
Maxxine Dupri is living proof that hard work really does pay off.
In just her 50th career match Monday night on Raw, the 28-year-old defeated Becky Lynch inside of Madison Square Garden to capture the WWE Women's Intercontinental Championship.
Not two years after fans were mercilessly booing her wrestling skills during a WWE live event, Maxxine went over the greatest female performer in WWE history, on one of the biggest stages imaginable, to win the first singles title of her career.
Winning your first title from a multi-time world champion at the World’s Most Famous Arena…doesn’t get bigger than that.
— Triple H (@TripleH) November 18, 2025
This is the @TheGarden. Congratulations @maxxinedupri! pic.twitter.com/buPFGBwvAP
"Winning your first title from a multi-time world champion at the World’s Most Famous Arena… doesn’t get bigger than that," wrote WWE Chief Content Officer Paul 'Triple H' Levesque as he posted his trademark finger point photo with the new champion on social media Monday night.
Dupri has seemingly dedicated every waking moment of her life to getting better in the ring these past few years, and while improvements can always be made, her hard work has now been rewarded in a major way.
Those who have seen the effort that Maxxine has put in firsthand very quickly hopped on their own social media accounts to offer up their congratulations.
Trish Stratus : "Yah she did!! Cause hard work ALWAYS pays off!! Congrats !! Proud of you!!"
Yah she did!! Cause hard work ALWAYS pays off!! Congrats @maxxinedupri!! Proud of you!! https://t.co/Y7pAmF4AvZ
— Trish Stratus (@trishstratuscom) November 18, 2025
Scarlett Bordeaux: "MAXXINE!!!!!"
MAXXINE!!!!! ❤️
— Scarlett Bordeaux (@Lady_Scarlett13) November 18, 2025
Shotzi: "Ahhhhhhh! I love you @maxxinedupri !!!!"
Ahhhhhhh! I love you @maxxinedupri !!!! https://t.co/UqnDxTFYOk
— Shotzi (@ShotziTCB) November 18, 2025
Matt Cardona: "And NEW! Congrats @maxxinedupri! #WWERaw"
And NEW! Congrats @maxxinedupri! #WWERaw
— Matt Cardona (@TheMattCardona) November 18, 2025
Chelsea Green : "Doesn't shock me. Hard work looks like THIS"
Doesn’t shock me.
— CHELSEA GREEN (@ImChelseaGreen) November 18, 2025
Hard work looks like THIS ⤵️ https://t.co/uTVpptRIoJ
.@maxxinedupri ♥️
— The Virtuosa (@DeonnaPurrazzo) November 18, 2025
Natalya: "She’s stayed positive, been the epitome of a professional and worked hard. Congratulations @maxinnedupri. Now the real work begins. See you this week at THE DUNGEON. #WWERaw"
She’s stayed positive, been the epitome of a professional and worked hard. Congratulations @maxxinedupri. Now the real work begins.
— lowkey legend (@NatbyNature) November 18, 2025
See you this week at THE DUNGEON. #WWERaw https://t.co/Y1J418pxFv
Natalya's words ring very true. It's one thing to win a championship; it's a completely different animal to be a champion and successfully defend your title.
It will be very interesting to see how Maxxine's run as the Women's Intercontinental Champion plays out, as she's never been booked as a consistent winner in her young career. She has just 13 victories total, with three of them coming against Lynch in recent weeks.
One was via count-out (a fast count by referee Jessika Carr), another by disqualification, and then Monday night's title win came after The Man got into a verbal spat with Jessika Carr and was distracted by a returning AJ Lee.
The Man has had issues with Jessika Carr dating back to Wrestlepalooza when she tapped out to AJ Lee. Carr correctly awarded the victory in that mixed tag team match to Lee and CM Punk, but Lynch's delusional nature these days resulted in her finding someone else to blame for her failure that night. She chose the "crooked" referee.
Her beef with Carr extended into the program with Maxxine and helped push that feud to a three-match series. Lynch's frustrations with Carr once again boiled over Monday night and played a major role in her losing the Women's Intercontinental Championship.
After Raw went off the air, however, Lynch directed her anger on social media at a new scapegoat in AJ Lee. She's now formally protesting Dupri's victory and promising legal action.
"Three letters: NML. No. Managers. License.
In the state of New York that is governed by the state athletic commission, a managers license must be attained for interfering parties to be allowed at ringside.
Therefore, hence, vis a vis, the outcome of this title match, which has been clearly rigged, is hereby under protest.
You will be hearing from my lawyer imminently. The changing of the side plates will result in a lawsuit."Becky Lynch on her X account
Three letters: NML. No. Managers. License.
— Rebecca Quin (@BeckyLynchWWE) November 18, 2025
In the state of New York that is governed by the state athletic commission, a managers license must be attained for interfering parties to be allowed at ringside.
Therefore, hence, vis a vis, the outcome of this title match, which… https://t.co/Gkc4v8pXac
Of course, this is all being done in character. Lynch has very publicly supported Maxxine in the past, and it would not be surprising at all if Becky turned out to be the one who really pushed for Dupri to beat her for the title, even though she has this unfounded reputation online of never putting anyone over.
With WrestleMania season just around the corner, The Man is reportedly being considered for a huge match against Stephanie Vaquer for the Women's World Championship at next year's 'Showcase of the Immortals'. Taking the Women's IC Title off of her could just be the first domino to fall in moving up back up the card.
This moment really became full circle now. #WWERaw pic.twitter.com/2tcGpXzNdk
— la cesca (@beckysbiceps) November 18, 2025
First things first, a singles match with AJ Lee is definitely in her future. And if Rhea Ripley's backstage interaction with Lee on Raw Monday night wasn't a clear enough tease, both women will be soon be facing each other inside WarGames coming up at Survivor Series on Saturday, November 29.
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