Maxxine Dupri Says Online Hate Was Hardest Part of Her Early WWE Run

Maxxine Dupri is turning hate into fuel—and she’s not afraid to say it.

During her recent interview on The Wrestling Classic, the WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion reflected on her early struggles in the ring, including brutal “you can’t wrestle” chants and a wave of online criticism that nearly broke her mentally. But now? She’s thanking the same people who once doubted her.

“I mean, listen, thank you to my haters because I feel even better.”

The crowd chants didn’t sting as much as you’d expect. Maxxine admitted that during those early live matches, she was too focused on surviving to even register the insults. The real hit came later—on social media.

“That live event specifically, that didn’t affect me personally… When you’re new to this and you’re wrestling, I can’t hear anything. I’m trying to make sure that I just survive this match and do the best I can do.”

What did hurt? The online hate.

“I had a very hard time with online hate, but that was just a learning lesson I had to learn. I don’t need to dig into it. I have my people that give me my criticism, and I know the things that I truly do need to work on and that I’m falling short in, and I will always hold myself accountable for that and put my nose down and keep grinding.”

Now firmly at the top of her game, Dupri made it clear she no longer lets public perception define her self-worth.

“That’s part of this job. We have the absolute honor of being on TV and performing for the most passionate fans in the world, and sometimes they’re not going to like what you put out—and they’re entitled to that opinion. And I’m entitled to protecting my peace and not always doom-scrolling.”

With continued support from backstage leaders like Triple H and Bruce Prichard—and her own growing confidence—Maxxine is proving the doubters wrong with every match.

“When I come back from a match, if my producer’s happy with me, Triple H is happy, Bruce Prichard is happy—we’re good. The crowd was engaged—we’re good.”

Maxxine Dupri has officially flipped the narrative. What was once criticism is now motivation—and it’s clearly working.

Do you think Maxxine has fully silenced the critics? Or does she still have something to prove? Drop your thoughts in the comments—we want to hear what you think.

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