New names find themselves atop the NXT Cruiserweight Tournament standings

After three matches on the April 22 episode of NXT, we’re through one of three rounds of round robin action in the Interim Cruiserweight Championship Tournament.

Last week, Akira Tozawa picked up a win over Isaiah “Swerve” Scott. Tonight, Jake Atlas defeated Drake Maverick, Kushida beat Tony Nese, and El Hijo del Fantasma pinned Jack Gallagher.

While everyone only has one of two possible records at this point, the pool is small enough that we can get a pretty good idea of where the storyline(s) will go. Whoever ends up with the best record in each group will face off for the belt, with head-to-head result breaking any ties.

• The guys who are 1 - 0 can earn a title shot by winning out.
• The guys who are 0 - 1 have hope the guys they lost to lose to one of the other guys in their group while they win out.

Kushida and Fantasma were probably the front-runners coming in. But Maverick has become a major player since being released last Wednesday, and the WWE machine has devoted a lot of time to promoting these “last three matches” - including with another teary-eyed promo after his loss tonight.

But the man who beat him, Atlas, made a hell of an impression. And as the only out gay male wrestler on the WWE roster, he has quite the inspirational tale to tell, too.

They haven’t announced the match-ups for the second round, but we’ll let you know when they do.

In the meantime, give us your updated picks - and your impressions of the first round of matches - in the comments below.