If you’ve been a wrestling fan for long enough, you’ve experienced a lot of things.
One thing you’ve certainly experienced is anger. Maybe it was something that angered you, or maybe it was anger that you witnessed from a particular subset of the fan base, but you’ve definitely experienced anger.
Whittling it down even further, some of that anger made sense. It happened because of something that should cause that type of reaction in you or in other people.
Other times, though, that anger seems to come out of nowhere for no real reason at all.
Recently, a discussion on social media erupted after video from a WWE house show went public. In the video, Maxxine Dupri was walking back up the aisle after a match and was being booed and jeered by a portion of the crowd. Immediately, various fans came to Maxxine’s defense, mentioning that it wasn’t fair to be booed because she was trying hard, and things of that nature.
Soon thereafter, wrestlers from all areas of the map came to Maxxine’s defense. Rhea Ripley, Britt Baker, Zelina Vega, Becky Lynch, Jade Cargill, and more tweeted their support of Maxxine and also their frustration with the fans. Rhea asked fans to be “better as humans” and wished that some fans got booed and ridiculed at their own jobs, and Britt agreed with that, quoting the tweet with the “100” emoji. Zelina said that Maxxine doesn’t “deserve” that reaction because she’s a “kind soul” and “works really hard,” also saying that those fans are probably acting that way because they can’t “drink” Maxxine’s “bath water.”
Since then, we’re back to the fan discourse and the way that Maxxine is being treated, both at actual shows and on Anna Sawai’s internet.
This is some of the silliest shit currently going on.
Let’s start with the most important thing here.
Paying customers can cheer and boo for anything, and anyone, they want. They earned that right once they spent money on the product. If they want to cheer a heel, they can. Same goes for wanting to boo a face.
Now, the catch there, of course, is that fan reaction only goes so far before it reaches a line that shouldn’t be crossed. If a fan is yelling out profanities, then yes, they can be punished or removed. That has nothing to do with being “soft” or anything. Most venues have it clearly listed that fans should behave with a certain sense of decorum, not using profanity or they run the risk of being ejected.
The problem here is that we’re not talking about those types of fans. At least not with the initial argument and where it has gone from there.
One of the initial videos I saw featured some fans booing, and one fan telling Maxxine not to come back.
That’s it.
Nobody was calling her a derogatory name. There wasn’t anybody saying she’s only good for explicit OnlyFans content. Nobody was saying she should perform certain sexual acts on them. There were no threats on her life or her safety.
Maxxine is about two months away from her 27th birthday, but if you didn’t know any better, you’d think she was a pre-teen with the way she is being babied right now.
Again, we wouldn’t be having this conversation if those initial videos showcased something that crossed the line. I’ve been to wrestling shows and heard some of the absolute wildest things from people in the crowd. Multiple shows where people yelled at Nikki Bella that she was only in the spot she was in because of what she was doing to a particular body part of John Cena’s behind closed doors. The filthiest, nastiest chants and comments about Paige and the personal issues she dealt with a few years back. Requests that whichever women were in the ring at the time should make out instead of wrestle. “Bitch” this, “cunt” that, and every derogatory name for a woman you can think of. I’ve heard it all. I’m sure you’ve heard it, too, if you’ve attended events in person.
I’m sure she does get comments like that at shows, and I’m sure she receives comments like that on social media, but if I had to guess, I would assume it’s not any more than the average woman in the business.
The idea that we can’t boo Maxxine because she’s nice and works hard… man, that’s just an insane line of thinking to me. If that’s the case, can we get an official list of people we CAN boo and jeer? If it’s relevant that Maxxine is nice and works hard, we need the official list of people in wrestling who aren’t nice and who don’t work that hard. Maybe people like Rhea Ripley and Zelina Vega can get that typed out and copied so that it can be handed to every fan as they enter the venue for WWE shows, because that’s clearly something that is important to them.
To quote the great philosopher Jacobim Mugatu… I feel like I’m taking crazy pills. What the hell has happened to us? Are we so bereft of anything new to argue about that we had to completely make something up?
