Velveteen Dream

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Velveteen Dream
Dream in 2018
Birth namePatrick Clark Jr.
Born (1995-08-19) August 19, 1995 (age 28)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Patrick Clark[1]
Velveteen Man[1]
Rick Powers[1]
Slugger Clark[1]
Velveteen Dream[2]
Billed height6 ft 2 in (188 cm)[2]
Billed weight227 lb (103 kg)[2]
Billed fromCapitol Hill, Washington, D.C.[2]
Trained byMCW Pro Wrestling[3]
WWE Performance Center
DebutOctober 3, 2014

Patrick Clark Jr. (born August 19, 1995) is an American professional wrestler currently performing on the independent circuit under the ring name Velveteen Man. He is best known for his time in WWE, where he performed under the ring name Velveteen Dream from 2015 to 2021.

Clark began his career in 2014, training and debuting in MCW Pro Wrestling. During his time there, he won the MCW Tag Team Championship with Lio Rush. After competing in several other independent promotions, he participated in the 2015 WWE reality show Tough Enough, a series focused on finding new wrestlers. He did not win the contest, but was signed to a developmental contract and was assigned to NXT, WWE's farm territory.

In May 2017, Clark debuted a new Prince-inspired gimmick on NXT called Velveteen Dream, becoming popular and winning the NXT North American Championship once. After a long period of inactivity sparked by WWE's investigation into allegations of Clark sexually harassing children, he was released from WWE in May 2021.[4]

Early life[edit]

Patrick Clark Jr.[5] was born on August 19, 1995[1] in Washington, D.C.[5]

Professional wrestling career[edit]

Early career (2014–2015)[edit]

Clark trained as a professional wrestler at the MCW Pro Wrestling training center under Patrick Brink.[3] He made his debut for the promotion after four months of training on October 3, 2014, under the ring name Rick Powers.[3] Clark went on to wrestle for MCW, winning the MCW Tag Team Championship with Lio Rush in October 2015.[6] He briefly used the ring name Slugger Clark before settling on his real name in February 2016. In addition to working for MCW, Clark appeared with various American independent promotions throughout 2015 including Combat Zone Wrestling and World Xtreme Wrestling.[1]

WWE (2015–2021)[edit]

Tough Enough and training (2015–2017)[edit]

Clark was selected as a contestant for the sixth season of the WWE reality television program WWE Tough Enough, which began airing in June 2015. Despite being tapped as one of the favorites to win the competition, he was eliminated in the fifth episode due to a perceived lack of humility, placing ninth overall in the series.[5]

On October 17, 2015, it was reported that Clark had signed a developmental contract with WWE.[7] He made his in-ring debut for the company at a NXT live event in Lakeland, Florida on February 5, 2016, losing to Riddick Moss.[8] He made his television debut on the May 24th episode of NXT, beating Robert Anthony.[9] On the October 19 episode of NXT, Clark confronted and challenged NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura but was attacked and beaten down by Nakamura.[10] Clark returned and had his first televised victory on the March 1, 2017 episode of NXT, defeating Sean Maluta.[11]

NXT North American Champion (2017–2019)[edit]

Dream in June 2018

On the May 3, 2017 episode of NXT, Clark started appearing in weekly vignettes, debuting a new Prince-inspired character called Velveteen Dream.[12] He made his debut as a heel on the May 24 episode of NXT, defeating Robert Anthony.[13] On the September 20 episode of NXT, Dream interrupted Aleister Black, where he constantly stalked and harassed Black in order for him to acknowledge Dream and say his name.[14] This led to a match at NXT TakeOver: WarGames, where Dream lost.[15][16] On the December 6 episode of NXT, Dream was supposed to face Kassius Ohno in a qualifying match for a number one contender's fatal-four-way match for the NXT Championship; however, an injury kept Dream out of competition, and he was replaced by Johnny Gargano, who defeated Ohno and later won the fatal-four way to become the number one contender.[17]

On the January 10, 2018 episode of NXT, Dream interrupted Gargano to mock him for taking 20 minutes to defeat Ohno, claiming that he could've beaten him in "30 seconds tops."[18] On the January 24 episode of NXT, Dream was confronted backstage by Ohno, who pushed him into a wall, starting a feud.[19] At NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia, Dream defeated Ohno.[20] During the rest of 2018, Dream participated in several TakeOver events, such as at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans, Dream competed in the ladder match for the inaugural NXT North American Championship (which was won by Adam Cole)[21][22] at NXT TakeOver: Chicago II, he was defeated by Ricochet,[23] and at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn IV, he defeated EC3.[24][25]

Dream during his reign as NXT North American Champion

On the September 26 episode of NXT, Dream began a feud with NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa after Dream accused him of attacking Aleister Black, thus turning face in the process.[26][27] At NXT TakeOver: WarGames on November 17, he failed to capture the NXT Championship from Ciampa.[28][29] On February 2, 2019, at Royal Rumble Axxess, Dream entered the 2019 Worlds Collide tournament,[30] in which he defeated Tony Nese in the first round, Humberto Carrillo in the quarterfinals, Jordan Devlin in the semifinals, and Tyler Bate in the final to earn a future singles championship match of his choice on the NXT or NXT UK brands.[31][32]

Dream chose to challenge for the NXT North American Championship, held by Johnny Gargano.[33] On the February 20 episode of NXT, Dream defeated Gargano to win the title, marking his first championship win in WWE.[34] At NXT TakeOver: New York, Dream defeated Matt Riddle to retain the championship, handing Riddle his first loss in NXT.[35][36] In the following weeks, he went on to successfully defend the title against challengers including Buddy Murphy, Tyler Breeze, Roderick Strong, and Pete Dunne.[37][38] On the September 18 episode of NXT, he lost the title to Roderick Strong after interference from The Undisputed Era, ending his reign at 231 days.[39]

Final storylines (2020–2021)[edit]

After taking time off due to a back injury, he returned on the February 5, 2020 episode of NXT to attack The Undisputed Era.[40] At TakeOver: In Your House, Dream challenged Adam Cole for the NXT Championship in a Backlot Brawl, but ended up unsuccessful, and due to a pre-match stipulation, Dream could no longer challenge for the title while Cole was still champion.[41] Following several months off after an injury related to a car accident,[42] Dream returned on the August 12 episode of NXT, where he lost to Cameron Grimes in a triple threat match also involving Kushida.[43] After the match, Dream attacked Kushida, thus turning heel in the process.[44] The following week on NXT, he defeated Finn Bálor to qualify for a spot in a ladder match for the vacated NXT North American Championship at NXT TakeOver: XXX.[45] At the event, Dream failed to win the title.[46] At NXT TakeOver 31, Dream was defeated by Kushida.[47] On the December 23 episode of NXT, Dream was defeated by Adam Cole in what would be his final WWE appearance.[48] On May 20, 2021, Dream was released from his WWE contract after five months of inactivity.[49]

Independent circuit (2024–present)[edit]

On February 18, 2024, Clark made his return to wrestling after over 3 years for the promotion Dynasty in a surprise appearance, now going by Velveteen Man, a tweaked version of his WWE ring name.[50]

Professional wrestling persona[edit]

After getting signed to a developmental contract, Clark initially debuted at NXT house shows with the gimmick of a Donald Trump supporter, wearing shirts with Trump's image and the "Make America Great Again" slogan. In 2017, he adopted the persona of Velveteen Dream, a character inspired by the musician Prince. The character was described by WWE as a "mysterious yet intoxicating presence [...] sporting a frilled, jewelled look that would have fit right in onstage during Prince's Purple Rain Tour".[2] Clark described the character as "a sexually ambiguous, genderfluid, self-absorbed diva".[51] As Velveteen Dream, his finishing move was the Purple Rainmaker, a diving elbow drop with a name also inspired by Prince.

Other media[edit]

As Velveteen Dream, Clark is a playable character in the video games  WWE Mayhem, WWE Universe, WWE Champions, WWE SuperCard, WWE 2K19,[52][53] and WWE 2K20.[54][55]

Allegations and legal issues[edit]

In April 2020, Clark was accused of sending indecent images to underage boys on Instagram after a Reddit user posted screenshots of what appeared to be a naked Clark on the SquaredCircle subreddit, though Clark denied the allegations.[56] Two months later, amidst the Speaking Out movement, new allegations were made that Clark sent a sexually explicit photo to an underage girl and had "inappropriate communications" with underage boys he was allegedly grooming.[57][58] WWE reportedly investigated the incident but found no evidence of wrongdoing.[42]

In August 2022, Clark was arrested twice in Florida. On August 20, he was arrested on charges of first-degree battery and trespassing on property after a warning, to which he pleaded not guilty. He was arrested again six days later on charges of possessing drug paraphernalia.[59][60] The battery and trespassing charges were dropped the following month.[61]

Championships and accomplishments[edit]

Velveteen Dream is a former NXT North American Champion.

