NXT: 5 Possible Opponents For Johnny Gargano

Velveteen Dream

By the time this piece is published, the Velveteen Dream will still be the NXT North American Champion and appears to be headed for a showdown with Dominik Dijakovic.

Assuming Dream does the honors for the former ROH standout, he wouldn’t have to look too far to find his next opponent.

A “Dream” match (yes, I’m ashamed of myself for making that pun) with Gargano would represent another loose end in Gargano’s tale coming full circle. Remember, it was Dream who Gargano had to beat to face Andrade “Cien” Almas (I know Vince shortened his name to Andrade, but I refuse to give in to that man’s lunacy) at NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia in January 2018.

It was also Dream who got under Gargano’s skin with the “Johnny Failure” moniker that helped spark Gargano’s brief quasi-heel run. The Dream then upgraded the insults to “Johnny Jack@$$” before challenging and beating Gargano in a scintillating North American Championship match.

Dream obviously wasn’t Gargano’s archnemesis, but he played an integral role in advancing the Gargano/Ciampa epic.

Like Riddle, the babyface vs. babyface dynamic would make this tricky; it would be a fool’s errand to try and turn the perpetually popular Dream heel, but forcing fans to choose between him and Gargano could decelerate the champ’s momentum.

That said, the storyline virtually writes itself and given their previous outings, a match between these two for NXT’s most opulent accolade would add another classic to the developmental brand’s evergrowing catalog.

The pieces are in place for this match to happen eventually. All the NXT writers have to do is give it the green light.