"I completely blacked out" - Newly crowned champion reveals the truth about WWE debut

Several WWE Superstars have had rough starts in the company, but went on to become big draws later. Interestingly, a newly crowned champion has confessed that she belongs on the same list. Moreover, Maxxine Dupri said that she went into survival mode in her first match.

The new Women’s Intercontinental Champion recently appeared for an interview with Huge Pop. She noted that she likes it when fans come up to her and tell her that they were amazed to see her pretend like a star who doesn’t know how to wrestle.

In return, Dupri humbly thanks them and wishes she were as talented as they are. This led her to open up about her debut match on RAW in July 2023, in which she teamed with Otis and Chad Gable to face the War Raiders. The Alpha Academy member said she almost threw up from how nervous she was.

“I remember nothing. I completely blacked out. I was so nervous, I almost threw up after because I don’t think I took one single breath for four minutes straight. Like the math was probably a minute, but I’m saying four minutes, like at the time the music hit, like I stopped breathing. I was like, I don’t know what’s happening, but I have to survive this. It was crazy,” she said.

Maxxine Dupri said she considers this part of her WWE journey and sees it as beautiful. That said, she also noted that she thinks she should have been more advanced in several key moments in the past.

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Maxxine Dupri opens up about her bond with Natalya in WWE

Maxxine Dupri is very close to Natalya. The former two-time WWE Women’s Champion has been mentoring the 28-year-old both on and off camera. Speaking about her relationship with the Hart Dynasty wrestler in the same interview, Dupri said:

“I think with Nattie, I just read her book, which is just unbelievable. Um, her story is so amazing. But I think that's also why, even though we have such different backgrounds, right? And she was like born into a family that loved wrestling. I also think like we had a lot of similarities, you know, where she was fighting for this moment and like training really hard. And I think like we see that in each other, and like we just really have this special bond and she's someone that like I go to for everything and she's always answers, is always there for me. Um, it's really special.”

Maxxine Dupri won the Women’s Intercontinental Championship on the November 17, 2025, episode of WWE RAW by defeating Becky Lynch. This is her first title win in the company since her debut in July 2023. It would be interesting to see what lies ahead for Dupri.

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