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f "The Velveteen Dream: profile & match listing". ProFightDB.com. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Velveteen Dream". WWE.com. WWE. 2019. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
  3. ^ a b c Johnson, Mike (June 13, 2015). "Maryland Championship Wrestling trainee Patrick Clark is Tough Enough". PWInsider.com.
  4. ^ Woodward, Hamish (2023-01-17). "Velveteen Dream's Arrest Shows Just How Far He's Fallen - Atletifo". Retrieved 2023-01-28.
  5. ^ a b c Fishman, Scott (July 22, 2015). "Patrick talks about his shocking elimination from WWE Tough Enough". Channel Guide Magazine. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  6. ^ a b "MCW Tag Team Title (Maryland)". Wrestling-Titles.com. 2019. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
  7. ^ Johnson, Mike (October 17, 2015). "WWE signs another Tough Enough competitor". PWInsider.com.
  8. ^ Twiss, Andrew (February 5, 2016). "Former Tough Enough competitor makes WWE NXT debut". PWInsider.com.
  9. ^ Howell, Nolan (July 20, 2016). "NXT: Bayley survives Jax in rubber match". Canoe.com. Archived from the original on July 31, 2016.
  10. ^ Taylor, Scott (October 16, 2019). "Shinsuke Nakamura knocked out Patrick Clark". WWE.com. WWE.
  11. ^ Moore, John (March 1, 2017). "3/1 Moore's NXT TV review". ProWrestling.net.
  12. ^ Moore, John (May 4, 2017). "5/3 Moore's NXT TV Review: Battle Royal to become number one contender to Asuka's NXT Women's Championship, Hideo Itami vs. Kona Reeves, Heavy Machinery in action, Killian Dain vs. Danny Burch". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved May 5, 2017.
  13. ^ Clapp, John (May 24, 2017). "The Velveteen Dream def. Robert Anthony". WWE. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
  14. ^ James, Justin (September 23, 2017). "9/20 NXT TV REPORT: Fish & O'Reilly (w/Cole) vs. Bate & Seven, Aleister Black speaks and Velveteen moves in for a kiss". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved October 19, 2017.
  15. ^ Taylor, Scott. "Aleister Black vs. Velveteen Dream". WWE. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  16. ^ Witner, Arya (January 27, 2018). "NXT TakeOver War Games Live Results, News & Recap". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  17. ^ Keller, Wade. "KELLER'S NXT TV REPORT 12/6: Gargano vs. Ohno for and Seven vs. Dane for a slot in Fatal Four-way No. 1 contendership match, Riot vs. Deville, Almas & Vega celebrate title win". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  18. ^ James, Justin (January 10, 2018). "1/10 NXT TV REPORT: Undisputed Era defend NXT Tag Titles against Strong & Aleister, Dakota Kai vs. Shayna Baszler". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
  19. ^ Moore, John (January 24, 2018). "5/3 Moore's NXT TV Review: Battle Royal to become number one contender to Asuka's NXT Women's Championship, Hideo Itami vs. Kona Reeves, Heavy Machinery in action, Killian Dain vs. Danny Burch". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
  20. ^ Currier, Joseph (January 24, 2018). "Final match set for NXT Takeover Philadelphia card". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
  21. ^ Benigno, Anthony (April 7, 2018). "Adam Cole def. EC3, The Velveteen Dream, Lars Sullivan, Killian Dain and Ricochet to become the first-ever NXT North American Champion". WWE. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
  22. ^ Robinson, Jon (2018). Creating the Mania: An Inside Look at How WrestleMania Comes to Life. ECW Press. pp. 328–330. ISBN 978-1-77305-271-7.
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  24. ^ "WWE NXT results, Aug. 1, 2018". WWE. August 1, 2018. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
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  26. ^ Powell, Jason (26 September 2018). "Moore's NXT TV Live Review: NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa vs. Otis Dozovic in a non-title match, NXT Women's Champion Kairi Sane vs. Vanessa Borne in a non-title match, Street Profits vs. The Mighty". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
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  28. ^ "NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa def. Velveteen Dream". WWE. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  29. ^ Powell, Jason (17 November 2018). "11/17 Powell's NXT Takeover: WarGames II live review – Undisputed Era vs. Ricochet, Pete Dunne, and War Raiders in a WarGames match, Tommao Ciampa vs. Velveteen Dream for the NXT Title, Shayna Baszler vs. Kairi Sane in a best of three falls match for the NXT Women's Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  30. ^ Ryan Satin (January 10, 2019). "Worlds Collide Tournament To Air On WWE Network". ProWrestlingSheet. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  31. ^ Eddie Arizona (January 27, 2019). "TOURNAMENT WINNER IS....RESULTS FROM ROYAL RUMBLE AXXESS INCLUDING WORLDS COLLIDE FINALS". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved January 27, 2019.
  32. ^ Sebastián Martínez (January 27, 2019). "Spoilers del segundo día del torneo WWE Worlds Collide (in Spanish)". Solo Wrestling. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
