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NXT was opened by one of NXT's more forgotten stars in Kassius Ohno. Ohno had a short match against "The Finest" Kona Reeves. Ohno cut a promo after the fight to suggest that he is about to debut a darker and more aggressive side that has been hinted at previously for Ohno. Whether a trigger is pulled on a full-blown Ohno heel turn or just greater aggression.
The Forgotten Sons faced off against Street Profits in an enjoyable tag match. The Mighty would appear at ringside in ski masks to steal the Street Profits's Solo Cup, which muddled the ending of the match. Jaxson Ryker nailed Montez Ford with a Clothesline off the distraction to allow the Forgotten Sons to pick up the victory, but not before Steve Cutler drew blood from his nose.
The "whodunit" mystery surrounding Aleister Black's attack continued with Heavy Machinery appearing in Regal's office with Otis Dozovic breaking down and admitting that he broke the toilet in the performance center.
Comedy aside, Heavy Machinery implied that Ciampa was behind the attack, but the investigation continued throughout the episode. Outside of Regal's office, Pete Dunne and Ricochet were butting heads over the events from last week's main event. A match between the two was announced in two weeks' time.
Kairi Sane made her way down to the ring with her new NXT women's title. She was joined in the ring by Trish Adora, an enhancement wrestler from the Dudley's 3D academy. Adora clearly had the size advantage over the diminutive Pirate Princess.
Sane effectively used her speed to take down her opponent, before transitioning into her corner clothesline and Insane Elbow to pick up the victory. Shayna came out to announce her intention to enact her rematch clause before jumping Sane. Sane would fight back and stand tall at the end, sending Shayna scampering out of the ring.
Ciampa cut his textbook backstage promo stating that there is no number 1 contender for his title. Next up, we had Lars Sullivan in Regal's office, to continue the ongoing investigation concerning the attack on Aleister Black. Sullivan claimed that he was late to the party and that Black was already down by the time he arrived at the scene. He was given a bizarre rematch with his opponent from last week, Raul Mendoza.
Finally, the main event of the evening a saw the ever-charismatic Velveteen Dream face off with Johnny Gargano. Dream came to the ring wearing a Johnny Gargano t-shirt with Wrestling covered by "Failure", adding to Dream's continued creative in-ring attires. Following his Hogan Inspired gear at TakeOver: Chicago, and his controversial "Call Me Up Vince" tights at TakeOver: Brooklyn IV.
Unsurprisingly, this was the clear main event of the night. Let us now have a look at the top 3 performers of this week's NXT:
#3 Otis Dozevic
In an episode that was heavy on one-sided matches, Heavy Machinery and specifically Otis Dozevic's backstage segment in William Regal's office stood out from the episode. Dozevic's comedic chops stood out in a surprisingly funny segment. Dozevic became twitchy in the segment, hinting that he was responsible for attacking Aleister Black.
The surprise revelation, however, was that Dozevic had broken the toilets in the Performance Center, as opposed to downing the former NXT Champion. The tag team then implied that Tommaso Ciampa was Regal's lead suspect in the attack. Yet, Dozevic's act as the guilty conscience and the overly revealing confession of Dozevic's bowel movements were perfectly inserted to break up the otherwise wrestling-heavy show.
#2 Johnny Gargano
Gargano had just come off an intense program with former friend Tommaso Ciampa; this week's matchup against the Velveteen Dream was certainly a change of pace for Johnny Wrestling. Gargano dominated the majority of the match against the younger and less experienced Dream.
The match started with some slick chain wrestling between the smaller Gargano and the larger Velveteen Dream. The tie quickly devolved into a scrap, with Gargano blocking a takedown and turning it into a front face lock.
The fight then spilled to the outside with Gargano continuing his inner struggle that the NXT universe has witnessed over the last couple of weeks. Gargano had the Velveteen Dream draped over the edge of the ring apron and was about to perform a draped DDT to the floor. Gargano hesitated and the delay allowed the Velveteen Dream to recover and pick up the win.
#1 Velveteen Dream
Velveteen Dream continued his stunning run of matches at NXT, this time facing Johnny Gargano in the main event of this week's episode of NXT. Both Gargano and Velveteen Dream have been on a hot streak of matches with both of them having several 5-star quality matches respectively in the last couple of months.
However, something that the Velveteen Dream has been able to do is that it has been with a wider variety of opponents as well as with the young superstar upping his mind game ability.
Continuing his hot form as far as in-ring attires are concerned, wearing a Johnny Wrestling t-shirt, with Wrestling replaced by "Failure". The Dream toyed with his more experienced opponent and successfully played mind games with Gargano. Velveteen Dream was able to pick up the victory after hitting the Dream Valley Driver on a distracted and unfocussed Johnny Gargano.
