Drake Maverick has had a pretty solid run with the WWE in 2018. While he’s not competing, the former Rockstar Spud became the General Manager of 205 Live right around the time the brand exploded, bringing fans some incredible matches between the likes of Cedric Alexander, Mustafa Ali, Hideo Itami, and the Cruiserweight Champion Buddy Murphy.
Not only that, but Maverick was paired with the Authors of Pain near the end of the summer. Since teaming up with Akam and Rezar, the powerhouses have climbed to the top of Raw’s tag team division. AOP even defeated SmackDown Live’s tag champs The Bar at Survivor Series…even if the victory was at the expense of Maverick urinating on himself.
The WWE’s move to pair Maverick with AOP was met with some criticism, especially after they dropped legendary manager Paul Ellering upon their arrival in early 2018. Chris Jericho even questioned the idea on the latest episode of Talk is Jericho.
The concept of AOp is cool as they were obviously very popular on NXT. I have a problem. AOP…in NXT they were managed by Paul Ellering, who used to manage the Road Warriors. Now, they bring Akam and Rezar to the main roster and the first night they fire Paul Ellering. I never got that.
This is nothing against anybody, but they bring in this dude, Drake Maverick. This is a guy who actually said, ‘My name is Rockstar Spud.’
Why would these two behemoths listen to this little… he looks like a model from a teen magazine. They would listen to the grizzled old vet Paul Ellering… but why would they listen to Drake Maverick?
Jericho didn’t feel that Maverick was the right fit for the team, as the old and experienced Ellering had more to offer the young upstarts.
Do you agree with Jericho’s stance? Was AOP better off with Paul Ellering? Sound off in the comments below!
