Charlotte Flair & Velveteen Dream Return To NXT, Title Match Booked For TakeOver: Portland

WrestleMania ramifications highlight an explosive edition of the black-and-gold brand.

by Michael Hamflett
Velveteen Dream
WWE.com

A packed edition of NXT was highlighted by Charlotte Flair's return to Full Sail University, the fleshing out of an already-excellent TakeOver: Portland card and a magnificent main event surprise.

'The Queen' was there to respond to Rhea Ripley's Monday Night Raw WrestleMania challenge, but instead found herself embroiled in a turf war with the NXT Champion and her Portland Number One Contender Bianca Belair. Unable to formally accept/reject the challenge before she was flattened by both Ripley and Belair, the future of all three remained deliciously uncertain heading towards the 'Show Of Shows'.

In the other major headline from the show, Velveteen Dream returned to NXT following a main event pitting Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish against Tommaso Ciampa and The Broserweights. A post-match beatdown by The Undisputed Era saw Ciampa victim to a brutal assault from all four before Dream paid off the "02.05.20" teases with his pulsating return. Battering all the heels, he then tore away his tights to reveal a second airbrushed pair underneath with Strong's wife and child on the front and "Call Me Up Marina" on the back.

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Elsewhere, Dominik Dijakovic was confirmed as Keith Lee's first TakeOver North American Championship opponent following Dijakovic's victory over Killian Dain. Lee emerged after the contest to confirm that their rivalry would finally conclude on the most fitting stage.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett