Tag: velveteen dream

NXT Philadelphia live results: Velveteen Dream vs. Cole vs. Riddle

Posted on by F4W Staff

Submitted by Richard Kelly

– The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford) defeated The Outliers (Dan Matha & Riddick Moss) w/ Robert Strauss

The Street Profits were very popular — Montez Ford has a ton of charisma. Strauss (the former Robbie E in TNA) came out to introduce his team. Neither was over, but Matha was good and did a good job getting heat with the crowd.

This was a basic tag team match that The Street Profits won when Ford came off the top with a crossbody onto Matha, who tried catching him but then tripped over Dawkins and was rolled up by both guys. Semi-looked like a botch.

– Io Shirai & Candice LeRae defeated Jessamyn Duke & Marina Shafir

As expected, Shirai and LeRae were beloved. Duke and Shafir looked better than they have in the ring. Duke in particular worked a lot of the match and some of her kicks looked pretty brutal.

This was another basic tag match that Shirai won with a moonsault on Duke.

– Punishment Martinez defeated Keith Lee

Good match. Both guys were pretty over and the crowd was split. Lee has a boatload of charisma and did a lot of really subtle things, especially facial expressions. It wasn’t really a heel/face dynamic, but it was just a solid back and forth wrestling match.

Martinez did a running step-up dive to the outside and hit his sit-out chokeslam for a huge near fall. Lee went for a moonsault off the second rope, missed, and then Martinez hit a Cross Rhodes for the win. Last five minutes were great.

– The Undisputed Era (Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly) w/ Roderick Strong defeated Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch

Undisputed Era were super over, as you could guess. Fun tag match while it lasted.

They got the heat on Burch for a long time. When Lorcan made the hot tag and was in there with Fish, Lorcan must have caught Fish in the head/face with a kick that rung his bell. The referee kept trying to get in there to separate the two and check on Fish, but Fish powered through several more spots, even though he looked pretty woozy.

The referee threw up the X, but then Fish made it over to the corner and they forced O’Reilly to tag in and forced Fish to the outside to get checked out by trainers. The finish was probably ad-libbed as O’Reilly hit a suplex into a cross armbreaker for the submission on Lorcan.

They quickly got Fish out of there and to the back. Hopefully it’s nothing too serious.

– KUSHIDA defeated Drew Gulak in a submission match

Incredibly good match. They announced a submission match with no pinfalls, no countouts, and no DQs, but then enforced rope breaks, which was weird but at least they were consistent.

KUSHIDA was popular coming out, but Gulak, who is from Philadelphia, was beloved by the fans. It was almost a 60-40 split for Gulak. They did a lot of really good technical wrestling and jockeyed for submissions. The crowd was into it the whole time because they knew that’s Gulak’s thing and they were there to see him stretch someone.

Eventually, KUSHIDA won with a tilt-a-whirl into the Hoverboard Lock. Very good match and it seems this is being set up as a mini-feud on NXT TV, so buckle up.

After the match, Gulak cut a promo saying he was glad to bring his style of wrestling to the fans in Philadelphia. Gulak said he trained at the 2300 Arena and came up in EVOLVE.

Gulak said that on July 13, EVOLVE is having their 10th anniversary show in Philadelphia and he’s issuing an open challenge for that show. On the big screen, a video played where Matt Riddle accepted the challenge. 

– NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler defeated Kacy Catanzaro to retain her title

Pretty basic match, although Catanzaro got more than I thought she would. Catanzaro is very small but incredibly agile and athletic and I think has a ton of potential.

Baszler spent most of the match working over the arm and twisting it into a lot of different shapes. Catanzaro’s comeback was full of high flying, including a frankensteiner off the top and a plancha to the outside. Eventually, Baszler countered a wheelbarrow attempt into the Kirafuda Clutch for the submission victory. 

– NXT North American Champion Velveteen Dream defeated Adam Cole and Matt Riddle in a triple threat match to retain his title

Riddle came out first and got a really good reaction. Cole then came out to an even bigger reaction. But Dream was the most over guy on the show. The fans were going crazy and he milked his entrance for everything he could. He gave his glasses to a small girl at ringside, which prompted chants of “Dream’s a sweetheart.” This guy is going to be a future megastar.

So, this was a crazy match — one of the craziest I’ve seen live. Riddle saw the most action in the match and hit all of his big moves, including the jumping Tombstone. At one point, all three superkicked each other at the same time for a triple down.

