Update On SmackDown Star Max Dupri Regaining His WWE NXT Name
A week after he quit the Maximum Male Models, Max Dupri officially brought back his "NXT" character of LA Knight on this week's "WWE SmackDown" season premiere.
In a backstage segment, ma.çé and mån.sôör were seen laid out by Knight, which led to Maxxine Dupri running up to her kayfabe brother and confronting him.
"I gave you gold, and you and them [ma.çé and mån.sôör] just turned it into trash," Knight told Maxxine. "You think I'm just going to hang out here and be something I'm not? Nah, nah, what I'm not [is] Max. Who I am [is] L...A...Knight. Yeah!"
Fans on social media also noticed that Knight reverted to his old tone of voice, which he had changed considerably to portray the Dupri character.
On last week's show, Knight said "This ain't for me anymore" after he attacked ma.çé and mån.sôör in the backstage area, hinting strongly at reverting to his "NXT" roots. As per storyline, Knight was frustrated with his stablemates for trying to set a new record for "the longest pose ever" instead of fighting their way up the ranks for a shot at The Usos for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Titles.
Knight, who finished up his "NXT" run with a loss to GUNTHER on April 2, has yet to wrestle a match since being called up to WWE's main roster. All signs point to Knight being used as a singles Superstar on the "SmackDown" brand going forward. Earlier reports had suggested that the former Eli Drake was now being listed as "LA Knight" in WWE's internal roster, and that plans were in place for Maximum Male Models to continue without him.