Maxxine Dupri (@maxxinedupri) is a professional wrestler currently signed to WWE. She sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Tampa, FL to discuss getting engaged to Anthony Luke and teaming with her fiancé on WWE live events, her in-ring progression that included standout matches with Becky Lynch, working with Nikki Bella, the storyline where her late brother was brought up, dealing with criticism, and more!
On being engaged to wrestler Antony Luke:
“We have had several careers together. We’ve lived in three states. He was actually playing football for the CFL in Montreal when I got signed, and when he left for his season, we were living in Arizona, so I called him and was like, I got signed. I have to move in 30 days. I’m packing all of our stuff, and I’m moving us to Florida. So when your season’s done, you’ll be living in Florida. And he said ok.”
How he got signed:
“So the crazy part is that this was actually always his dream. He is a childhood fan. His dad is a die-hard fan. So he always knew he wanted to do this, but when I was doing it, he wasn’t ready to give up football. So when I got signed, and he kind of saw me go through my journey, and he was kind of done with the football race. He wanted to get a tryout, and I was nervous about me going to, like, Coach Bloom, or someone, and trying to get him a tryout, because I don’t know. I wasn’t sure if that would hurt him or help him. So I was like, I think that you just need to apply for a tryout. They’ll figure out we’re together. But I think you need to do this on your own. So he did it on his own. He got a tryout and got signed. Thankfully, he was already living in Orlando, and it’s been such a dream.”
On her WWE progression:
“I felt like I was swimming upstream for a long time, just like that constant treading water, just trying to stay afloat. But being on the live events has helped me immensely. Obviously, training is so important, of course, but there’s just something you can’t mimic about performing in front of a live crowd. I think for me, a lot of it is the mental side of it, I need to practice having those nerves, having things change, not having a ton of time to rehearse something or be prepared for something new I’ve never done. I was telling Coach Bloom, I said, thank you so much for putting me on this loop, because that was my first time doing a triple threat, and I’m so grateful that I got to do my first triple threat on a live event instead of on Monday Night Raw. As cool as it is to have those first experiences on Raw, there’s just so much you don’t know until you’re in it. So I’m just so grateful that I’m getting to kind of check off that checklist on live events.”
On whether she is still related to LA Knight:
“That is my brother. And you know what’s insane. I have a huge match on Monday versus Becky Lynch. And do you think my brother has called me to offer any advice or train me? No, he has not, and our mother is worried about him. He’s out here living by a new name, it’s crazy. It’s a whole thing. Like, if he would like to show up to a family reunion, we would be so happy to welcome him with open arms.”
But seriously, has there been any conversation about changing the name:
“No. I know it is kind of funny, but no, I haven’t heard anything.”
On whether she felt ready in the beginning:
“Oh, my God, no. Not even close. I’m grateful. It was an amazing opportunity and a story that I will forever love to tell. I think that I am someone that does well in sink or swim scenarios. I’m a performer. I will push through no matter what happens. But was I ready? I mean, I don’t know if I ever would say that I was ready, but it was a tricky scenario to be in.”
On dealing with criticism:
“I think I’m always criticizing myself more than anyone else is. I recognize all of it, I promise you. But I also think it’s so great to hear the praise and hear that people feel something with you, but at the same time, that can all change in the blink of an eye. At the end of the day, I’m playing a character, and I love that the character makes them feel something good or bad. If they feel something, then I’ve done my job. So I think the criticism I take is from people that I really admire and look up to, and who I know are coming from a place of love and want to see me shine and grow. And I have lots of those people in my life that I get to go to, which is so cool. I just try not to fish for any of it online.”
On working with Nikki Bella:
“Oh my goodness. It’s a dream, seriously, my Total Divas dream. I’m in the locker room with Nattie and Nikki. It’s unbelievable. It has been so fun. It was Evolution when we got to do a little spot in the ring together, me, Nattie and Nikki. And I was like, love that. It was such a cool moment. I was grateful to be a part of it. I always say, whoever said don’t meet your heroes, they never met Nikki Bella or Brie Bella, because they are 1000 times better than what I imagined. They are the most wholesome, down-to-earth, kind, loving, beautiful humans you’ll ever meet. We actually had the best time in Paris with them. Me and Jackie went out and met up with Nikki and Brie and their photographer who was with them, Claire. She’s also amazing, which is also a testament to them. Every single person that is around them, to their core, is a wonderful human. Everyone I meet, a manager, whoever, I’m like, wow, you just like, surround yourself with such amazing people. And it shines through them. But that night, I learned Brie is hilarious. If she needs a side gig, she should do comedy. I was crying laughing the whole time.”