They got a lot of “this is awesome” chants. Finally, Cole went for the Panama Destroyer, but Riddle cut him off up top, so Cole hit a flip piledriver with Riddle on the second rope in one of the craziest moves I’ve ever seen.

Cole covered Riddle, but Dream flew in with the Purple Rainmaker on Cole to break up the count and then covered Cole for the win. Really crazy match — would’ve been at home on a TakeOver show. 

Really great show — almost a carbon-copy of the NXT Bethlehem show from the night before but they switched it up just enough to be special. 

NXT Largo, FL, live results: Dream vs. Cole, Strong vs. Strickland

Posted on by JJ Williams

From the Minnreg Hall with an estimated attendance of 300

– Kushida defeated Adrian Jaoude

– Marina Shafir (w/ Jessamyn Duke) defeated Xia Li

 Shafir choked out Li for the submission victory.

– The Street Profits defeated Jermaine Haley and Brendan Vink (w/ Court Moore)

Haley accidentally hit Vink with a splash before Montez hit a splash of his own to pin Vink.

– Babatunde defeated Sam Shaw

A big slam by Babatunde got him the win.

– Robert Strauss lead Nick Comoroto into destroying Eric Bugenhagen

– Roderick Strong defeated Shane Strickland

This was the live event debut of Strickland here at the historic Largo venue. Strong made his entrance using his singles music and blue T-shirt with no mention of The Undisputed Era.

This was a great match and a top NXT singles match of the year here in Florida, continuing the tradition of top talents coming in and having incredible debut matches. Roddy applied the Stronghold elevated crab for the submission victory. I would love to see this match make TV someday.

Albert Hardie Jr. defeated Mansoor

The crowd made this an amazing moment by singing “Albert Hardie Jr”  to the tune of the White Stripes’ Seven Nation Army which upset Mansoor as he wanted the crowd to sing jus for him. This only made the people boo angrily before singing again for Hardie. It was one of those incredible Florida loop bubble moments. Hardie won with his bridging suplex.

Aliyah and Vanessa Borne defeated Jessie and Kacy Catanzaro

We got a new double team finish by Aliyah and Vanessa where they lift their opponent into a vertical suplex only to slam them forward to a back bump.

North American Champion Velveteen Dream defeated Adam Cole to retain

Dream Valley Driver by the Dream scored the three. Post match, Dream thanked the crowd for being the hottest in Florida and declared that we are NXT.

NXT West Palm Beach, FL, live results: Velveteen Dream vs. Riddle

Posted on by JJ Williams

Friday night’s estimated attendance: 500 people.

This was the equivalent of a road show despite being in Florida as they charged a premium price for tickets at this venue.

– Eric Bugenhagen defeated Adrian Jaoude

– Mia Yim defeated Reina Gonzalez

– The Forgotten Sons (Wesley Blake & Steve Cutler) defeated Team 3.0

– Punishment Martinez defeated Kona Reeves

– Dan Matha & Riddick Moss defeated Denzel Dejournette & Cal Bloom

Matha and Moss asked for more competition after, which led to them facing The Street Profits.

– The Street Profits defeated Dan Matha & Riddick Moss

– KUSHIDA defeated Humberto Carrillo

– NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler, Marina Shafir & Jessamyn Duke defeated Kairi Sane, Io Shirai & Karen Q

After the match, Sane hit Baszler with the top rope elbow drop.

– NXT North American Champion Velveteen Dream defeated Matthew Riddle to retain his title

Dream won via roll-up.

NXT Jacksonville, FL, live results: Velveteen Dream vs. Dominik Dijakovic

Posted on by JJ Williams

From the Maxwell Snyder Armory with estimated attendance of 400

– Raul Mendoza defeated Cezar Bononi

– Reina Gonzalez defeated Kavita Devi

– Shane Thorne defeated “Freak Beast” Nick Comoroto

– Jermaine Haley (w/ Court Moore) defeated Vidot

– The Street Profits defeated Jeff Parker and Matt Lee

– Kushida defeated Trevor Lee

– Vanessa Borne and Aliyah defeated Kacy Catanzaro and Lacey Lane

– North American Champion Velveteen Dream defeated Dominik Dijakovic to retain his title

NXT Largo, FL, live results: Dream vs. Cole vs. Riddle title match

Posted on by JJ Williams

Friday night’s estimated attendance: 350 people.

