Maxxine Dupri

In August 2021, Zmrzel participated in a WWE tryout in Las Vegas, Nevada, and became one of the 14 attendees to earn a contract with the company.[6] Zmrzel first transitioned into professional wrestling in 2022 on NXT as a valet with Robert Stone for Von Wagner under the ring name Sofia Cromwell.[1]

On the July 22, 2022 episode of SmackDown, Dupri made her debut on the main roster as Max Dupri's (kayfabe) sister, Maxxine Dupri, as the "director of talent" for his heel stable Maximum Male Models consisting of ma.çé and mån.sôör.[7] On the October 7, 2022 episode of SmackDown, Max would go on to leave the stable and re-establish himself as LA Knight, leaving her as the stable's valet.[8] In February 2023, Maximum Male Models were moved to the Raw brand.[9]

Following the move to Raw, Dupri would begin a comedic storyline with Otis where she would attempt to recruit and encourage him to become a member of Maximum Male Models. This would later start a series of segments between Dupri and Chad Gable, where they both wanted Otis to be on their respective teams.[10] Subsequently, she left Maximum Male Models and joined Alpha Academy, turning face for the first time in her career.

On the June 12 episode of Raw, Dupri performed an arm drag on Valhalla of The Viking Raiders and began her first feud.[11] Otis and Gable trained Dupri in backstage segments to prepare for her in-ring debut. She debuted in a mixed tag team match between Alpha Academy and The Viking Raiders on the July 3, 2023 episode of Raw, defeating Valhalla with a roll-up pin.[12][13] On the July 10 episode of Raw, Alpha Academy held a graduation ceremony for Dupri with Gable presenting Dupri her own Alpha Academy letterman's jacket at the end of the ceremony. As Dupri was about to put on the jacket, The Viking Raiders appeared on the ramp to distract Alpha Academy. Valhalla then attacked Dupri from behind and stole her jacket.[14] In the following episode of Raw, Gable and Otis fought Erik and Ivar in a "Viking Rules" match. Despite dominating the match, Gable and Otis lost but Dupri managed to take her jacket back.[15] On the July 31 episode of Raw, Dupri defeated Valhalla with a Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex in her debut singles match.[16]