Drake Maverick

James Michael Curtin (born 30 January 1983) is an English former professional wrestler.

He is currently signed to WWE as a writer on Raw.

During his time as an on screen performer in the company, he worked under the ring name Drake Maverick. He has also worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (formerly Impact Wrestling), under the ring name Rockstar Spud.

During his first decade, Curtin worked in the British independent circuit, winning several championships in promotions like International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom (IPW:UK), One Pro Wrestling (1PW), Revolution Pro Wrestling (RPW), and XWA Wrestling.

James Michael Curtin was born in Birmingham on 30 January 1983.

He was originally trained by Jack Storm and Chris Gilbert at the K-Star Wrestling promotion in the Perry Barr area of Birmingham, before eventually coming under the tutelage of "Charming" Don Charles at the SAS Wrestling Academy.

Under the ring name Spud, he went on to perform in many independent promotions within the United Kingdom, the United States, and Europe.

While on the independent circuit, Spud's first major appearances came with the Revolution British Wrestling promotion in 2003.

On 30 August 2003, Spud defeated Jack Hazard to become RBW's first British Welterweight Champion, a title he held for several months before losing it to "The Gift" Ross Jordan in an Iron Man match in December 2003.

Spud began working for Frontier Wrestling Alliance in 2004, and was brought up into the main roster to be used as a jobber for a short time, competing against many larger opponents.

Spud competed regularly for the International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom promotion right from its creation in 2004.

During the start of 2005, however, FWA began showcasing their flyweight division; later that year, Spud entered into a tournament to crown a Flyweight Champion.

He made it to the tournament final, where he was defeated by Ross Jordan, who became the first FWA Flyweight Champion.

However, Jordan was only awarded the match after the referee stopped the contest due to a kayfabe injury to Spud's leg.

The pair continued to feud for over 14 months, with Jordan repeatedly attacking Spud in attempts to re-injure his leg.

Through 2005, Spud had a high-profile feud with Jack Storm, which culminated in a street fight in January 2006.

While in IPW:UK, Spud became one half of the tag team Dragon Hearts, with fellow wrestler Dragon Phoenix.

The feud ended when Spud defeated Jordan in a Last Man Standing match at FWA Last Fight at the Prom on 30 September 2006.

Following a talent trading agreement with the FWA, Spud made his first US appearance in April 2006, competing for Ring of Honor during their two-night Weekend of Champions shows.

Spud appeared during ROH's first tour of shows in the UK in August 2006, Unified and Anarchy in the UK.

He competed under the FWA banner during the British Under 23's Championship event, being FWA's entry into the tournament to crown the first champion under 23 years of age.

However, Spud lost to the tournament's eventual winner Sam Slam in the first round.

Upon the FWA's relaunch, Spud performed under his Rockstar gimmick with an over-the-top entrance including a female security guard, a band, and a groupie.

At the comeback show, New Frontiers, Spud was placed into the FWA Flyweight Championship Tournament and won the qualifying fatal four-way match.

He lost in the next round to Jonny Storm.

On 24 September 2006, Dragon Hearts defeated The Untouchables in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match to become IPW:UK Tag Team Champions.

The Dragon Hearts also got involved with IPW:UK's inter-federation feud with Frontier Wrestling Alliance, and even though Spud is a regular for that promotion he wrestled on the side of IPW:UK in a match against Team FWA.

The Dragon Hearts teamed up with Leroy Kincaide to face off against Iceman, Jonny Storm, and Jorge Castano in a match that saw both Phoenix and Spud suffer injury.

Phoenix suffered a deep wound to his head while Spud suffered what appeared to be a separated or dislocated shoulder due to a dropkick at the hands of Storm.

Storm and Spud faced off in a grudge match in early 2007 with Spud picking up the win.

In 2010, Spud became locked in a war of words with Storm and would take part in multiple FWA Flyweight Championship tournaments.

His feud with Storm culminated in a match at New Frontiers 2011, which ended in a no contest.

In 2012, he appeared in the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA, later Impact Wrestling) program British Boot Camp, winning the competition and being signed to a contract with the promotion.

In TNA/Impact, he was a two-time X Division Champion.

Curtin left Impact in October 2017 and signed a contract with WWE that same month.

He would be named as the on-screen General Manager of 205 Live, the brand created by WWE for their cruiserweight division (205 lbs. and under), and served for a brief time as the manager of AOP on Raw.

In 2019, he became more active as an in-ring competitor, becoming an eight-time 24/7 Champion.

He was released from the company in April 2020 due to budget cuts resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Following his release, WWE still had Curtin compete in the multi-month Interim NXT Cruiserweight Championship tournament.

After losing the finals, he was given a new WWE contract and joined the NXT brand.