NXT TV Taping Spoiler: Confusion on Possible Title Change

– NXT has a new North American champion. At last night’s NXT TV tapings in Orlando, Florida at Full Sail University, Velveteen Dream defeated Johnny Gargano to win the NXT North American Championship. Per Twitter user Jacob Cohen, Gargano attacked Dream during his celebration and then promptly stole the belt. Gargano then posed with Tommaso Ciampa on the ramp, where he apparently “took a good look at Ciampa’s title.”

However, things get murky because a live report from WrestlingInc.com [see below] indicates that a second finish and ending was filmed for the match that saw Gargano win the match and beat Dream by submission. As of now, it’s not clear which is the correct finish and if the title change for the match actually stands.

Some wrestling fans might recall some years back that WWE filmed a tag team title match between The Rockers and The Hart Foundation in 1990. The Rockers won the match with the titles on the line. However, the match never aired on television. The ring ropes broke during the match, and it apparently wasn’t suitable for television. WWE never officially recognized the title change, and so Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart technically remained tag team champions on paper. However, this is not necessarily quite the same as what happened here in NXT.

You can see the live report and recap of the Velveteen Dream vs. Johnny Gargano match, along with the live event photos posted on Twitter, below.

Excellent match. Back and forth to start. Velveteen flips out of an arm wrench and slaps Johnny so hard he rolls out of the ring. Dream in control, and toying with Gargano. Velveteen jumps to the ropes, but Gargano pulls him down and takes control of the match. Gargano with a neckbreaker for two. Crowd is split between Gargano and Dream. Gargano irish whips Dream into the buckle and he does the HBK bump to the outside. Gargano plays to the crowd and rolls Dream back in the ring. Dream ducks the rolling kick and hits a Fameasser.

Dream gets Gargano on the top rope and goes for a DVD, but Gargano sunset flips him. Gargano with a superkick on the apron, but Dream cuts him off on the DDT attempt. Gargano fights out of the rolling DVD on the apron and hits the dive, but Dream kicks him out of the air on the middle rope spear attempt. Dream comes up empty going for Purple Rainmaker and Gargano hits a kick for a near-fall. Dream goes for the elbow again, but Gargano rolls out of the ring. Dream jumps to the outside but eats a superkick, a suplex on the apron, and Gargano hits the jumping DDT, but dream kicks out at 2.9. Crowd is on their feet. They trade strikes. Gargano goes for the DIY kick, but Dream catches him with two rolling Dream Valley Drivers and the Purple Rainmaker for the win and the championship. The crowd exploded for this.

After Dream celebrates and goes to leave, Gargano runs back down and attacks Dream and takes the belt. As Johnny poses at the top of the ramp, Ciampa comes out and stands by his side, just like at TakeOver as the tapings end.

Weird thing, when Gargano came back to attack Dream, they essentially re-shot the finish with Gargano dodging the Purple Rainmaker and tapping out Dream before leaving with the belt. Possibly filmed extra finishes to mess with the crowd.

Scoop #46: Johnny Gargano vs Velveteen Dream for the NXT North American Title pic.twitter.com/bbTwn26YUH

— Jacob Cohen (@MrJacobCohen) January 31, 2019

Scoop #47: Velveteen Dream Wins the Title

— Jacob Cohen (@MrJacobCohen) January 31, 2019

Scoop #48: The New NXT North American Champion, The Velveteen Dream pic.twitter.com/i1daPkrghv

— Jacob Cohen (@MrJacobCohen) January 31, 2019

Scoop #49: During Dream’s Celebration, Gargano attack’s him pic.twitter.com/bVIp3YoxSu

— Jacob Cohen (@MrJacobCohen) January 31, 2019

Scoop #50: Gargano steals the belt, poses with Ciampa, but Gargano also took a good look at Ciampa’s Title pic.twitter.com/fmmMBQLNnd

— Jacob Cohen (@MrJacobCohen) January 31, 2019