WWE's Max Dupri No Longer Part Of His Own Maximum Male Models Agency?
Storyline sister debuts, replaces Max on SmackDown, but could Max make comeback?
It looks like Max Dupri will no longer be associated with Maximum Male Models, the stable/agency he brought to SmackDown just a couple months ago.
According to Wade Keller of PWTorch, Dupri "had rubbed some people the wrong way and wasn’t fitting in so a decision was made by Vince McMahon a couple weeks ago to write him out of the storyline." The model gimmicks will continue, but with Max's storyline sister Maxxine Dupri (NXT's Sofia Cromwell, who debuted on Friday's SmackDown) filling the mouthpiece role. Apparently, Max knew he was on borrowed time last week when he announced his sister's debut.
The former LA Knight had been part of the SmackDown roster since WrestleMania 38, first in dark segments, and then debuting on TV in May. He introduced the former Mace and Mansoor as the first members of Maximum Male Models earlier this month.
Fightful Select reports that Dupri was "unbooked" last minute with people associated with the segment not given detailed info on his status. Unsurprisingly, Vince was apparently very hands-on with the model agency gimmick, as it was his idea, even producing the debut segment himself down to how Max would sound nothing like LA Knight. Dupri reportedly had some reservations.
According to Fightful, one source said Dupri "ruffled some feathers with a couple of scripts," challenging what some of the writers had scripted. However, the site also indicated that several within WWE put over Dupri's delivery. And with McMahon now out, there's always a possibility Max could rejoin the group alongside his storyline sister.
For his part, Dupri weighed in on Saturday:
So, what did I miss??
Advertisement— Max Dupri (@MaxDupri) July 23, 2022
Time will tell whether Dupri is out for good from the gimmick, returns to the modeling agency, or just reverts back to LA Knight. As with a lot of things in WWE right now, this is up in the air.