– Nick Comoroto defeated Sam Shaw

– Vanessa Borne & Aliyah defeated Kacy Catanzaro & Lacey Lane

A double-team slam got Borne and Aliyah the win.

– Danny Burch defeated Brendan Vink

Burch submitted him with a crossface.

– Jermaine Haley (w/ Court Moore) defeated Eric Bugenhagen

To the delight of his agent (Stokely Hathaway), the former Jonah Rock won this with a huge splash.

– Babatunde Aiyegbusi, Jeff Lee & Matt Parker defeated Mansoor Al-Shehail, Rinku Singh & Saurav Gurjar

The crowd loved the giant Babatunde here. He got the win with a spinning slam.

– Albert Hardie Jr. defeated Kona Reeves

The former ACH used a roll-up pinning combo to win.

– Fabian Aichner & Marcel Barthel defeated Raul Mendoza & Humberto Carrillo

A rake of the eyes set up a powerbomb and flying European uppercut combo for the finish.

– Reina Gonzalez defeated Rachel Evers

A lariat won it for Gonzalez.

– NXT North American Champion Velveteen Dream defeated Adam Cole and Matt Riddle in a triple threat match to retain his title

The crowd loved Riddle. The match had great fast-paced action. Riddle had Cole beat, but Dream stole the pin to retain.

NXT Fort Pierce, FL, live results: Dream vs. Riddle vs. Strong

Posted on by JJ Williams

Saturday night’s estimated attendance: 400 people.

– Mansoor Al-Shehail (w/ Shadia Bseiso) defeated Brendan Vink (Elliot Sexton)

Vink tried to impress Bseiso throughout and got caught with a roll-up.

– Reina Gonzalez defeated Xia Li

Gonzalez won with a Clothesline From Hell.

– Riddick Moss (w/ Robert Strauss) defeated Trevor Lee

The former Robbie E caused just enough of a distraction for Lee to get caught by Moss for his big slam.

– Mia Yim defeated Jessie Elaban

Yim hit Protect Ya Neck to win.

– NXT Tag Team Champions War Raiders defeated The Undisputed Era (Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly)

The crowd loved this — these teams are great against each other. The Raiders were just too powerful for Fish & O’Reilly.

– Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner defeated 3.0 (Jeff Parker & Matt Lee)

Barthel & Aichner won it with a Doomsday European uppercut.

– Shane Thorne defeated Albert Hardie Jr. (ACH)

Thorne won by submission.

– NXT North American Champion Velveteen Dream defeated Roderick Strong and Matt Riddle in a triple threat match

The crowd was hot for this one, cheering all three wrestlers and doing a “This is awesome” chant late in the match.

Riddle had Strong in the Bromission while Dream was in the air for a Purple Rainmaker. That broke up the submission and allowed Dream to score the pin on Strong to retain.

NXT Sanford, FL, live results: Robbie E debuts, Dream vs. Riddle

Posted on by JJ Williams

Last night’s estimated attendance: 300 people.

– Mia Yim defeated Deonna Purrazzo

The crowd was into this one. Yim hit Protect Ya Neck to win.

– Adrian Jaoude & Cezar Bononi defeated Jeff Parker & Matt Lee

Jaoude & Bononi were just too powerful for 3.0.

– Punishment Martinez defeated Luke Menzies

Martinez hit the South of Heaven chokeslam to win.

– We were introduced to Robert Strauss (formerly Robbie E in Impact Wrestling), who is now managing Rinku Singh & Saurav Gurjar. Strauss said he isn’t a manager — he’s a brand.

– Saurav Gurjar (w/ Robert Strauss and Rinku Singh) defeated Jermaine Haley (Jonah Rock)

Strauss got on the apron to distract the former Jonah Rock, allowing Gurjar to destroy him and score the pin.

– The Forgotten Sons (Wesley Blake & Steve Cutler) defeated The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford)

The crowd was all over the Sons here and did not like them winning. They won with their flying stomp to the held up opponent double-team finish.

– Danny Burch defeated Shane Thorne

Eric Bugenhagen’s music hit and distracted Thorne, which allowed Burch to put him down. Bugenhagen and Burch rocked out together after the match.

– Kairi Sane & Io Shirai defeated Vanessa Borne & Aliyah

The Sky Pirates put them away with an assisted pop-up elbow drop by Sane.

