Drake Maverick

Maverick signed with WWE in October 2017. On January 30, 2018, Maverick was announced as the new General Manager of *205 Live*. In his first appearance, he scheduled a 16-man WWE Cruiserweight Championship tournament that would culminate at WrestleMania 34.

On the September 3, 2018 episode of *Raw*, Maverick turned heel when he accompanied the tag team AOP (Akam and Rezar) to the ring and announced himself as their new manager. On the November 5 episode of *Raw*, Maverick led AOP to their first reign as Raw Tag Team Champions.

At the Survivor Series pay-per-view, Maverick was once again in the corner of AOP, this time helping to lead them to victory over The Bar, as Maverick distracted the opposing team after relieving himself out of fear from The Bar's manager, Big Show. On the December 10 episode of *Raw*, AOP lost their tag titles to Bobby Roode and Chad Gable in a three-on-two handicap match, that also involved Maverick. While acting as a heel on the main roster, Maverick remained acting as a face General Manager on *205 Live*. In a dark match before the April 9 episode of *SmackDown*, Maverick managed EC3 for the first time in WWE. Following the introduction of the WWE 24/7 Championship, Maverick continually chased the current holder of the championship on *Raw*, *SmackDown Live* and *205 Live*, most notably, R-Truth. During his pursuit, Maverick created flyers of Truth and handed them out to fans, backstage personnel, and superstars in various places. On the May 29 edition of *SmackDown Live*, Truth and Maverick interrupted the Shane McMahon Appreciation Night in an impromptu match for the title, in which Maverick lost. On June 18, Maverick (disguised as Truth's manager Carmella) pinned Truth in the parking lot of the arena in Ontario, California where *SmackDown Live* and *205 Live* were being held, winning the 24/7 Title, then immediately taking the referee's rental car and driving off. This marked his first championship win in WWE. Maverick also became the second holder - after R-Truth - to retain the title for over one day. However, he lost the title to R-Truth on his wedding day, two days later. During the following episode of *Raw*, Maverick had a rematch against R-Truth fort the title, but he was quickly defeated. On the July 1 episode of *Raw*, Maverick attacked R-Truth with a suitcase and pinned him in the backstage area, while the latter was fleeing from a mob of wrestlers to become a two-time 24/7 Champion. However, Maverick lost the title to Truth 14 days later when Truth pinned him on his honeymoon. During his storyline with R-Truth, Maverick won the title 4 times. On 27 August, he won the title for the fifth time, defeating Elias on *SmackDown Live* after the latter was attacked by Kevin Owens. After winning the title a sixth time then losing it back to Truth, Maverick was drafted to *SmackDown* in the 2019 draft.

On April 12, 2020, Maverick was announced as a participant in the Interim Cruiserweight Title tournament, representing Group A in the tournament. On April 15, Maverick was released from his WWE contract. Despite this, he was still allowed to compete in the Interim Cruiserweight Title tournament. Maverick's release was put into his storyline for the tournament, as he continuously stated that he was not going to leave WWE without the Cruiserweight Championship. He lost his first match in the tournament against Jake Atlas, but defeated Tony Nese in his second match. He then went on to defeat Kushida on the May 20, 2020 episode of *NXT*. A week later, Maverick advanced to the finals of the Cruiserweight Championship tournament by defeating Atlas and Kushida in a triple threat match. The next week, he lost to El Hijo del Fantasma for the Cruiserweight Championship; however, after the match, Maverick was offered an *NXT* contract. On the June 10 episode of *NXT*, Maverick came out to congratulate Fantasma on his title win but was attacked by Fantasma and the masked men who were revealed as Joaquin Wilde and Raul Mendoza, and were working together the whole time. The following week, Maverick was once again attacked by Fantasma (now known as Santos Escobar), Wilde and Mendoza as Escobar put him through a table. The feud would culminate on the second night of The Great American Bash on July 8, where Maverick and Breezeango fought Legado del Fantasma in a losing effort.

Soon after his feud with Escobar, Maverick would form a dysfunctional tag team with Killian Dain. On the December 23 episode of *NXT*, Maverick and Dain lost to NXT Tag Team Champions Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan in a tag team street fight match for the tag titles. Following this, both Maverick and Dain entered the 2021 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, and they defeated Curt Stallion and August Grey in the first round on the January 15 episode of *205 Live*. However, the duo were eliminated in the second round by MSK on the January 27 episode of *NXT*. On the NXT TakeOver: Stand and Deliver pre-show, Maverick and Dain defeated Breezango to earn a future NXT Tag Team Championship match. Maverick and Dain would receive their title opportunity on the following episode of *NXT*, where they faced the reigning champions, MSK in a losing effort. After the match, Dain and Maverick were both attacked by Imperium. On June 25, Dain was released from his WWE contract, thus disbanding the team.

On the September 6 episode of *Raw*, Maverick made his return to the brand, confronting 24/7 Champion Reggie. After winning the 24/7 Championship two more times, Maverick would be released from his contract on November 18.