Eric Bischoff and Conrad Thompson recently discussed the situation for a bit on a recent episode of their 83 Weeks podcast, and Bischoff made a very good point. He said that the people coming to Maxxine’s aid on social media are only inviting more and more negative responses, because that’s the nature of social media. People are trolls, and even if they aren’t, you’re putting more of a spotlight on Maxxine and whatever issues are causing people to boo her in the first place. Can you imagine if her crowd reactions only get worse on the house show circuit from here on? God forbid, can you imagine if those reactions start making it to television?
Another thing that Bischoff wondered was how Maxxine was handling everything. Obviously, I’m not backstage, and I don’t have personal relationships with the women of wrestling. However, as an outsider, I’m putting two and two together. The women of wrestling came to Maxxine’s aid so swiftly and so wildly that you can’t picture a scenario other than Maxxine taking all of this poorly. If she heard the boos, went backstage and laughed it all off, what reason would people like Rhea Ripley and Becky Lynch have to jump to her rescue like that? No, it only makes sense if Maxxine is taking the negative reaction to heart, and is either literally or figuratively crying about it.
That brings me to the final point that Bischoff made on 83 Weeks. He said that Maxxine should find a new line of work if something as “small” as this has her so bent out of shape that all of her co-workers need to come to her rescue. I’m not going to go that far, unless she is in a really poor place, mentally and emotionally, over the crowd reactions. I do think, however, that she, and perhaps everyone else, should pay less attention to the negativity. Is it unfortunate that an on-screen face is getting any sort of negative reaction from live crowds? Yes, but it comes with the territory. She is nowhere near the first face in wrestling to get booed, and she absolutely, positively won’t be the last, either.
You could say she’s getting more sympathy because she’s “kind” or because she’s a woman or because she’s young or whatever other reasoning you can think of. All I’ll say is that you didn’t see Roman Reigns or John Cena having a bunch of people jumping to their rescue when they were getting negative reactions as faces. Again… is that because they aren’t as “kind” as Maxxine is? Is it because they’re men, or is it because they were older when they got those reactions? It’s gotta be SOMETHING, because the reactions those two were getting make what Maxxine is getting sound like a “Road Warrior Pop” in the 80’s.
Do you know who is really to blame for all of this?
WWE.
Maxxine Dupri received a WWE contract after a tryout in August 2021. She was formerly a cheerleader for the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams and a dancer for the NBA’s Phoenix Suns, but she had no wrestling background before signing with WWE. Right away, she became a valet in NXT, accompanying Robert Stone under the name Sofia Cromwell. Only a few months into her time with the company, she was called up to the main roster and had her name changed to Maxxine Dupri, billed as the sister of Max Dupri (LA Knight), joining Max’s Maximum Male Models stable as its “Director Of Talent.” Two months later, she would become the leader of the stable when Max Dupri became LA Knight again. Mere months later, she would leave MMM to join up with Chad Gable and Otis in Alpha Academy, where she remains today.
In her time with the company, she has competed in 13 official matches, and the first of those matches took place eight months ago. Eight months! She’s not very good in the ring right now. I’m comfortable enough to say that. She’s not supposed to be good in the ring eight months and 13 matches into her career, though!
If only there was a place where she could spend a good chunk of time, practicing and working on her craft, generally behind closed doors, preparing her for work in front of smaller crowds and eventually for work in front of larger crowds. That place could be somewhere like… and I’m just randomly coming up with a place here… but what about Orlando, Florida? It seems like that would be a fun place for a lot of these people to live.
If only there was a place where she could work smaller events, with a roster that is generally full of people just like her… young, athletic, inexperienced wrestlers simply looking to get better. Going with the example in the previous paragraph, maybe you could have those smaller events take place largely in Florida. You know, to keep travel costs down and to keep things easier for these younger, inexperienced wrestlers.
For the life of me, I simply can’t think of a place she could’ve spent a year or two working on her craft before being thrown out in front of millions of people on a weekly basis when she clearly isn’t ready.
WWE should really work on that.
Maybe it was a coincidence, or maybe it was the escalation of negativity that Eric Bischoff talked about, but Bianca Belair recently dealt with some REAL negativity on Instagram. In the aftermath of the Maxxine Dupri situation, posts were made about the covers of the WWE 2K24 video game. Cody Rhodes, Rhea Ripley, and Bianca Belair have been chosen as cover athletes, and they posed for a photo posted by the WWE Games IG account. Right away, the photo was hit with comments that featured all sorts of negativity, targeting Bianca because she just so happens to be black.
