On 12 April 2020, Maverick was announced as a participant in the Interim NXT Cruiserweight Title Tournament, representing Group A in the tournament. On April 15 2020, Maverick was originally released from his WWE contract as part of budget cuts stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this, he was still expected to compete in the Interim Cruiserweight Title tournament. Maverick's release was put into his storyline for the tournament, as he continuously stated that he was not going to leave WWE without the Cruiserweight Championship. He lost his first match in the tournament against Jake Atlas, but defeated Tony Nese in his second match. On the May 20 episode of "NXT", Maverick defeated Kushida, leaving his record at 2–1, tying with Atlas and Kushida. A week later, Maverick advanced to the finals of the Cruiserweight Championship tournament by defeating Atlas and Kushida in a triple threat match. In the tournament finals, he lost to El Hijo del Fantasma for the Cruiserweight Championship; however, after the match, Maverick was offered an NXT contract by Triple H which he signed immediately, turning Maverick face for the first time in nearly 2 years. The fan response to Maverick's release and his involvement in the Cruiserweight Title tournament led to WWE legitimately re-hiring Maverick after he was originally supposed to only work the tournament. On the June 10 episode of NXT, Maverick came out to congratulate Fantasma on his title win but was attacked by Fantasma and the masked men who were revealed as Joaquin Wilde and Raul Mendoza and were working together the whole time. The following week, Maverick was once again attacked by Fantasma (now known as Santos Escobar), Wilde and Mendoza as Escobar put him through a table. The feud would culminate on the second night of The Great American Bash on July 8 where Maverick and Breezeango fought Legado Del Fantasma in a losing effort.