Roderick Strong def. The Velveteen Dream in a Steel Cage Match
The long-running rivalry between The Velveteen Dream and Roderick Strong finally culminated inside a brutal Steel Cage Match — but it may have only marked the beginning of Dream as a thorn in The Undisputed ERA’s side.
Strong, clad in street pants rather than his usual trunks, was dressed rather suitably for a fight as opposed to a typical match. His wife, Marina Shafir — the target of much of Dream’s psychological warfare — helped escalate the violence significantly when she came to ringside to introduce a Kendo stick into the ring.
The Velveteen Dream seemed prepared to unleash a possible Purple Rainmaker from the top of the cage before the arrival of the rest of The Undisputed ERA stole his focus away. But Dream somehow managed to fight them all off, even launching NXT Champion Adam Cole onto the mat from the cage after he climbed in.
Then he stunned everyone with his decision moments later, intentionally shoving Strong out through the cage door to essentially hand his rival the victory.
The motivation behind the odd choice became obvious as Dream shut and locked the door behind him, leaving him inside with only Cole, whom he eventually spiked with a Dream Valley Driver on a steel chair.
Swiping Cole’s NXT Title, Dream scaled the cage once more to raise the black-and-gold brand’s top prize, making his next target more than clear.
