On April 15, WWE made a handful of cutbacks, which included multiple wrestlers being released by the company.
One name among the releases was Drake Maverick, who had already been announced for the interim NXT Cruiserweight Title tournament. In a heartfelt video on Twitter, which you can view in the video above, Maverick revealed that he will still compete in the tournament despite being released.
Appearing on The Bump, Maverick discussed the current position he's in.
"I think everybody misconstrued my message, somewhat. Away from WWE, we all have our own lives, problems, situations. I have a chance, nobody else was as fortunate as me -- I don't think anybody in the history of WWE has had a chance like this, on the way out, to potentially save their job. I have that chance. I'm more fortunate than anybody in the world. I'm more fortunate in regard to people outside of WWE that are going through hard times and bad situations with what's going on in the current climate. It's horrible. You don't take it seriously until it slaps you in the face. Last Wednesday, it slapped me in the face. My deepest sympathies go out to everybody who has been affected by what's going on in the world."
He continued, "But I've got to think about me now, and I have a chance. If I'm going out, I'm going out swinging. All I ever wanted in WWE was to compete in the ring and be the star that I know I am. I felt like there was always an obstacle to overcome, whether it was knocking on Vince's door and there were six other people trying to knock on the door first. Whether it was who I've got to ask, what I've got to do, getting in the ring before shows and live events. Just to see if anybody would look at me and go, 'That guy has got something.' I had the NXT crew following me around the last two weeks documenting my return to the ring. It will be the biggest turn of events since Drew McIntyre was supposed to wrestle for the WWE Title in front of 90,000 people. Something will come along and switch the course of destiny. That's what happened. They're still letting me compete and this is the story now. What's more relatable than somebody fighting for their job? I'm going to show them, stick it to them, and tell the person that made this decision, 'You were wrong.' And I'm going to do it the professional way. I'm not going to whine or complain, I'm gonna go out there and show them."
Maverick is scheduled to wrestle Jake Atlas in his first round-robin match on Wednesday's NXT.
Fightful will have live coverage of NXT beginning at 8 p.m. ET.
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