– NXT North American Champion Velveteen Dream defeated Matt Riddle to retain his title

Excellent match that set a high standard for their TakeOver: New York bout. Riddle hit Dream with everything in his arsenal — including the Bro-Stone — but nothing could put Dream away.

Riddle had Dream down with elbow strikes and was about to lock in the Bromission before he was rolled back for the three count. This was my personal NXT house show match of the year thus far.

Velveteen Dream vs. Matt Riddle official for NXT TakeOver: New York

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Velveteen Dream and Matt Riddle’s North American Championship match is now official for NXT TakeOver: New York.

After last night’s episode of NXT television aired, WWE had William Regal send out a tweet confirming that Dream will defend his NXT North American title against Riddle at TakeOver: “Last night, @SuperKingofBros nearly had @VelveteenWWE beat in the Fatal 5-Way. While Riddle came up short, I want to see what happens when Riddle and Dream compete one-on-one, for the NXT North American Title… at #NXTTakeover: New York!”

Riddle had Dream in the Bromission near the end of the fatal five-way match, but Adam Cole pulled the referee out of the ring. The finish of the match was Cole pinning Ricochet after hitting the Last Shot. Cole will face Johnny Gargano in a two-out-of-three falls match for the vacant NXT Championship at TakeOver: New York.

WWE began building to Dream vs. Riddle at February’s NXT TV tapings. At this month’s tapings, Riddle declared that he would see Dream at TakeOver.

The Barclays Center in Brooklyn is hosting TakeOver: New York on April 5, which is the Friday of WrestleMania week. Here’s the card for the show:

  • Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole in a two-out-of-three falls match for the vacant NXT Championship
  • NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler defending against Io Shirai, Bianca Belair, and Kairi Sane in a fatal four-way match
  • WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne defending against WALTER
  • NXT North American Champion Velveteen Dream defending against Matt Riddle
  • NXT Tag Team Champions War Raiders defending against the winners of the 2019 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic (the finals of the tournament were filmed at this month’s tapings)

EVOLVE 123 results: Velveteen Dream vs. Orange Cassidy

Posted on by F4W Staff

Submitted by Jesse Collings

Friday night’s show in Melrose, Massachusetts drew a bigger crowd than the last time EVOLVE was in the same building. I’d say it was at about 90 percent capacity.

The show was fast-paced and easy to watch, but it lacked anything truly outstanding. The crowd was pretty hot and lively for most of the matches, and reacted to certain guys as if they were big stars. 

The big attraction was Velveteen Dream, who wrestled Orange Cassidy in the main event. Ricochet was originally announced for the show, but it was changed once Ricochet debuted on the main roster. Dream replaced him in the main event, but Ricochet was still there and available for meet and greets.

– Curt Stallion defeated Colby Corino

Basic, quick match. They did some mat wrestling early before exchanging strikes. Stallion is super pale, so the welts he gets show up really well. Stallion won with a back senton in kind of an awkward finish. 

Corino’s group, The Unwanted (led by Eddie Kingston), beat down Stallion after the match and then called out The Street Profits.

Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins came out and cut a good promo on the group and agreed to put the EVOLVE Tag Team titles on the line later in the show against Kingston & Joe Gacy. The Street Profits were really over. 

– Josh Briggs defeated Darby Allin 

Good match, but they didn’t go long. Allin was pretty popular and worked well as the smaller babyface taking on the big heel. Briggs beat him down until Allin made a comeback. Briggs cut him off and hit the M5 (chokeslam into a backbreaker) for the pinfall. 

– Adrian Jaoude defeated Rory Gulak

This was basically a squash match for Jaoude, who is an NXT wrestler. They are pushing him as a big-time guy who uses his BJJ to win matches. He beat Gulak in under five minutes with a leg lock.

– AR Fox & Leon Ruff defeated WWN Champion JD Drake & Anthony Henry

They had the best match of the night and probably went the longest as well. The heels beat on Ruff forever and it really worked — because the crowd went crazy when Fox got the hot tag.

There were a lot of dives and big moves when Fox got in and things broke down. Drake went for a moonsault and missed, which got over huge. Fox eventually won with a 450. 

– EVOLVE Champion Austin Theory defeated John Silver to retain his title

They didn’t have a ton of time considering this was for the EVOLVE Championship. Theory is really good and has improved a lot since he was last in Melrose working against Matt Riddle last summer.

