Velveteen Dream Beats Matt Riddle, Retains North American Title at NXT TakeOver

Velveteen Dream beat Matt Riddle at NXT TakeOver: New York on Friday night to retain the NXT North American Championship and hand Riddle his first singles loss in NXT.

Riddle was a beat away from capturing the title after hitting a wicked German suplex on Dream from the second rope and following up with a top-rope floating corkscrew. Somehow, Dream kicked out.

Then Riddle locked Dream into the Bromission in the middle of the ring. Unable to reach the rope to break the hold, Dream improvised and countered the move into a pinning attempt. He kept Riddle's shoulders on the match just long enough to get the win.

The feud between Dream and Riddle began a few weeks ago when Riddle interrupted Velveteen Dream and claimed he wanted to get a better look at both Dream and the North American title. After that, the Superstars took several jabs at one another.

Dream even tweeted that Riddle was "boring," which created debate amongst WWE fans and added some fuel to their rivalry.

Both Dream and Riddle were involved in the Fatal 5-Way match to determine Johnny Gargano's opponent for the NXT Championship at TakeOver: New York. While Adam Cole won, Dream and Riddle turned in great performances and offered a glimpse of what their match for the North American title would look like.

Over the past two years, Velveteen Dream has gone from an afterthought to one of the most popular Superstars in all of WWE. His character is unmatched, and his charisma has allowed him to become a top star in NXT, which is something that once seemed unlikely.

Although he fell short in an NXT Championship match against Tommaso Ciampa, he took a big step toward the top of NXT when he beat Gargano for the North American Championship after winning the Worlds Collide tournament.

Riddle hasn't been in WWE nearly as long as Dream, but it has taken him little time to make a significant impact.

He beat Kassius Ohno in mere seconds in his first TakeOver match, and the fans have been drawn to his unique personality. He has also shown that he can get the job done in the ring with an undefeated record in singles matches entering Friday's bout.

There was a great deal of excitement surrounding the match since Dream and Riddle are polar opposites in essentially every way. Because of that, it wasn't certain whether they would be able to mesh and put on a memorable showing.

Those concerns were quickly assuaged, as both Dream and Riddle delivered on the big stage, which is something they have done time and time again throughout their careers.

Riddle seemed destined to win in order to keep his aura of invincibility intact, but Dream retaining ensures that he will maintain his momentum, while Riddle must now battle back against adversity for the first time in NXT.

There is plenty of meat left on the bone for Riddle and Dream to continue their feud moving forward, but with so many other worthy challengers, it could be time for Riddle to move into the NXT title scene instead.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).