411’s WWE NXT Report 2.20.19

We open with a video package hyping Johnny Gargano vs. Velveteen Dream tonight for the North American Championship.

Aleister Black vs. Roderick Strong

Strong takes Black to the mat and smacks him around. Black comes back with a shoulder block and a series of knee strikes. Strong back drops Black outside and follows with the wrecking ball dropkick. Chop and a backbreaker onto the steel steps. Another backbreaker inside. Black fights out of a rear chinlock but is sent into the corner hard. Strong drives his back into the apron outside. Strong takes him up for a superplex. Black fights off, slips out and wants a powerbomb. Strong slips out and hits another backbreaker for two. Black fights back with a barrage of strikes and kicks. Quebrada connects. He blocks a forearm with a kick and counters a rollup with a roundhouse kick. Brainbuster gets two. Black with a boot but he takes a gutbuster. Jumping knee sends Strong outside. Black wants a moonsault but Strong blocks. They fight on the apron, where Strong hits a release backbreaker onto the top turnbuckle for a near fall. Strong on the offensive with a jumping knee of his own that gets two. From out of nowhere, Aleister hits Black Mass to win.

Winner: Aleister Black in 8:26 [***1/4]

The Undisputed Era hit the ring and jump Black. A limping Ricochet comes out and takes them out with a springboard cross body. He and Black clean house, forcing Undisputed Era to retreat.

Last week, Sara Amato and Serena Deeb spoke about new recruits at the Performance Center. Shayna Baszler and her friends showed up and started beef in the locker room with Mia Yim, Lacey Lane and others.

A Bianca Belair vignette runs. She says 2018 was her breakout year and that she had Shayna beat in Phoenix if it wasn’t for the referee being down. Her mindset is undefeated, but all of a sudden, Io Shirai and Kairi Sane are entering the title picture. She won’t step aside for Io.

We get a recap of the four NXT stars to appear on Raw and Smackdown this week.

The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic returns in two weeks. The winner faces War Raiders at TakeOver: New York. Announced so far are Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel, the Street Profits, the Forgotten Sons, and the Undisputed Era. The rest are made official next week.

Mia Yim vs. Xia Li

They struggle in a lockup, with neither gaining an upper hand. Xia goes nuts with kicks but Mia backs away to avoid them. She takes a breather and wants a slower paced test of strength. Mia wins out and gets a pin for two. Xia hops onto Mia’s shoulders and rolls her up for two. She gets two on another rollup and hits a big kick to the cheat. Mia comes back with strikes of her own. They kick at the same time and Li lights her up before hitting a tornado kick for two. Yim drops her with a spinning back fist. She adds Protect Ya Neck for the win.

Winner: Mia Yim in 3:54 [**1/2]

Shayna Baszler and her buddies hit the ring to jump Yim. She gets saved by the other girls from the PC incident. Jessie Eleban, Lacley Lane and MK Jenkins. Shayna rocks Jenkins with a knee and is taken down by Tim. It ends up in a 3-on-1 attack again. Shayna stands tall with the title.

Candice LeRae gives Johnny Gargano a pep talk backstage. Tommaso Ciampa waits in the wings. She’s not happy to see him. He offers Johnny his help tonight but Johnny declines because he won it without Ciampa. Tommaso says he’ll be watching.

We get an interview with Matt Riddle, conducted by Jeremy Borash. Riddle is asked about being more conservative. He says he’d rather just be himself and be told to tone it down than be told to tone it up. He’s happy to have gotten rid of Kassius Ohno because he was ruining his good time. His goal is the NXT or North American Championship. Nothing will stop him, bro. The full interview is available on YouTube.

NEXT WEEK ~ Mia Yim vs. Shayna Baszler

NXT North American Championship: Johnny Gargano [c] vs. The Velveteen Dream

A feeling out process on the mat leads to something of a stalemate. Johnny gets control but Dream shows he can hang. He lands on his feet on a hip toss and slaps Johnny. Their next exchange sees Dream shoulder block Johnny down and taunt a bit. Johnny drops down and Dream crawls by his face with another taunt. Johnny goes after him but is slapped and takes a double axe handle. Dream gyrates before a dropkick. Chops from Johnny but he runs into a boot. Johnny trips Dream up top and he crashes to the mat. Dream is hurt and struggles as Johnny beats on him. He fights back but is wounded. Johnny starts to wear him down with submissions. He wrenches at the arm in brutal ways. He pulls on the arms while Dream is stuck in the ropes for more leverage. Another chop before Johnny sends Dream outside. He taunts to a mixed response. Outside, Johnny adds more chops. Abdominal stretch inside like it’s the early 90s. Dream rallies and hits a plancha to the outside. Back in, he ducks a kick and wants his signature DDT. Gargano avoids and tries the school boy kick, but Dream ducks and hits a Fameasser for two. Johnny escapes an avalanche Dream Valley Driver and superkicks him in the leg. He hits a middle rope spinning neckbreaker of sorts for two. Johnny hits a superkick on the apron that sends Dream inside. he wants the slingshot DDT but eats a right hand. Dream Valley Driver cut off with a kick and tope suicida. Slingshot spear cut off with a kick for two. Spinning DDT gets another near fall for Dream. He misses the Purple Rainmaker and takes a superkick for two. Johnny goes up and headbutts Dream a few times. Right hand answer from Dream. Johnny tries to elbow free of an avalanche Dream Valley Driver but it still connects for a great near fall. Dream dives outside but right into a superkick. Gargano throws him into the steel steps and hits a snap suplex on the ramp. Slingshot DDT hits inside for a fantastic near fall. Dream is out of it but he hits a superkick. Gargano rebounds with a huge clothesline. He calls for the superkick and Dream goads him into it. Gargano avoids a DVD and hits a superkick. He wants the Gargano Escape but Dream hits the DVD. He rolls into a second and adds the Purple Rainmaker to win the title.

Winner: The Velveteen Dream in 20:41 [****]

A distraught Gargano crawls up the ramp as Dream celebrates. Tommaso Ciampa is shown watching backstage and he seems to nod a bit