On learning from Chad Gable:
“Oh my gosh, so much. He’s actually someone kind of what I was saying earlier, he’s a man of few words. So when he tells me something, I take it to heart, because he’s someone that can look at something creatively. Just the business, the mind he has for this business, he’s just able to zoom out and see everything and give me these pointers that I’m like, duh, why didn’t I think of that? But I would never, and he sees it so clearly. So I go to him a lot for things like that, because when it comes to matches and just his ability to understand this business truly is out of this world.”
On why she does the worm backwards:
“Okay, it’s a backwards worm because I think the first time I did it was, it might have been the six man, which is my very first match, or it may have been my singles with Valhalla. But whatever it was, that day we’re in the ring, and they were like, Okay, we think you should do the worm. And at first, I’m like, yes! I got this. I got this on lockdown, easy peasy. What I didn’t realize is the last time I’d done the worm, prior to that, was when I was a guest on Below Deck Med with my mom, and I did it in a beer suit. I was feeling good that day. We were on a boat. You know, drinks were flowing. I was feeling good. I didn’t remember that I did it backwards, because I was so good at it. So I didn’t remember that I did it backwards. Okay, I can do the worm, and I’m trying to do it forward. And, as we know, it was like a mechanical worm. I would like, drop to my knees, and that was my worm going forward. And it just got to a point where I was so embarrassed every time I watched it. I was like, this is horrific. And I know everyone says it’s endearing, it’s funny, it’s part of your character. I’m like, this is horrendous. Then I was like, I know I can do it backwards, but during that time, I was just not comfortable with my character yet. So I didn’t even feel like I was allowed to do it backwards. I think I said to Chad one time, ‘Hey, do you think if I cartwheel into it and do it backwards, I’ll get in trouble, or is that okay?’ Because it’s way better backwards. And he was like, ‘Do it you’re making it your own.’ Then I did it that way, and it was so much easier and so much better. So it was not an intentional ‘Oh, I’m gonna do this new, unique worm.’ It’s just that I truly cannot do it well forward.”
On whether she was ok with her late brother being used in storylines:
“Yes, 100%. It was that line I said, as I was the originator of the idea. So I said, we had the layout of the match where she’s going to yell at me and I’m going to walk out of the ring. And I just felt like if you want me to walk out of the ring, give me a reason to walk out of the ring. To me, I didn’t look at it as a negative towards my brother or towards my situation. To me, it felt like a positive, I get to bring light to the fact that I have a brother. To me, it was we’re gonna acknowledge someone that’s my whole world that passed away, whether she’s saying it in a negative way or positive way. To me, it was a positive. And I love Candice, she’s an angel, such a wonderful human, a wonderful mom. I don’t have anything bad to say about her.”
On her mom’s reaction:
“My mom was definitely emotional about it. But again, she wasn’t emotional that Candice said something. She just didn’t know that that was going to come up. But if I would have told her, she would feel the same way that I feel. But Mondays are crazy, you know, the day gets going, you’re busy. I forgot to give her a warning.”
On her first match with Becky Lynch:
“My first title match. And I was really excited to work Becky to feel her timing in the ring. And, of course, if you want to meet your hero, don’t meet Becky Lynch, obviously. And I came up short in that match. However, I felt like I gave her a little run for her money, and I’m facing her again on Monday, which I’m very excited for. I’m feeling like since that match, we’ve been in the Dungeon, working on a lot of things that needed to be adjusted since then, and having Nattie and TJ in there with me, just really fine tuning, filming things, watching it back, seeing like what needs to be adjusted, has been really, really important to my growth.”
On her Batista fandom:
“So [my fiance] Anthony, childhood fan. He’s loved Batista since he was like five. Like, no joke, he loves Batista. So fast forward. We start dating, this is pre-wrestling. I’m gonna say it’s like 2018, end of 2018, December, and Anthony was verified on Instagram from football, but this was before everyone was verified. It’s like, when you had a blue check, you had some finesse. And we had a great time playing around with that, because you could DM celebrities, and they would actually see it, because no one had blue check marks. So he took a video Batista bombing me at my dad’s house, and he messaged Batista and sent it to him, and he responded. Yeah, it was pretty great.”
What did he say?
“Let’s just say he was impressed. He was impressed. Okay, he may have said, ‘Why are you stealing my moves?’ [Laughs] No, it was great.”
On comparing her career to one year ago:
“I feel like I’ve grown a lot in the last year, but not just physically and not just in the ring, but like mentally. I feel the clarity, the confidence. I’ve really fallen in love with getting better and with being in the ring and just like, not necessarily even on TV, but just like in training, and just like having fun. We always say, I’m gonna when I train at Flatbacks. We always text before, like, All right, who’s bringing the vibes? Everyone bring the vibes. Vibe check. And it’s just like, the vibes are up. It’s fun. I’m just having a good time.”
What is Maxxine Dupri grateful for?
“To be marrying my best friend this year, my mental clarity, and for Nattie.”
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