There’s a huge jump from “I dislike Maxxine Dupri because she’s a poor wrestler” to “I dislike Bianca Belair because she’s black.”
Because I know someone, somewhere, is thinking it… yes, I would be saying the same if someone said they disliked Maxxine Dupri because she’s white.
As I’ve said, as a fan… especially a fan spending their money on the product in any way, shape, or form… it is your “job” to give an emotional response. You cheer for the people and the things you like, and you boo the people and the things you dislike. No matter what anyone tells you, you’re free to cheer and boo for whatever you want.
Just don’t be an asshole. This isn’t rocket science.
You’re not an asshole if you don’t like Maxxine Dupri due to her in-ring ability, or lack thereof.
You are, however, a thundercunt of an asshole if you don’t like Bianca Belair because she’s black.
Hope that helps.
Can we find something else to be angry about now?
Weekly Power Rankings
Booking Will Ospreay vs Bryan Danielson: I know a lot of people were complaining and saying that AEW put this match together too quickly and too soon, but I disagree. Dynasty is a brand new pay-per-view that the company needs to convince people to spend money on, so putting a first-time-ever “dream match” on the show is a smart move. On top of that, this is Danielson’s final year as a full-time wrestler, so let’s not waste time. Put him in as many huge matches as you can while you’re able to do so.
Trick Williams: Smart writing to have Trick away for a few weeks, selling his injuries and heartbreak after Carmelo Hayes turned heel on him. Sure enough, the live crowd at NXT was MORE than ready for Trick when he finally returned. The building was rocking and rolling for Trick as he went after Melo, and Trick’s star shined brighter than ever.
Kazuchika Okada: I’m not sure many people were looking forward to a heel run right off the bat for “The Rainmaker” in AEW, but he’s there, and I guess that’s all that matters. It would’ve been a lot of fun to see him in WWE, with all of the match options for him there, but I think it’s pretty fair to assume that he will be able to wrestle more like himself in AEW.
Will Ospreay vs Kyle Fletcher: AEW is already letting Ospreay shine in big match situations, but credit goes to Fletcher here for looking like he belonged in the ring with the man who many feel is the best wrestler alive today. This was the first time they’ve faced each other since October 2020, as they have been United Empire stablemates for the last few years, but I’m already looking forward to another match between them.
Damian Priest & Finn Balor vs Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci: Heel vs Heel matches can be tricky sometimes, depending on the heels involved. This one was a lot more clear cut, though, with the live crowd siding with the “cool” heels in Priest and Balor. Lots of fun stuff here.
AEW Revolution: It was one of the biggest shows in AEW history, selling more tickets than almost any other show, grossing more sales than almost any other show, and selling more pay-per-views than almost any other show. Even in the subjective fields, when it comes to things like match ratings and overall general satisfaction, there haven’t been many shows in company history to rank higher. It was a huge success.
Gunther vs Dominik Mysterio: You want to know something crazy? With Dom fighting harder and getting more offense here than I expected, I could almost see him working as a face and being wildly successful at it down the road. He showed a ton of heart in this match, all while still playing his heel character to perfection.
Bull Nakano: Congratulations to the second member of the WWE Hall Of Fame’s Class Of 2024. It blows my mind to go back and see just how far ahead of her time she was during her WWF run in 1994 and 1995. She’s someone that could’ve been wrestling in WWE over the last several years and would’ve fit in perfectly.
Mark Briscoe, Jay Lethal & Jeff Jarrett vs The House Of Black: A super fun brawl that might have been the best match we’ve seen out of Lethal and Jarrett since they joined the company. The House Of Black continues to look incredibly strong, but what also continues to be strong are those rumors that Malakai Black refuses to job. When you haven’t been pinned in over 18 months, people are going to form whatever narrative they want and run with it, fair or otherwise.
Cody Rhodes, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns & The Rock: Nothing earth-shattering, but all four men did a really good job in making WrestleMania 40 weekend even bigger, and I appreciate that.
