WWE NXT Rehires Drake Maverick Amid Controversy As Fans Feel Duped

In what has become the feel-good story of the first-half of 2020, WWE NXT Superstar Drake Maverick earned his job back in WWE NXT as part of an art-imitating-life storyline.

Maverick, who was one of hundreds of WWE personnel fired on Black Friday, April 15, singlehandedly personified the angst, uncertainty and sheer tragedy of the moment with a tearful postmortem that quickly went viral.

Maverick was given an opportunity to finish out his contract by competing in a WWE NXT Interim Cruiserweight Championship tournament, and despite losing in the finals, Maverick was rewarded with a new contract by Triple H himself to conclude this past Wednesday’s broadcast. Recent reports suggest Maverick’s new contract will will be a fraction of his previous contract.

“Through the process of this tournament, [Maverick] captured people’s hearts and imaginations,” said WWE Executive Vice President Triple H, who runs NXT.

“He earned that spot … I’m personally thrilled for him that he can continue to do what he loves and dreams about doing. I’m thrilled we were able to get where we did.”

Though Maverick’s reality-based storyline resulted in a happy ending, not everybody sees it that way. Some are criticizing WWE for exploiting the very serious issue of unemployment in America at the moment amidst a global pandemic. There are others—who truly felt for Drake Maverick at the time of his release—now left with a bitter taste in their mouth knowing how perfectly things worked out for him, to the point where they’re now questioning whether or not it was real in the first place.

During a recent media conference call to promote Saturday’s WWE NXT TakeOver: In Your House, Triple H confirmed that this storyline was not a work from the beginning, and Drake Maverick did legitimately earned his job back with NXT.

“We already had the tournament booked out and I believe it was a little bit of a jumble, but we already had it promoted. Then, the releases happened, which is horrible,” said Triple H.

“No one wants to see anyone lose their job, especially in the world right now. A lot of companies, around the world, are having to make tough business decisions to ensure they’re still there. Difficult decisions were made. [Drake Maverick] was given the option of continuing the tournament and wanted to prove that he could still be here.”

Bryan Alvarez of Wrestling Observer Live has also reported that many elements of this storyline were real, including Drake’s original release.

The finicky pro wrestling fanbase has long since created a dynamic where just about anything can result in some form of backlash. With many able to live vicariously through Drake, who represented so many in wrestling and around the world who have lost their jobs, the payoff—while well done—didn’t get quite as warm and fuzzy a reaction as WWE had hoped.