Theory beat Silver in about 10 minutes with Ataxia, which is his pumpslam into a flatliner finisher. 

– Shane Strickland defeated Harlem Bravado 

This was weird. Strickland is part of The Unwanted, who were the biggest heels on the show, but he worked this match as the babyface and Bravado was the heel.

The match was sloppy at the start but got a little better. Strickland won with an armbar. 

– Eddie Kingston & Joe Gacy defeated The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) to win the EVOLVE Tag Team titles

Kingston & Gacy won the titles after Strickland interfered. The match was mostly them beating on Ford until he made the hot tag to Dawkins.

Ford hit a tope con hilo over the post onto everybody. Strickland interfered and Ford chased him out of the ringside area and outside the building. In the ring, Kingston hit a spinning backfist and pinned Dawkins to win the titles. It was funny because it was pouring rain outside and when Ford came back to ringside right as Dawkins was being pinned, he was completely soaked.

The Street Profits were really over and felt like big stars. 

– NXT North American Champion Velveteen Dream defeated Orange Cassidy

This was a bizarre main event. The match was nothing special, but it was entertaining in its own way. Dream was really over with the crowd, but Cassidy was legitimately just as popular working his lazy, carefree gimmick.

There was a lot of stalling and posing before the match started, with Dream doing his histrionics and Cassidy no selling them and working his gimmick against Dream.

The match was mostly Dream working over Cassidy and Cassidy selling. Dream won with the Purple Rainmaker after about 8-10 minutes, but the crowd really enjoyed it.

NXT Sebring, FL, live results: Velveteen Dream vs. Luke Menzies

Posted on by JJ Williams

Last night’s estimated attendance: 150 people.

– The Street Profits defeated Adrian Jaoude & Cezar Bononi

The crowd loved the Profits. After the match, they took turns dropping elbows, knees, and hitting splashes on the Brazilian track jacket left behind in the ring.

– Reina Gonzalez defeated Lacey Lane

Gonzalez won with a big lariat.

– Matt Riddle defeated Babatunde Aiyegbusi

Riddle countered the Babatunde side slam and scored the pin with a bridging German suplex.

– Mohammed Fahim did an in-ring promo before being interrupted by Luke Menzies. Menzies left Mohammed laying.

– Jeet Rama & Kavita Devi defeated Kona Reeves & Vanessa Borne

Devi got the win with a Bubba Bomb sit-out slam.

– Keith Lee defeated Jaxson Ryker via DQ

The Forgotten Sons got involved after a long, physical match. As all three were attacking Lee, Riddle ran in to make the save.

– NXT Tag Team Champions War Raiders defeated Denzel Dejournette & Eric Bugenhagen

The fans loved Bugenhagen’s air guitar antics. War Raiders destroyed them but hung around for Bugenhagen’s encore to rock out with a “War War War” chant.

– Aliyah defeated MJ Jenkins

A cutter got Aliyah the win.

– NXT North American Champion Velveteen Dream defeated Luke Menzies to retain his title

The crowd erupted for the three count after the Purple Rainmaker elbow drop. The people loved Dream here tonight.

WWE NXT results: Gargano vs. Dream title match

Posted on by Chris Aiken

Images: WWE

Velveteen Dream won the NXT North American championship by defeating Johnny Gargano in the main event on episode #493 of NXT. Even though the match was taped several weeks ago, the exact outcome was unclear until the show debuted Wednesday night on WWE Network.

Two finishes being filmed during the last set of television tapings let to speculation about which person would leave as champion. The version of the finish with a title change is what ultimately aired on the episode. Therefore, Dream became the fourth person to win the title.

This show aired days after several NXT wrestlers were called up to the main roster. All four of those that debuted a few days ago on Raw were also featured on this previously recorded episode. Those four also appeared on Smackdown a day before this installment of NXT would premiere.

A voiceover by Nigel McGuinness on this show laid overtop of b-roll footage recapped the debuts on the main roster. The only aspect still unexplained was Johnny Gargano teaming with Tommaso Ciampa despite them being rivals on NXT. Granted, they were teasing a reunion for weeks on NXT before teaming up on Raw and SmackDown. Likewise, they were on the same team for Halftime Heat.

There nonetheless was very little explanation for them suddenly teaming together after Gargano had steadfastly remained hesitant on NXT television. Storyline motives and other reasoning may become clearer after the new set of tapings. The episode that aired tonight was the last from the prior tapings.

