‘Totally Unprepared’ To Champion – LA Knight Praises WWE Star’s Progress

Published: Mar 16, 2026 by Liam | Last Updated: Mar 16, 2026 by Liam

Liam has been reporting & analyzing wrestling news for over eight years, and is currently the Managing Editor at WrestleTalk.com. Immersed in wrestling for 18 years, he has over 11,000 published articles in addition to leading and overseeing WrestleTalk.com's coverage.

‘Totally Unprepared’ To Champion – LA Knight Praises WWE Star’s Progress

LA Knight has praise for a particular WWE star after she arrived “totally unprepared” and has since gone on to become a champion.

LA Knight and Maxxine Dupri were introduced to the WWE main roster around the same time, with Knight named Max Dupri and the duo positioned as the brother and sister leaders of the Maximum Male Models.

The Max Dupri character didn’t last long before Knight went back to being LA Knight, but many fans still remember that being the way he was called up to SmackDown.

In a new interview with Esteban Ramirez, Knight was asked about Maxxine’s progress since their debuts – which came when Maxxine hadn’t even made an in-ring debut in NXT yet.

He said:

“She’s come a long way, because in all honesty – and this is no fault of her own – when she was first brought up, if we’re just being 100%, she was not ready.

“And I think she would admit that, 100%. And again, that’s not her fault. She kinda just got thrown to the wolves.

“And she’s done well. Of course, it hasn’t been perfect, but it never is. Nobody can be perfect. I’m not perfect. Nobody’s perfect, everybody has their mess-ups.

“But when you’re talking about somebody coming in completely unprepared, and in this amount of time, being able to get the fan support, and then beyond that she’s already been Intercontinental Champion at this point. I’d say that’s a pretty major come-up. So good for her.”

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LA Knight Comments On WrestleMania Feud With AJ Styles

In the same interview, LA Knight discussed his feud a couple of years ago with AJ Styles which saw the pair have a match at WrestleMania 40.

With Styles set to be inducted into the 2026 WWE Hall of Fame next month, Knight said:

“AJ’s intense, AJ’s super, super intense. When you get to know him, super nice guy though too. All around, don’t have a bad thing to say about him.

“Of course we got into some pretty physical and at times fun altercations. So all good on my end.

“We definitely kind of took the piss out of each other a few different times, and if you look at that time when we actually got in the fight there at that press gaggle, we both took our shots. He slammed me pretty hard on the floor, and if you noticed, he left with a bloody nose. We weren’t afraid to mix it up in there, we weren’t afraid to take our shots.

“I like that, and I like the intensity that he brings, and I’m sure that he probably appreciates what I was bringing to that.

“AJ, you talk about a guy deserving (of the Hall of Fame) – understatement.”

If you use this transcription or any portion of it please credit WrestleTalk.com and link to this page.