Tag: Max Dupri

LA Knight praises Maxxine Dupri’s WWE progress after being ‘thrown to the wolves’

Posted on by Rosanne Raphael

LA Knight is happy to see how far Maxxine Dupri has come since they were paired together in WWE.

In an interview with Esteban Ramirez, the WWE star had praise for Dupri’s wrestling run after their characters were split up on-screen. He acknowledged that Dupri was pushed to the main roster at a very early stage of development and expressed pride in her recent accomplishments. 

“She’s come a long way, because in all honesty – and this is no fault of her own – when she was first brought up, if we’re just being 100 percent, she was not ready,” Knight said. “And I think she would admit that, 100 percent. And again, that’s not her fault. She kinda just got thrown to the wolves. And she’s done well.

“Of course, it hasn’t been perfect, but it never is. Nobody can be perfect. I’m not perfect. Nobody’s perfect, everybody has their mess-ups. But when you’re talking about somebody coming in completely unprepared, and in this amount of time, being able to get the fan support, and then beyond that she’s already been Intercontinental Champion at this point. I’d say that’s a pretty major come-up. So good for her.”

Barely a year into her WWE signing, Dupri made her main roster debut on SmackDown in July 2022. She initially appeared as Director of Talent for Maximum Male Models alongside Knight, who was performing under his “Max Dupri” gimmick. Three months later, Knight exited the group and reverted to his NXT persona, the character he continues to portray today. 

Meanwhile, Dupri has worked hard to improve in the ring, with her Intercontinental Championship win from last year showing how much she has grown.

LA Knight says concern over age led to Max Dupri character in WWE

Posted on by Ian Carey

LA Knight says that his age played a factor in WWE’s decision to re-brand him as Max Dupri on the main roster. 

Previously known as Eli Drake, the 40-year-old signed with WWE in early 2021. He adopted the LA Knight persona in NXT until making his main roster debut in January 2022. Upon being called up, Knight was re-branded as Max Dupri, manager of The Maximum Male Models. He recently told Daily Mail that WWE transitioned him to a manager’s role due to concerns over his age. 

Knight said:

I come up for a dark match, I get the attention of the right people; “hey, who is this guy?” but then the age thing comes up – [whispers] “oh no, he’s 40, danger’. But I’m not the average 40-year-old. I haven’t gone through the ringer. I haven’t had a bunch of surgeries or injuries, knock on that wood. I’ve lived a good, youthful life in a certain sense and I’ve taken care of myself in a way I would say most don’t.

And also, I look a certain way where obviously I’ve got somebody’s attention. But that number came up and it was like “well ok, maybe we make him a manager.” So Some things happened there. It was not my cup of tea and definitely I don’t think it was for me. But somehow, there I was. Some things happened that we don’t need to go into and then eventually LA Knight was back.’

Our own Dave Meltzer reported in the August 2, 2022, edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, that Vince McMahon made the call to remove Knight from the Maximum Male Models after being upset with how he was delivering his lines. Knight was also said to have been critical of some of WWE’s scripting at the time. 

However, shortly after Knight was removed from the group, McMahon “retired.” With Triple H taking the reigns of WWE creative, Knight says he lobbied for a return to the character he portrayed in NXT.  

Knight continued:

I was kinda pushing for it but didn’t know if it was really a possibility at that point because we just established this thing to this larger audience. The NXT audience is what it is, just under a million or whatever, and now you’re looking at over two million for Smackdown. So there’s a bunch of people who had never even seen LA Knight before and they’d only seen this other thing. So now, can we just change gears? So now, I think it’s a testament to his trust and a testament to my abilities to be able to turn that corner in such short order and have people not even barely remember there was another.’

Up next for Knight will be the men’s Money in the Bank ladder match on July 1 in London. He qualified for the match by defeating Montez Ford on SmackDown earlier this month. 

Max Dupri officially reverts to LA Knight name on WWE SmackDown

Posted on by Bryan Rose

LA Knight has reverted back to his NXT name, effectively putting an end to the Max Dupri character.

Friday’s SmackDown saw the Maximum Male Models being laid out, with Knight standing over them with a chair. Maxxine Dupri confronted Knight, calling him Max. Knight said that was not his name and referred to himself as LA Knight, walking off to end the segment. A match between Knight and mansoor was later announced for next week’s SmackDown.

It was reported last week that Durpi had been recently listed under the LA Knight name in WWE’s internal roster. 

Knight was called up to the main roster and started appearing on TV in May, promoting his new stable of fashionistas called the Maximum Male Models. Maxxine Dupri was later introduced as Max’s sister. It was reported in July that Dupri was done with the Maximum Male Models shortly before Vince McMahon resigned from the WWE that month. Under Triple H’s creative, Durpri continued with the group until last week, interrupting an attempt by mansoor and mace to break a Canadian record for longest pose.

Report: Max Dupri listed as LA Knight on WWE internal roster

Posted on by Ian Carey

Max Dupri will reportedly be returning to the LA Knight character he portrayed in NXT. 

