We’ve got ourselves another marquee NXT event tonight, folks! Velveteen Dream has one last shot tonight… and it’s going down in a Backlot Brawl! Dream takes on Adam Cole for the NXT Championship! This TakeOver is a rather unique one bringing back a branding I’m not sure anyone ever expected… it’s NXT TakeOver: In Your House! It’s cute and nostalgic in some ways, but it’s also a name that basically translates to being lesser than a regular PPV. I mean seriously that was the whole idea back in the day. Perhaps they want lower expectations than usual for this, the first and maybe only TakeOver of the pandemic era. Still the card looks as strong as just about any other so let’s get into the previews!
Backlot Brawl For The NXT Championship: Adam Cole (c) vs. Velveteen Dream
For months, Velveteen Dream has been going after Cole and the Undisputed Era, a feud that really dates back to the Fall of last year. His issues with Roderick Strong, centered around the North American Championship at first, morphed into a battle against the group as a whole and Dream managed to parlay that into going after the boss himself, the NXT Champion Adam Cole. Cole defeated him in their first encounter but Dream managed to get a phantom pin due to a ref bump, which was seemingly enough to call for a rematch. But Cole demanded an extra stip for the encounter: if Dream doesn’t win this time, he’ll never get another shot for as long as Cole is champion.
And this match is set to be the resident cinematic bout of the evening, which it seems no major wrestling show can go without in the age of the Pandemic. It suggests a fight out in the streets, though I can’t help but think it’s a direct hearkening back to the WrestleMania 12 Hollywood Backlot Brawl between Roddy Piper and Goldust. It’s hard not to see a little Goldust in Velveteen, he’s that same kind of over-the-top flamboyant colorful character. The Hollywood Backlot Brawl is a memorable match if nothing else, and revisiting the concept today could be interesting as there’s a lot of room to improve on the idea.
Of course the question is, who wins? There was a time I thought for sure Dream was a future NXT Champion. But these last few months have been a bit rough for him. The way his feud with Roderick Strong panned out made it really clear that his gimmick was never really intended to be a babyface and it was awkward for many. And then the loss of live crowds hurt him perhaps more than any other, his ring style really requires them to work. The timing was all wrong for this run, honestly. They have finally brought in crowds for the last few NXT shows but having this particular match be the only exception for the night is… an interesting decision to say the least.
If he does win, it’ll be sad that his crowning moment didn’t happen in front of 10,000 adoring fans like it was always meant to. If he loses, well this will have gone down as a pretty rough trial run as a main eventer for him, in all honesty. From Cole’s point of view, you’ve got one of, if not the best NXT Champion ever, recently celebrating passing the year mark. He’s the longest reigning world champ they’ve ever had and his reign has seen him put one classic title defense after another – with this feud with Dream so far being the only hiccup. It’d seem wrong in some ways to end it with this match.
I honestly don’t think we have a perfect result here but I think ultimately the best option is to have Cole remain champion until we can have a bigger stage to crown the next star. The man might not be the Dream after all. Cole to retain.
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