Maxxine Dupri’s WWE push appears to have cooled off, and it sounds like the crowd reaction may have done the damage
During the June 29 episode of RAW, Maxxine faced Raquel Rodriguez to determine the next challenger for Sol Ruca’s Women’s Intercontinental Championship. Maxxine lost, and Bryan Alvarez did not exactly sugarcoat the reaction on Wrestling Observer Radio, saying the match had “absolutely no heat” and that nobody seemed to care.
That led Meltzer to explain why Maxxine has barely been used as an in-ring wrestler lately, despite WWE once treating her like someone they wanted to build around. Meltzer said the company believed Maxxine had star potential because of her look, but once she started getting pushed, the live reactions did not match the idea.
“That’s why we haven’t seen Maxxine as a wrestler. They thought she was a big star because of her looks, and they were giving her the big push, but when she went out, the people didn’t react.”
Dave Meltzer said WWE can ignore fan reactions when they are already committed to someone at the top of the card, but that luxury does not always exist for someone in Maxxine’s position.
“At the end of the day, the people aren’t always the judge. Because if it’s someone who they see as a top, top person, they’ll do the, ‘People don’t know what they want.’”
Then came the rough part. Meltzer said if a wrestler is sitting in the middle or lower part of the card and the audience stays quiet, it can kill their momentum fast. According to Meltzer, that is basically what happened to Maxxine.
“But if you’re in the middle or low, and they don’t react to you, man, it’s f***** for you. That’s what basically hurt her career — the people didn’t react to her matches.”
That makes her RAW loss to Raquel feel less like a random setback and more like a reminder of where WWE sees her right now. Maxxine was once getting a major push, even winning the Women’s Intercontinental Championship from Becky Lynch before dropping it back in January after Natalya turned on her. Since then, things cooled off hard, and her most recent loss did not exactly scream comeback.
So yeah, WWE gave Maxxine a chance, the crowd did not bite hard enough, and now she is back trying to prove she can get that momentum again. The look got her in the door, but the reaction is what decides how long WWE keeps opening it.
What do you think about Dave Meltzer’s comments on Maxxine Dupri’s push? Should WWE give her another real chance, or did the crowd reaction say enough? Let us know in the comments below.
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