According to a report from PW Insider, he is back to being listed as LA Knight on WWE’s internal roster listings. Mace, Mansoor, and Maxine Dupree will continue under the Maximum Male Models gimmick. 

On Friday’s edition of WWE SmackDown, Dupri grew frustrated with his teammates when they attempted to set the Canadian record for the world’s longest pose. Dupri attacked Mansoor, threw his belt at the group, and then said this wasn’t for him. 

The 39-year-old Shaun Ricker first signed with WWE in 2013 and performed under the name Slate Randall until his release in 2014. He would then perform as Eli Drake in Impact from 2015 to 2019, winning the promotion’s world title in 2017. After spending two years with the NWA, he signed with WWE in 2021 and began working under the name LA Knight in NXT before being repackaged as Max Dupri on the main roster earlier this year.  

Max Dupri appears on WWE SmackDown with Maximum Male Models

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Max Durpi appeared as part of the Maximum Male Models stable on SmackDown after there were reports that he was out of the group.

The Maximum Male Models showed off their beachwear line on Friday’s show, which mostly consisted of SummerSlam apparel. The segment ended with both Max and Maxxine Dupri appearing with man.soor and ma.ce, with Max saying they are still looking for more models for their group.

PWTorch reported last week that that Max Dupri, formerly LA Knight in NXT, was out of his role in the Maximum Male Models after he reportedly “rubbed some people the wrong way” and “wasn’t fitting in”. Prior to resigning from the WWE, Vince McMahon made the call to remove him as the mouthpiece of the group. It was said at the time that Max knew he was being replaced on the July 15 appearance of SmackDown when it was announced that his sister, Maxxine, would be introduced the following week.

Maxxine Dupri is the former Sofia Cromwell, who has appeared on television in recent months and was associated with Von Wagner and Mr. Stone. She was written off this week’s NXT show in passing, when Wagner said if she wanted to be a model, he “didn’t give a s***”.

Report: Max Dupri done with WWE’s Maximum Male Models faction

Posted on by Ian Carey

Max Dupri is reportedly out as the mouthpiece for Maximum Male Models on SmackDown. 

According to a report from PW Torch, the former LA Knight “rubbed some people the wrong way and wasn’t fitting in.” Vince McMahon made the decision weeks ago to remove him as the leader and mouthpiece of the group. Max Dupri will be replaced by his storyline sister, Maxxine Dupri, in the role. 

Max Dupri announced in a promo on the July 15 episode of SmackDown that his sister would appear on this week’s show. He is said to have known at the time that it would be his final performance under the gimmick. 

Sofia Cromwell (Sydney Zmrzel) was revealed as Maxxine Dupri in a segment on the July 22 edition of SmackDown. The former LA Rams and Phoenix Suns cheerleader was signed to WWE earlier this year. She had been appearing with Mr. Stone and Von Wagner on NXT in recent weeks. 

Max Dupri reveals Maximum Male Models on WWE SmackDown

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Max Dupri revealed his Maximum Male Models on tonight’s SmackDown.

Mace and Mansoor, now known under the stylized names of mån.sôör and ma.cé, were introduced on SmackDown tonight as Max Dupri’s models. Both came out and posed for the cameras as Dupri claimed that the aim of the Maximum Male Models were “to titillate the juices of their guilty pleasures.”

Later, it was advertised that the Maximum Male Models would reveal their tennis wear line on next week’s SmackDown.

Dupri, the former LA Knight in NXT, had started to manage Mace and Mansoor in dark matches prior to being reintroduced under the Dupri name on the May 20 edition of SmackDown. In the weeks since his debut, Dupri had promised to deliver his models to SmackDown, but would come up with an excuse each week to delay the reveal, citing problems such as improper lighting and WWE failing to meet locker room requirements.

LA Knight makes WWE SmackDown debut, gets new name

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Former NXT star LA Knight has arrived on SmackDown — and he’s also been given a new in-ring name.

Now going by the name “Max Dupri,” Knight made his televised WWE main roster debut on SmackDown tonight. He introduced himself as the CEO of the hottest new modeling agency, Maximum Male Models.

Dupri debuted in a backstage segment with WWE official Adam Pearce. Dupri said that the discovery of a new generation of WWE wrestlers who can headline both Paris Fashion Week and WrestleMania begins tonight.

In storyline, Dupri was hired by Sonya Deville before she lost her authority figure position. Pearce wasn’t interested in Dupri joining SmackDown, but Dupri revealed that he has a signed contract.

The segment ended with Dupri correcting Pearce on how to say his name:

Dupri’s final match for NXT took place at Stand & Deliver during WrestleMania 38 weekend last month. He lost to Gunther at the show. Gunther was also called up to SmackDown shortly after Stand & Deliver.

Leading into his main roster TV debut, Dupri had taken part in dark matches and dark segments before SmackDown episodes. Those segments included him managing Mace and Mansoor. He had yet to be given his new name in those segments, and his modeling agency was called Knight Model Management.

Dupri went by the name Eli Drake prior to signing with WWE in February 2021. He’s a former Impact Wrestling World Champion and NWA Tag Team Champion.