Maxxine Dupri

Sydney Jeannine Zmrzel^[3] (born May 19, 1997) is an American professional wrestler, valet, and model. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs under the ring name Maxxine Dupri on the Raw brand and is a member of the Alpha Academy stable.

Early life

Prior to her tenure with WWE, Zmrzel began her sporting career as a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Rams. She has also been a dancer for the Phoenix Suns.^[4]

Professional wrestling career

WWE (2021–present)

Valet role (2021–2023)

In August 2021, Zmrzel participated in a WWE tryout in Las Vegas, Nevada, and became one of the 14 attendees to earn a contract with the company.^[5] Zmrzel first transitioned into professional wrestling in 2022 on NXT as a valet with Robert Stone for Von Wagner under the ring name Sofia Cromwell.^[1]

On the July 22, 2022 episode of SmackDown, Dupri made her debut on the main roster as Maxxine Dupri, Max Dupri's (kayfabe) sister and the "director of talent" for his heel stable Maximum Male Models consisting of ma.çé and mån.sôör.^[6] On the October 7, 2022 episode of SmackDown, Max would go on to leave the stable and re-establish himself as LA Knight, leaving her as the stable's manager.^[7] In February 2023, Maximum Male Models were moved to the Raw brand.^[8]

Alpha Academy (2023–present)

Following the move to Raw, Dupri would begin a comedic storyline with Otis where she would attempt to recruit and encourage him to become a member of Maximum Male Models. This would later start a series of segments between Dupri and Chad Gable (Otis' tag team partner), where they both wanted Otis to be on their respective teams.^[9] Subsequently, she left Maximum Male Models and joined Alpha Academy, turning face for the first time in her career.

On the June 12 episode of Raw, Dupri performed an arm drag on Valhalla of The Viking Raiders and began her first feud.^[10] Otis and Gable trained Dupri in backstage segments to prepare for her in-ring debut. She debuted in a mixed tag team match between Alpha Academy and The Viking Raiders on the July 3 episode of Raw, defeating Valhalla with a roll-up pin.^[11][12] On the July 10 episode of Raw, Alpha Academy held a graduation ceremony for Dupri with Gable presenting Dupri her own Alpha Academy letterman's jacket at the end of the ceremony. As Dupri was about to put on the jacket, The Viking Raiders appeared on the ramp to distract Alpha Academy. Valhalla then attacked Dupri from behind and stole her jacket.^[13] In the following episode of Raw, Gable and Otis fought Erik and Ivar in a "Viking Rules" match. Despite dominating the match, Gable and Otis lost but Dupri managed to take her jacket back.^[14] On the July 31 episode of Raw, Dupri defeated Valhalla with a Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex in her debut singles match.^[15]

On the November 6 episode of Raw, Dupri participated in the battle royal for a Women's World Championship match at Survivor Series but was eliminated by Nia Jax.^[16] Two weeks later, Dupri teamed up with Diamond Mine's Ivy Nile in a fatal-four way tag team match for a WWE Women's Tag Team Championship match in a losing effort.^[17] On December 5, Dupri had her first match in NXT where she and Alpha Academy defeated The Meta-Four in a six-person mixed tag team match.^[18] On the December 11 episode of Raw, Dupri faced the Women's World Champion Rhea Ripley in a non-title match where she was conclusively defeated by submission in just over two minutes.^[19] Dupri made her Royal Rumble match debut at the titular event on January 27, 2024, entering as the 18th entrant. She lasted over six minutes and was eliminated by eventual winner Bayley.^[20]

Other media

Video games

Personal life

Zmrzel has her own clothing boutique, Jaunty, which was established in the winter of 2019 when she was 22 years old.^[4] She stated that The Bella Twins and the reality show Total Divas inspired her to pursue a professional wrestling career.^[23] Zmrzel had an older brother, Wyatt, who was killed in 2017 when the Lyft he was a passenger in crashed into another vehicle.^[24]

Awards and accomplishments

• Wrestling Observer Newsletter
  • Worst Gimmick (2022) as part of Maximum Male Models^[25][26]

References