Male Models. Hey man, women love seeing men dressed a certain way. All the baby oil, pectoral muscle-flexing, quadriceps popping – women love that stuff, whether you realize it or not. I wore the shortest tights I could possibly find, I swear you'd think I was a part of MMM. You've got to give something for women to look at. You got to go out and cater to the women, so big props to MMM and hopefully, Mace can make that thing work. In this business, until you find it [the right gimmick], you're going to be looking for it,” said Booker T.”

Alright, so not the most ringing of endorsements, with the retired King focusing more on the female attention-grabbing aspect of the gimmick than the actual long-term potential of the unit as a modern equivalent of The Four Horsemen – goodness, could you even imagine – but a positive spin on a group who aren't getting many positive reviews.

And what about Cornette, who decidedly isn't employed by WWE and hasn't been even a little bit shy about speaking his mind when the company doesn't do what he thinks is best for business? What did he have to say on the subject? Well, let's see what he opined on the subject on his podcast Jim Cornette's Drive-Thru via a transcription from TJR Wrestling.

“But the thing is, I was embarrassed and I felt bad for Eli/LA. Because he’s talented. This is worse than The Red Rooster. First of all, the fans, just this presentation, within seconds were ‘What-ing’ him out of the building. And the problem was, he is so uncomfortable at doing this.”

Goodness gracious, worse than The Red Rooster, a gimmick so bad it reportedly had a detrimental effect on his career, according to the man behind the chicken feather mohawk? Cornette doesn't just think this is bad is a bad look for Dupri, but something that could quite literally follow him around for years to come, whether that means sticking around in WWE, kicking over to AEW – who also had an interest in his services when he was known as Eli Drake – or even just back in NWA? Goodness, that's not good at all.

Who is right, Booker T or Jim Cornette? Did the man now known as Max Dupri make a massive mistake in choosing to sign with Vince McMahon over Tony Khan? Would having stayed in NXT have potentially saved his career, which, at 39, is closer to its end than its beginning? For everyone's sake, let's hope it's the former, as it's rarely fun to watch a talented performer crash and burn in front of a national audience under the weight of a gimmick that he (probably) didn't create himself.