7 Ups And 3 Downs From NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia

6. Smooth Antics

velveteen dream
WWE.com

More on his match itself later, but a quick kudos to Velveteen Dream for antics before, during and after his match against Kassius Ohno.

Dream promised he would knock the Knockout Artist out within 30 seconds during the preshow, then had a personal ring attendant present him a mouthguard (with Velveteen wearing boxing shorts). The Philly fans counted along at the outset, and Dream landed a punch that felled Ohno about 25 seconds into the match.

On cue, Dream celebrated like he had won the match. (The fact that a boxing theme was applied to a match in the home of fictional boxing superhero Rocky Balboa was apropos.) As the match continued, Velveteen kept at it, doing a “Ravishing” Rick Rude impersonation, dancing over Kassius at one point. And after winning, Dream made sure to step on and over Ohno as part of his celebration.

It was a great display of Dream understanding his role and character. Hopefully, this will translate well during his wrestling career, as it seems like he has a bright one.

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Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.