Drake Maverick Loses First Match in NXT Cruiserweight Championship Tournament

Last week was a brutal week for a variety of WWE and NXT superstars, as WWE released over 20 [...]

By Matthew Aguilar

Last week was a brutal week for a variety of WWE and NXT superstars, as WWE released over 20 talents from their rosters and even more from other areas of the company. One of those superstars was Drake Maverick, who released an emotional video on social media addressing his departure from the company. He revealed then that WWE was still letting him participated in the NXT Cruiserweight Championship tournament, and he vowed to fight as hard as he could and give it everything. He did just that tonight, but unfortunately, he couldn't get the win this time, as Jake Atlas defeated him and took the spot.

That was genuinely surprising for many fans, as many thought Maverick would get the win, and he didn't even have a chance to address the loss on the show.

Maverick was helped out of the ring and walked past Atlas in his post-match interview, and he shook his head angrily and walked backstage. Atlas was frustrated, saying he felt so bad and "I was rooting for him."

"Hats off to @iamjakeatlas on an impressive start to #Cruiserweight Championship Tournament. @WWEMaverick isn't done yet. #WWENXT"

I imagine we haven't heard the last from Maverick as part of tonight's episode, but if we have that is a head-scratcher. The good news is that he's still got a few more matches to take part in before he would be out of the tournament, so hopefully, those will go better for Maverick.

You can find the official description for tonight's NXT below.

"Finn Bálor looks to show The Velveteen Dream why he's the greatest NXT Champion of all time, El Hijo del Fantasma's debut highlights continued Interim NXT Cruiserweight Championship Tournament action and Tegan Nox joins forces with Shotzi Blackheart to battle Dakota Kai & Raquel González this Wednesday night on USA Network at 8/7 C!"

You can find the card below.

Tegan Nox and Shotzi Blackheart vs Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez

El Hijo del Fantasma vs Jack Gallagher

Cruiserweight Tournament: Kushida vs Tony Nese

Cruiserweight Tournament: Drake Maverick vs Jake Atlas

What have you thought of tonight's NXT thus far? Let us know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MattAguilarCB for all things NXT!

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