Bron Breakker & Baron Corbin vs Andre Chase & Duke Hudson: The NXT Tag Team Champions continue to look like they’ve been working together for years, and honestly, the same thing can be said about the challengers here. Strong work.
Barry Windham & Mike Rotunda: Congratulations to the third act inducted as part of the WWE Hall Of Fame’s Class Of 2024. The real life brothers-in-law (Rotunda married Windham’s sister, Stephanie, early on in their partnership) had a ton of success during their time in Championship Wrestling from Florida, as well as in the WWF, in the early-to-mid 1980’s. They were the defending WWF Tag Team Champions at the very first WrestleMania, and even though they lost the titles that night, it’s still a cool thing to say that you competed on that show. My favorite fact about their pairing, though, has always been that Rick Derringer’s “Real American” was created to be their entrance music, but when Barry left the company, the song was then given to Hulk Hogan and the rest is wrestling theme song history. One final note… seeing the names “Windham” and “Rotunda” together just makes me sad about Bray Wyatt’s passing all over again.
Jey Uso vs Drew McIntyre: It was a really good match, but it might not have been up to the same level as some of their previous encounters with each other. That’s not a real complaint, of course. It was a match on a random episode of Raw, not a WrestleMania main event. Keep it entertaining, and keep it moving.
Tony D’Angelo vs Carmelo Hayes: I saw people surprised that D’Angelo won this, sending him to Stand & Deliver for an NXT Championship match against Ilja Dragunov, but I really don’t understand why anyone would be surprised. Did those people completely forget about Trick Williams? Melo was obviously going to be doing battle with Trick at Stand & Deliver, leaving a spot open for someone else to be Dragunov’s opponent in Philly. D’Angelo will do just fine in that spot, as he continues to be over with live crowds, and he has shown he is more than capable of stepping up in big match situations.
Asuka & Kairi Sane vs Lyra Valkyria & Tatum Paxley: A fun tag match that will probably be best remembered for Roxanne Perez officially turning heel and “injuring” Lyra, but hey, I did say the match itself was fun, so… hooray!
Muhammad Ali: A bonus entry! Late breaking news just before this column was posted! Congratulations to the fourth act inducted as part of the WWE Hall Of Fame’s Class Of 2024. One of the greatest professional boxers of all-time, Ali was also a part of two of the biggest events in pro wrestling history. In 1976, he faced the legendary Antonio Inoki in a mixed-rules “exhibition match” that would go on to become one of the main precursors to the modern Mixed Martial Arts movement. Then, Ali would be the Special Guest Referee for the main event at WrestleMania 1, calling the shots as Hulk Hogan and Mr. T took on “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff. Ali has been one of The Rock’s heroes for years… he even handed the “People’s Champion” nickname to Rock… so this falls in line with the rumor that Rock held a strong say in who was being inducted as WWE Hall Of Fame members this year.
This Week’s Playlist: “I Forgot To Be Your Lover” by The Black Keys… “This Is Nowhere” by The Black Keys… “Don’t Look Away” by The Plot In You… “Sacrifice” by Nevertel… “Oblivion” by Softspoken… “Bleeding” by Kill The Lights… “Nine Nights Of Sacrifice” by Carved In Blood… “Just A Passing Glance” by Don Carlos… “PISTOL PACCIN” by NLE Choppa & BigXThaPlug… “Who Run It” by Three 6 Mafia… “Sure Shot” by Beastie Boys… “Triple Trouble” by Beastie Boys… “An Open Letter To NYC” by Beastie Boys… “Player’s Ball” by Outkast… “Rite Where U Stand” by Gang Starr & Jadakiss… “I Got 5 On It” by Luniz & Michael Marshall… “I Got 5 On It (Remix)” by Luniz, E-40, Richie Rich, Dru Down, Spice 1, Shock G & Michael Marshall… “Brooklyn Zoo” by Ol’ Dirty Bastard… “Got Your Money” by Ol’ Dirty Bastard & Kelis… “When Worlds Collide” by Powerman 5000… “Break Stuff” by Limp Bizkit… “The Best Is Yet To Come Undone” by Lit… “Thugz Cry” by Bizzy Bone… “Whatever” by Godsmack… “Street Symphony” by Monica