The show was loaded in many ways — and much like other stellar NXT episodes — had a lot of  wrestling. Three matches all got plenty of time to play out. The show also featured an announcement about the return of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. The tournament begins on TV in two weeks.

The show opened with a match set up by an attack that closed the previous episode.

Aleister Black defeated Roderick Strong

Black pinned Strong after delivering Black Mass out of nowhere. The match began with grappling until Black fired up with flurry of kicks. A German suplex netted Black an early near fall. Strong shifted the momentum with a wrecking ball dropkick to the floor.

A release backbreaker led to Black crashing on the steps. From there, Strong began working the back. Strong threw a chop that could have made Johnny Valentine blush. He kept working over Black.

Black blocked a superplex and teased doing a powerbomb — but his back gave out. Strong capitalized with a backbreaker to further exploit the injury. Black began a comeback as Gargano missed a charge into a corner.

Black peppered Strong with kicks before they both exchanged strikes. Strong was spiked on a brainbuster for a near fall. Strong fought back to execute a pop-up gutbuster. They fought on apron before Black took a crazy bump into the turnbuckles.

Strong continued the onslaught — but Black kept kicking out. For the finish, Strong momentarily let his guard down when he walked into Black Mass. Black then covered Strong for the pinfall.

Undisputed Era ran down to attack Black after the match. Ricochet ran in to make the save. He and Black cleaned house and cleared the ring. This appears to build towards a tag team match.

A skit showed the Horsewomen arguing with others on the women’s roster. There was a lot of shouting along with some pushing and shoving.

Bianca Belair in a vignette said she still considered herself “un-de-feat-ed” despite losing to Shayna Baszler at TakeOver. Belair blamed the referee in the match. Belair also cut a promo on Io Shirai — so that is apparently a future direction.

Mia Yim defeated Xia Li

Yim pinned Li after executing her finisher. They started the match with chain wrestling. Li eventually had Yim reeling and backpedaling. Li also twice countered a knuckle lock. When Li leapt off the middle rope for a leap frog, Yim met her with a kick. She followed with cannonball on Li. Nevertheless, Li hit a kick for a near fall.

Li climbed the turnbuckles only to miss a splash off the top. Yim dropped her with a kick — and then Protect Your Neck led to Yim scoring a pinfall.

The Horsewomen attacked Yim much like they did to Aliyah & Vanessa Borne on the previous episode. Yim faired better than them but not for long. Others identified only as “NXT trainees” tried to make a save — to no avail. They were all beaten down.

Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir held Yim while Shayna Baszler punted her with a kick. A defiant Baszler held up her NXT Women’s Championship as she stood over Yim. This set up a match between Baszler and Yim that airs next week.

Candice LeRae was talking to her husband — Gargano — ahead of his title match. NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa interrupted to tell Gargano, “If you need me, I’m here.” Gargano dismissed Ciampa as he wanted no help from Ciampa. They apparently are only chummy on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Jeremy Borash conducted a sit-down interview with Matt Riddle. When asked about toning down his persona, Riddle said he would rather be told to tone it down and ramp it up. Riddle added he was glad he got rid of Kassius Ohno once and for all.

Riddle mentioned tapping out Drew Gulak on a previous episode. “That’s just the beginning,” Riddle said.

Riddle mentioned wanting a title shot at the NXT North American Championship and said, “Nothing is going to stop me…bro.”

Velveteen Dream defeated Johnny Gargano to win the NXT North American Championship

Dream pinned Gargano after delivering the Purple Rainmaker. The closing moments of the match were great. They started slow and built to a fever pitch. Ciampa was watching the match from a crow’s nest much like he was Sting on Monday Nitro — except Ciampa looked far more sinister.

They were having a technical match until Dream open hand slapped Gargano — who powdered outside to sell the slap. A second slap by Dream led to double ax handle off the top rope. When he went upstairs a second time, Gargano tripped him up and pulled him off the ropes.

Gargano circled his prey as he began working over Dream. Gargano got heat as Dream kept kicking out. Gargano tortured Dream with more punishment. Dream briefly fired up before he took a Harley Race bump over the ropes to the floor.

Gargano cupped his hand to his ear as the crowd jeered. That led to dueling chants.

Dream fought from underneath as he delivered a spinebuster. A comeback by Dream led to him clotheslining Gargano to the outside. Dream followed with a Randy Savage flying double ax handle to the floor.

