WWE Superstar LA Knight was convinced he would be fired during his time as Max Dupri with Maxmimum Male Models. Knight is currently one of WWE’s most beloved Superstars, but that wasn’t always the case. His time in NXT saw him gaining many fans and showcasing his talent. However, his start on the main roster was rocky.
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LA Knight made his main roster debut and found a new home on SmackDown in 2022. He debuted as a heel manager named Max Dupri, the leader of Maximum Male Models. On a recent episode of Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Knight discussed how he didn’t really understand his character.
“Well, the problem is you look around the wrestling landscape, and I even think to my past, and I’m like, ‘Man, I had so much freedom to kind of be me and do my thing and now I’m doing this damn, whatever this stupid model thing is.’ I don’t know who this is or what this is, but all alright well I got a nice raise out of it so at least I’ll try and make this thing work. So I’m sitting there and I’m trying to do it.”
H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription
LA Knight And the Maximum Male Models
The Dupri character was the head of a model management agency. His goal was to recruit models. The first victims or clients were Mace and Mansoor. Their names were stylized to create a bit of mystery around them. Once they joined M.M.M. they became known as Ma.çé and Mån.sôör. Eventually, the group was joined by Maxxine Dupri as Max’s in-storyline sister.
The group struggled right from the start. It was apparent to fans right from the beginning the M.M.M. was an awful idea and was going nowhere. The only saving grace was that Knight is so good on the mic, but even he couldn’t save a terrible storyline. He wasn’t the only one giving it 100 percent trying to make a terrible gimmick work. He praised Mace and Mansoor for trying to make the M.M.M. work.
Knight talked about how Vince McMahon took a special interest and didn’t seem to understand why Knight worked so well in NXT.
“I even heard them [Mace and Mansoor] kind of sharing the stories of how Vince [McMahon] was just, it was really weird. I was told not to talk anything like I did [as LA Knight], nothing, like don’t say any of the things you said don’t talk any of the way you did . I’m like, ‘Okay, I mean, what brought me to the dance is getting completely stripped from me, but alright.’”
LA Knight was frustrated by having to start at zero when he already established the groundwork for a character in NXT. His Knight character was already over and he had to abandon that and try to get this Dupri character over. However, he took it as a challenge and was confident enough that he thought he might be able to do it.
Knight revealed that he in McMahon couldn’t see eye-to-eye as to who Dupri was. According to Knight, McMahon had a vision for the character and Knight was trying as hard as he could to figure it out, but just never really got there. He admitted that he was unhappy and thought that McMahon probably was as well.
Knight talked about the moment when he thought that he was probably about to get fired.
“All of a sudden I’m not on TV and I’m like ‘well I’m pretty sure I’m fired.’ I’m pretty sure this whole ride’s over and at that point I’m kind of looking at other options. What I can do and and where I can go to kind of you know just keep my my whole thing rolling. Lo and behold circumstances prevailed that kind of put me in the right spot where I could at least come back in a wrestling capacity and do my thing.”
H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription
Triple H May Have Saved LA Knight’s Career
What these circumstances could have been are unknown. However, McMahon took a step back from WWE and Triple H took over around that time. When Triple H took over many wrestlers returned to WWE and storylines changed. Knight was in just the right position to take advantage of that change in leadership.
Knight wanted to clarify that he didn’t think WWE had great expectations of him. He revealed that the reason he was given the awful Dupri character was probably because WWE had a lot of faith in him and that he could get it over.
“It was just, ‘Hey, here’s a guy who can handle himself.’ He’s a professional. He knows how to do his thing in the ring. And we can work him with some guys, he can have some good programs.’ Well, surprise, surprise on your eyes, because things just got a little crazy after that.”
H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription
Since he reverted to his LA Knight character he has skyrocketed to the top of WWE. He is one of WWE’s most popular Superstars. Even though he hasn’t captured any WWE gold just yet there is no doubt he will in 2024. The peak of his WWE career is certainly his match with Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns at Crown Jewel.
LA Knight’s next big match will again see him face off with Reigns. However, this time it will be a Fatal 4-Way at Royal Rumble on Jan. 27 with Randy Orton and AJ Styles. Maybe this is the time for Knight to win some WWE gold and possibly beating Reigns would be a great way to do it.
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What did you think of the Max Dupri character? What about the Maximum Male Models storyline? Do you think someone else could have made the storyline work? If so, who do you think could have gotten it over? Do you think if Triple H had not taken over LA Knight would have been fired? Let us know on social media if you think Knight will finally win gold at Royal Rumble.
SOURCE: Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Wrestling Inc.
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