Natalya Believes This Wrestler Had A Breakout Performance On WWE Raw
It's not always been easy for WWE's Maxxine Dupri, who is a few years removed from a situation that saw her on the end of fan negativity following a live event. But things have been looking up for her in 2025, as Maxxine has found herself getting not one, but two Women's Intercontinental Championships matches with Becky Lynch, with her most recent challenge this past week earning her praise for her improvement.
As Maxxine's tag team partner and mentor, on and off screen, this brings a smile to Natalya's face. On Thursday's "Busted Open Radio," Natalya beamed about Maxxine exceeding everyone's expectations on Monday, praising her for showing such confidence in the ring and considering it a breakout performance. She also revealed how hard Maxxine had worked to improve for moments like this.
"She goes to Flatbacks [Wrestling School] and trains, she goes to the Performance Center and trains, she takes advantage of every single Dungeon practice that she can go to," Natalya said. "And then, even when she's at the shows, on Monday, she'll be at 'Monday Night Raw' and she'll be in the ring training prior to the shows. I told her, I said 'None of it means anything, none of it means anything if you can't back it up when the bell rings,' because...personally I've witnessed this with people throughout the years, that some people do amazing in practice.
"But then when the bell rings, they let all these different things get in their head. And it's nerve wracking. Performing in front of millions and millions of people around the world, it's very, very nerve wracking. But when that bell rang on Monday, she was dialed in, and she was ready to fight. And you could see, to me, I think she shocked the s**t out of Becky Lynch. And it made my heart so happy, because I don't think anybody was expecting her to perform at that level, including Becky."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Busted Open Radio" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription