After a blistering attack from Matt Riddle, NXT North American Champion Velveteen Dream decides he's had enough and ferociously strikes back: Courtesy of WWE Network.
And as the stars aligned over Barclays Center, two words lit up the Big Apple skyline: “Dream TakeOver.”
To quote a legendary Brooklyn, N.Y. native, Matt Riddle realized his plans of leaving TakeOver as champion “was all a dream.” Following a truly epic showdown that pulled the best out of both competitors, Velveteen Dream dashed his opponent’s plans like the MTA subway line at rush hour. But that’s not to say Riddle didn’t go down swinging.
Following a showstopping entrance that added new meaning behind Billie Eilish’s “you should see me in a crown,” Dream sought to teach Riddle a lesson in sharing his spotlight. Riddle put his educated feet to work early, introducing the champion to his mixed martial arts background. From there came a test of strength stalemate, as they locked into each other like a game of “Centipede,” before Riddle saw his armbar attempt spoiled by a counter from Dream. As Dream took a moment to bask in his greatness, an aggressive Riddle answered back with back-to-back powerslams before the champion reversed a third attempt with a roll-up pin. The counter exchanges spilled outside the ring, as Dream saw his diving double axe handle reversed into a German suplex.
Riddle continued his aggressive onslaught, folding Dream with a few more German suplexes in the ring. The physical contest soon evolved from show of strength to a full-on melee, as Riddle remained committed to keeping his opponent down with a flurry of excruciating submission holds and punishing grapples. Dream, however, went for broke as well, even going as far as dropping his challenger with a Dream DDT and Dream Driver. Refusing to go down, the ever-resilient Riddle bounced back stronger. As Dream attempted to climb the turnbuckle for another aerial attack, The Original Bro hopped up and latched on another spine-tingling German suplex followed by a Floating Bro (a moonsault turned senton) from the top rope, that put the entire NXT Universe in a frenzy.
But the spotlight belongs to one Superstar. As Riddle countered a Purple Rainmaker for another Bromission, the Dream remarkably pulled off a unique reversal of his own, rolling up the challenger to score the 1-2-3.
Besides succeeding in turning the Big Apple into Dreamland, The Dream later acknowledged the hard-fought effort from Riddle by accepting a fist bump, which the NXT North American Champion refused to do at the start of the title fight.
