A fifth match was added to this Saturday’s NXT Takeover: Philadelphia event. During a media call, Triple H announced that hard-hitting Kassius Ohno will square off against the Velveteen Dream on the event’s live broadcast.
Ohno vs. Dream joins an already action packed NXT Takeover: Philadelphia event. Also on the card is the NXT championship match between Johnny Gargano and Andrade “Cien” Almas and the NXT Women’s title tilt with Ember Moon and Shayna Baszler. The Undisputed Era will be in action as Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly will defend the NXT Tag Team Championships against former titleholders the Authors of Pain while Adam Cole faces Aleister Black in an Extreme Rules match.
Triple H also revealed the preliminary portion of NXT Takeover: Philadelphia will feature the return of TM-61, as well appearances from Roderick Strong and Nikki Cross.
Like every NXT Takeover event, the Philadelphia card appears to be a high quality wrestling event that will leave fans on the edge of their seats.
However, the upcoming contest between Ohno and Dream seemingly came out of nowhere. There has been no build to this match and Ohno and Dream haven’t interacted with each other prior to the announcement. The two were originally going to face off on the Dec. 6 episode of NXT in a match to qualify for a fatal four-way No. 1 contender’s match. Dream was not medically cleared to compete and Gargano took his place.
Dream has been absent from much of NXT since his loss to Black at NXT Takeover: War Games. He made his return to NXT television on January to confront Gargano, who had just become the No. 1 contender for the NXT title, about his opportunity and how he didn’t deserve it.
On the Jan. 24 episode of NXT, Dream faced Gargano with the opportunity to challenge for the NXT Championship in a losing effort.
That said, fans shouldn’t be disappointed that this match is being added to the Takeover card. Ohno versus Dream has the capability of stealing the show at NXT Takeover: Philadelphia.
Ohno has been one of NXT’s popular stars since he returned to the brand in January 2017. He had some classic matches with the likes of Gargano, Bobby Roode and Hideo Itami.
Then there’s Dream, who is coming into the match with a ton of momentum. He gave the best performance of his wrestling career against Black in their match at War Games. Fans are also praising his match with Gargano on the NXT Takeover go home show.
Fans enjoy the work of both wrestlers – Ohno has a high attack offense and striking that will leave opponents in the dust while Dream can dish out his own punishment. Dream can also resort to psychological mind games like he has in the past.
Critics can bash NXT for delivering a match with no build up and no consequences, but sometimes it’s fun to see two talented wrestlers compete in the ring for no reason other than to see who is better between the two. The narrative of this match can simply be “whoever wins is one step closer to an NXT Championship match.”