They traded near falls. Dream used a famouser — and Gargano delivered a draping flatliner. Dream moments later blocked a slingshot DDT. Gargano also countered a DVD — and then he followed with a tope suicida.

Back in the ring, Dream cradled Gargano with an Oklahoma roll for a two count. A DDT from Dream got another two count. Dream then proceeded to miss the Purple Rainmaker for a close near fall.

Dream executed a super DVD off the top. Gargano not only somehow survived, he also miraculously got his shoulder up. Dream went back to the top — but Gargano rolled out of the ring. Dream jumped off to attempt another flying ax handle. Gargano cut him down with a superkick.

Gargano suplexed Dream on the metal ramp. Gargano dropped Dream with a slingshot DDT for the closest near fall of the match. Gargano tried to finish Dream with series of clotheslines. They each countered the other’s finisher.

Dream twice delivered a DVD. He then climbed the turnbuckles to deliver a Purple Rainmaker for the pinfall.

As Dream celebrated with the championship belt, Ciampa smirked as he left his perch high above the ring.

Velveteen Dream wins North American title on NXT

Posted on by Bryan Rose

After a few weeks of speculation, NXT tonight confirmed that Velveteen Dream is officially the new NXT North American champion.

The NXT tapings back on January 30 had Velveteen Dream pin Johnny Gargano to win the championship. However, Gargano attacked Dream after the match and made him tap out to the Gargano Escape, which led to confusion regarding who exactly was the champion.

The match ended up airing tonight as NXT’s main event, showing the Dream title victory but not the post-match beatdown. That would make Gargano’s run with the title a four day reign, though he will likely be recognized as champion for 25 days.

Gargano had held the title since January 26, defeating Ricochet at NXT TakeOver: Phoenix. He, along with Tomasso Ciampa, Aleister Black and Ricochet were called up this past week to be part of the main roster going forward. Despite that, they will continue to work NXT dates.

Ricochet not wrestling at EVOLVE shows, Velveteen Dream set

Posted on by Joseph Currier

With Ricochet making his WWE main roster debut, he’ll no longer be wrestling at EVOLVE’s March shows.

EVOLVE announced today that Velveteen Dream is replacing Ricochet at EVOLVE 123 in Melrose, Massachusetts and EVOLVE 124 in Queens, New York. Ricochet will still be in attendance at both shows and doing meet and greets.

Gabe Sapolsky confirmed that the change means Dream vs. Orange Cassidy will be happening in Melrose. Ricochet had been set to face Cassidy at the show. In Queens, Ricochet & The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford) were scheduled to face Eddie Kingston, Shane Strickland & Joe Gacy in a six-man tag match.

This won’t be the first time that Velveteen Dream has wrestled for EVOLVE. He appeared at two EVOLVE shows in September 2018 and defeated Austin Theory and Darby Allin.

EVOLVE 123 is taking place at Melrose Memorial Hall on Friday, March 15, while La Boom is hosting EVOLVE 124 on Saturday, March 16.

Ricochet teamed with Finn Balor to defeat Bobby Lashley & Lio Rush on this week’s episode of Raw. He also wrestled on last night’s SmackDown, defeating Eric Young.

VIDEO: WWE Halftime Heat full event

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Below, you can watch what went down during Halftime Heat, which took place during the Super Bowl Halftime show.

The match had Ricochet, Aleister Black and Velveteen Dream team up to take on Adam Cole, Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano in a six man tag team match. It aired live at the WWE Performance Center, with Vic Joseph and Shawn Michaels calling the action.

The video in its entirety lasts four hours and features a number of big NXT matches in the past featuring the likes of Shinsuke Nakamura, Finn Balor, Bayley, Sasha Banks and more. It streamed across multiple platforms including WWE.com, WWE Network, Twitter and Facebook.

The name Halftime Heat was first used back in 1999 for a special edition of Sunday Night Heat where Mankind defeated the Rock to win the WWE title for a second time in an empty arena match. It was used again the following year for an exclusive interview with Stone Cold Steve Austin, who was recovering from neck surgery at the time.

This year’s Halftime Heat starts at the 3:33:20 mark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8lRhDcsdSQ

WWE Halftime Heat live results: NXT six-man tag match

Posted on by Chris Aiken

Preview by Joseph Currier

Twenty years after Mankind defeated The Rock to win the WWF Championship, Halftime Heat makes its return tonight.

Velveteen Dream, Aleister Black & Ricochet will team up to face Tommaso Ciampa, Johnny Gargano & Adam Cole in an NXT six-man tag match. It will take place at the Performance Center and air live on the WWE Network, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, WWE.com, and the WWE app during halftime of tonight’s Super Bowl.

The tag match was set up by a brawl that took place after NXT TakeOver: Phoenix went off the air. Velveteen Dream confronted Ciampa and Gargano as they were on the stage, Cole, Black, and Ricochet joined them, and it led to the sides needing to be kept apart.

Vic Joseph and Shawn Michaels will be on commentary for Halftime Heat.

The New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams are facing off in tonight’s Super Bowl, with Maroon 5 headlining the halftime show.

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While a maraton of NXT matches air on the Halftime Heat live stream, the Super Bowl itself had one pro wrestling reference during the game. Deatrich Wise Jr. of the New England Patriots clotheslined Los Angeles Rams running back CJ Anderson during the first play of the second quarter.

Retired pro football player and color commentator Tony Romo said “Hulk Hogan would be proud” of what Romo called a “fantastic clothesline.” 

“About 300-400 people inside the Performance Center for Halftime Heat, seems like largely a friends and family Super Bowl party with wrestling,” Bryan Alvarez noted in a tweet.

An introductory video explained what is NXT as the live feed opened from the Performance Center. The set had a vibe similar to studio wrestling TV shows back in the day — but retrofitted with LED screens and HD cameras.

Aleister Black, Ricochet & Velveteen Dream defeated Adam Cole, NXT North American Champion Johnny Gargano & NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa

Dream pinned Cole in a great PWG-style match. It was mostly all action. Gargano started the match with Ricochet, and Ricochet soon thereafter launched into a flurry of flight. Gargano used a heelish tactic to cut him off with an eye poke. Vic Joseph on commentary played up Gargano being reluctant to tag Ciampa. He instead tagged Cole.

Cole traded strikes with Black until Black mowed him down with kicks. Dream made a bling tag before springboarding into the ring to clothesline Ciampa. Dream was on fire when he crouched down into a football stance, but Ciampa punched him in the face. Dream answered back with a springboard ax handle off the middle rope. 

The babyface team cleared the ring and then one by one they flipped into a pose. Moments later the match turned into a Gordon Solie Pier-Sixer — which the heels capitalized on as they posted Dream. They began working him over. Gargano snuffed out a hope spot with a slingshot spear on Dream.

Cole jumped off the middle rope only to meet a superkick from Dream. A hot tag led to Ricochet running wild. After a springboard elbow by Ricochet, a standing moonsault press got him a two count. Black was in next to ran wild on Gargano — leading to another near fall.

Black did a springboard moonsault to the floor that began a chain reaction of highspots. Gargano dived through the ropes. Dream flew off the top rope. Ricochet dived over the ropes. Back in the ring, Black with a meteora for a close two and half count.

A series of exchanges too rapid to recall led into another close near fall where Gargano kicked out of cover by Dream. In a callback or sorts to an infamous spot on a TakeOver show, Ricochet moonsaulted off the top rope to meet a superkick in mid-air from Cole. Somehow, Ricochet kicked out. He also avoided the Last Shot and schoolboyed Cole.

All six squared off as brawl erupted inside the ring. Gargano gave Ricochet a reverse rana to send him rolling outside. Black then dispatched Gargano with a knee strike. Dream and Ciampa spilled over the top rope doing a suplex spot. Cole leaped off the ropes into a Canadian Destroyer on Ricochet. Again, Ricochet somehow kicked out.

The heel team had a three-on-one advantage with Ricochet surrounded in the ring. They measured him for a triple superkick, and Cole covered him. Black jumped into the ring at the last moment to make a save.

Dream faced off against all three. He was cleaning house until eating a double superkick. Meanwhile, Black Mass wiped out Gargano. A Dream Driver on Ciampa sent him rolling outside. Cole was hit with Black Mass before taking a Dream Driver.

Ricochet re-joined the party with a springboard 450 on Cole. To finish the match, Dream leapt off the top rope with a flying elbow drop — and he then covered Cole for the pinfall. 

The babyface team celebrated their victory as the show closed. While a world title change twenty years ago was more newsworthy at the time, this six-man tag match was arguably much better than the empty arena match during the first Halftime Heat. Overall, the special was great showcase for NXT.