10 Biggest WWE Creative Mistakes Of 2020 (So Far)
2. Drake Maverick Fights To Keep His Job
15 April 2020 was a dark day for professional wrestling with a long list of on-screen talents and other employees released by WWE in what became known as ‘Black Wednesday’. The callous culling of talent by WWE in the middle of a global pandemic is a topic for discussion in itself, but we are going to focus on the story of Drake Maverick that came off the back of this.
Former 205 Live General Manager, Drake Maverick, became the face of ‘Black Wednesday’ after posting an emotional video on his social media confirming his release from the company. This came just a few days after he was announced as a participant in the Interim NXT Cruiserweight Title Tournament, which Maverick and WWE announced he would still be allowed to compete in.
This seemed like a nice gesture at first, but as it began to materialise it started to feel quite uncomfortable. WWE could not ignore the story of Maverick’s release and were almost forced to use the real-life situation as a narrative in the tournament. This not only felt exploitative of Maverick’s situation, but also trivialised the genuine firings of the other performers that had been released at the same time.
The fact that Drake Maverick did eventually earn a contract at the end of this is obviously great for him and fans are genuinely pleased to see him still with WWE, but the real-life situations surrounding this story can’t help but leave a sour taste.