‘I Want To Be Taken Seriously’ – WWE Star Shares Thoughts On Recent Heel Turn, Targets Championship Win

WWE

A WWE star has addressed her recent heel turn on Monday Night Raw, revealing her ambitions to capture gold once again and be taken more seriously as a character.

The July 6 episode of WWE Raw saw Maxxine Dupri finally crossover to the dark side, as she helped The Vision regain the World Tag Team Titles from the Street Profits.

Solidifying her on-screen relationship with Austin Theory with a kiss, Dupri becomes the first fully-fledged female member of Paul Heyman’s group, and looks set to see her fortunes turn around after falling to defeat after defeat in 2026 as a babyface.

Appearing on The Nikki & Brie Show, Dupri said she feels as if a “weight is off her shoulders” following the turn:

“I had to do what had to be done… I do feel like a weight is off my shoulders. I no longer care what these haters have to say. I don’t care what all these normies in the crowd wanna tweet about me, I don’t care.

“I no longer have to impress you guys. Austin is into me and he’s down with everything I’m doing, so why do I need to worry about anything they’re doing? And let’s not forget, Paul Heyman was also very proud.”

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With the Street Profits one of the biggest victims of Dupri’s recent change of heart, Brie Bella brought up Montez Ford’s wife Bianca Belair, and how Dupri is luck that ‘The EST’ is pregnant and not actively competing in a WWE ring.

Dupri responded:

“I didn’t touch Montez. It’s not my fault Dawkins fell over. I’m just a sweet, precious, snatched skinny little gal and I hit him in the nuts and that causes him to fall over? Sounds like a personal problem.

“I’ve been waiting for that moment, I’ve been waiting to just unleash and do what needed to be done and make Austin proud, and I did it.

“I feel like I’ve been such a perfectionist my whole life. I have grown up just wanting make everyone happy with me and being such a people pleaser with every coach, my parents, everyone. And it’s like, I finally just don’t care. I do not care. Whatever you guys want to say about me, say it. I’m not reading it because I’m busy and I have a life.”

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When asked what goals she has for this exciting new chapter in her career, Dupri expressed her willingness to help out the other members of The Vision, as well as teasing another WWE championship win of her own:

“I am so excited to finally have people in my corner who are going to care about me and ride for me the way that I did for them. And I think me showing up, of course for Austin but also Bron in that moment and for Heyman because he was very upset prior to that match obviously and needed them to come back with gold, and there was no way I was going to let any of that fall apart.

“I know they’ll do the same for me. I know Austin’s going to have my back in every match moving forward. When he was upset with me last week it makes sense, because I lost focus. I was more worried about, again, people pleasing and making sure that Chad wasn’t mad at me that I wasn’t focused going into my match with Raquel and I lost.

“So, I think for me going forward I want gold. I want to be taken seriously. I want opportunities and I’m not going to nicely knock on Adam Pearce’s door anymore. My man can go handle it and get me a match and I’ll come out.”

Nikki Bella would then ask whether she could reveal anything regarding her and The Vision’s plans heading towards this weekend’s Saturday Night’s Main Event and SummerSlam 2026 on August 1 & 2, to which Dupri replied:

“Anything is possible, but we’ve got the gold. The gold is home as it should be. It’s right where it belongs.

“But I am excited to see what everyone’s dreaming up, because I know I have big goals and I want them accomplished quickly. So I think there’s a lot on the horizon.”

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Dupri’s only previous championship success came in November 2025, when she defeated Becky Lynch to become Women’s Intercontinental Champion – a title she held for 49 days.

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• wwe
• heel turn
• Maxxine Dupri
• The Vision

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