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Commissioned last year at NXT Takeover: New Orleans, the NXT North American Championship has given some of the exciting matches throughout its existence. From the incredible Six-man Ladder match crowning the inaugural champion to the hard-hitting affair between Matt Riddle and current champion The Velveteen Dream at NXT Takeover: New York, there has never been a dull moment/match involving the black and yellow brand's secondary title.
As mentioned, The Velveteen Dream is the current holder of North American Title having successfully defended it against Tyler Breeze at NXT Takeover: 25 last Saturday. Former holders of the title, namely Adam Cole and Johnny Gargano have gone on to become NXT Champion while another former Champion, Ricochet is wowing crowds on the main roster with his immaculate high-flying offence.
NXT has one of the most stacked rosters in the business right now and it is only a matter of time before the current champion, The Velveteen Dream faces his next challenger for the NXT North American Championship. Here are four potential challengers for Dream's North American title.
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#4 Damian Priest (Punishment Martinez)
The former ROH World Television Champion hasn't had used that often in the black and yellow brand since his arrival in October last year. Martinez has had only had a single TV match, against Matt Riddle, which he lost. He did work a couple of NXT house shows following his TV debut under his previous ring name," Punishment Martinez".
WWE ran a video package during Saturday's NXT Takeover: 25 which saw Martinez being re-packaged under a new ring name, Damian Priest. As of this writing, there is confirmation on when he will debut his new character but judging by what we saw in the video, it is in likelihood going to be a dark, gritty character.
Martinez is known to be a good hand inside the squared circle. We all remember the excellent feud that Dream had with Aleister Black in 2016. Dream's flamboyance and Priest's dark overtones would make for an intoxicating feud.
#3 Kyle O'Reilly
Despite being in NXT for almost two years now, Kyle O'Reilly's run in the black and yellow brand has seen him compete in the brand's tag team division. The Canadian superstar has been a two-time NXT Tag Team Champion in addition to winning the 2018 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. He has also numerous tag team titles in the independent circuit.
But if you followed O'Reilly's career on the independent scene, you would know that The Undisputed Era member is equally great as a singles competitor. He is a former ROH and PWG World Champion and has had classic matches against the likes of Kushida, Ricochet and his Undisputed Era partners, Adam Cole and Roderick Strong.
O'Reilly is one of the most well-rounded performers in the current NXT roster. With Bobby Fish suffering a potential injury following the four-way Ladder Match for the NXT Tag Team Championship, it is the perfect opportunity for O'Reilly to embark on a singles run. Both Dream and O'Reilly have great mic skills and supremely gifted athletes. O'Reilly has more than earned a singles run following his tag team heroics and we think that he and Dream will create magic if they lock horns inside the squared circle.
#2 Shane Strickland
A former MLW, CZW and Evolve World Champion, Shane Strickland is one of the exciting young prospects in the business right now. He has been a part of Lucha Underground under the ring name, Killshot where he is a former Lucha Underground Trios Champion. Strickland was officially revealed as the newest NXT signee in April 2018 and has since worked in few dark matches and live events for the black and yellow brand.
Although he is yet to officially debut on NXT TV, we feel that Strickland is going to make a huge impact upon debuting on television. His array of high-flying moves coupled with his innate charisma is sure to draws fans at Full Sail towards him.
What makes this match very interesting is the fact that Dream and Strickland's careers are the polar opposites of one another. While Strickland is someone who made a name for himself in the independent scene, Dream is a WWE homegrown talent, through and through. Both of them are highly talented and we feel that they can put on a match that fans will fondly remember for years to come.
#1 Dominick Dijakovic
The former Donovan Dijack signed with WWE in 2017 following which he reported to the Performance Center. Dijakovic debuted on NXT TV as ' Chris Dijack' loosing to Ricochet. After a few appearances on NXT Live events, Dijakovic was re-packaged once again, this time under his current ring name, Dominick Dijakovic.
He debuted his new character on the December 19, 2018 episode of NXT defeating Aaron Mackey. Dijakovic would then begin a TV feud with Keith Lee with the two locking horns in the February 27, 2019 episode of NXT in a match which ended in no-contest. Dijakovic was supposed to challenge for the North American Championship following NXT Takeover: New York but he suffered a knee injury which has kept him pout of action for an undisclosed period of time.
Once he returns to the in-ring competition, we expect Dijakovic to start off where he left and challenge Dream for the NXT North American Championship. A match between the duo is something that we can't wait to see in the near future.
