[2018-06-16-WWE-NXT Takover: Chicago II] Velveteen Dream vs Ricochet

[KawadaSmile]

My dude Dream gets pro wrestling like no one. From straight up wearing Prince Puma tights to having a Hulk Hogan-based entrance, he is absurdly over, to the point where he outshines RICOCHET.

 

Loved the reference to Rock/Hogan, too.

 

The match itself was tons of fun, with Dream using some of Ricochet's spots early on, and getting overly confident. Ricochet showed that he can absolutely be an incredible all-around performer, as opposed to the shit he was doing with Ospreay a while ago.

 

 

Reminder: Velveteen Dream is only 22.

[Boss Rock]

I thought the first few minutes of this were kind of rough and a reminder that Dream still has a bit of work ahead of him, especially when it comes to working heat segments. That being said, the second half of this match was truly great and served as a reminder why so many of us were high on Dream to begin with. Ricochet also delivered in a big way.

 

****

[nivvad]

Thought this would be a total carry job from Ricochet, but it ended up being more than that. Dream is at his best when showing off his personality, so going into a match with a guy who's main appeal is his wrestling ability, well I had my reservations if Dream could keep up. Thankfully it wasn't that much of a workrate match anyways, and was more of a simple storytelling kind of match. I'm still not buying the Dream hype, but at least at this point he can keep up with a great talent in the right circumstances, ****1/4.

[SmartMark15]

A little slow going for me with Dream not quite bringing the heat on the offense and thus not really allowing Ricochet to get those nice bursts of action in that we love. But once this got going, oh boy, did it get going. A boiling hot finishing stretch and a really great showcase for Ricochet to show some more dimensions to his work than just the high flying. Really great stuff and even more impressive given the insanity these two had to follow.

 

****

[ShittyLittleBoots]

A good match that told a very fun story of them trying to one-up each other by using each other's moves & going for similar spots. Dream's Prince Puma tights too, my goodness. Absolutely brilliant. ***1/4

[Loss]

This didn't quite come together as a match for me, but wow, what a Ricochet performance. He made Dream look like his equal, which he very much isn't. Dream has quite the toolkit and will be a great worker in the next few years. This match was actually full of interesting psychology and really benefited from Ricochet working to get the whole thing over more than himself. He could have easily made Dream look like a fool, possibly without even trying.

[cactus]

Everything Dream does is dripping with character and charisma. Even the way he leaps over the ring when he's doing a plancha has distinct feel to it. This was his coming out party. He's got a great persona, but he can he bring it in the ring? This had great storytelling, and Dream trash talking when Ricochet was recovering helped the story garner traction.

 

This did have a slow beginning. Things really started to pick up after they did the superlex on the outside.

 

★★★★

[Cap]

My god, Dream is so good. Taking nothing away from Ricochet here. It is actually sort of odd because I have always been a bit low on Ricochet and I feel like he took a huge step in the past year or so in terms of some of the little things that bring his matches together for me. He is easily the better wrestler here and is an absolute physical freak of nature, but he is also in with someone who just outshines everyone in terms of charisma, physicality, and presence. This was a ton of fun and both men brought something to it that brought it up. It took me a minute to get invested, but they hooked me about half way through and I really began to enjoy what they were doing. Solid **** match that is really carried by the homestretch and them building a lot of uncertainty into who would take the win.