  33. ^ Satin, Ryan (January 30, 2019). "Title change occurs at NXT TV taping". ProWrestlingSheet.com. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  34. ^ James, Justin (February 20, 2019). "2/20 NXT TV report". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
  35. ^ Bristout, Ralph (April 5, 2019). "NXT North American Champion Velveteen Dream def. Matt Riddle". WWE. Retrieved April 6, 2019.
  36. ^ Powell, Jason (5 April 2019). "4/5 Powell's NXT Takeover: New York live review – Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole in a best of three falls match for the vacant NXT Championship, Pete Dunne vs. Walter for the WWE UK Championship, Velveteen Dream vs. Matt Riddle for the NXT North American Title, NXT Women's Title four-way, NXT Tag Title match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
  37. ^ Bristout, Ralph (May 22, 2019). "NXT North American Champion Velveteen Dream vs. Tyler Breeze". WWE. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
  38. ^ Melok, Bobby (August 10, 2019). "NXT North American Champion The Velveteen Dream def. Roderick Strong and Pete Dunne (Triple Threat Match)". WWE. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
  39. ^ Clapp, John (September 18, 2019). "Roderick Strong def. Velveteen Dream to win the NXT North American Championship". WWE. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
  40. ^ Berge, Kevin (February 6, 2020). "WWE NXT Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights from February 5". Bleacher Report. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
  41. ^ Moore, John (June 7, 2020). "NXT Takeover: In Your House results – Moore's live review of Adam Cole defeated Velveteen Dream in a Backlot Brawl for the NXT Championship, Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley vs. Io Shirai for the NXT Women's Championship, Keith Lee vs. Johnny Gargano for the NXT North American Title, Tommaso Ciampa vs. Karrion Kross". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  42. ^ a b "Triple H addresses Velveteen Dream's return to NXT TV, says absence was due to car accident". CBSSports.com.
  43. ^ Pappolla, Ryan (August 12, 2020). "WWE NXT results, Aug. 12, 2020: Kross and Scarlett turn up the heat on Keith Lee". WWE. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  44. ^ Moore, John (August 12, 2020). "8/12 NXT TV results: Moore's review of Kushida vs. Cameron Grimes vs. a mystery person in a qualifier for the ladder match for the vacant NXT North American Championship, NXT Cruiserweight Champion Santos Escobar vs. Tyler Breeze in a non-title match, Damian Priest vs. Bronson Reed, Karrion Kross vs. Danny Burch". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  45. ^ Moore, John (August 19, 2020). "8/19 NXT TV results: Moore's review of Adam Cole and Pat McAfee meet on the Takeover XXX go-home show, Finn Balor vs. Velveteen Dream and Johnny Gargano vs. Ridge Holland for spots in the NXT North American Championship ladder match, Rhea Ripley and Shotzi Blackheart vs. Mercedes Martinez and Aliyah". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
  46. ^ Moore, John (August 22, 2020). "NXT Takeover: XXX results – Moore's live review of Keith Lee vs. Karrion Kross for the NXT Championship, Adam Cole vs. Pat McAfee, Io Shirai vs. Dakota Kai for the NXT Women's Championship, a ladder match for the vacant NXT North American Title, Finn Balor vs. Timothy Thatcher". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved August 22, 2020.
  47. ^ Chiari, Mike. "Kushida Beats Velveteen Dream at WWE NXT TakeOver 31". Bleacher Report.
  48. ^ Garretson, Jordan (December 23, 2020). "WWE NXT results, Dec. 23, 2020: Adam Cole drops the boom on Velveteen Dream". WWE. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  49. ^ Johnson, Mike (May 20, 2021). "WWE RELEASES VELVETEEN DREAM". PWInsider. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
  50. ^ Rose, Bryan (2024-02-17). "Velveteen Dream makes pro wrestling return at indie show". WON/F4W - WWE news, Pro Wrestling News, WWE Results, AEW News, AEW results. Retrieved 2024-02-18.
  51. ^ "Velveteen Dream Addresses Accusations That 'Derailed' His WWE NXT Career". 24 May 2021.
  52. ^ Cole, Caitlin (December 19, 2018). "Complete WWE 2K19 Roster". RumbleRamble.com. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
  53. ^ Cole, Caitlin (December 19, 2018). "Complete WWE 2K19". Rumble Ramble. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
  54. ^ Cole, Caitlin (August 17, 2019). "WWE 2K20 Features and Roster Announced". Rumble Ramble. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  55. ^ "WWE 2K20 roster art: photos". WWE. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  56. ^ Lambert, Jeremy (April 24, 2020). "Velveteen Dream Issues Statement On Explicit Photos, Alleged Inappropriate Conversations". Fightful. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  57. ^ "WWE Allows Alleged Child Sex Predator to Waltz Back Into the Ring Like Nothing Happened". Deadspin.
  58. ^ "Triple H: Ignoring Velveteen Dream's Sex-Predator Allegations Is 'What's Best for Business'". Deadspin.
  59. ^ "EX-WWE SUPERSTAR VELVETEEN DREAM ARRESTED TWICE IN ONE WEEK IN FLORIDA". TMZ. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  60. ^ Howse, Lewis (30 August 2022). "Velveteen Dream Arrested Twice In August". Cultaholic. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  61. ^ Carey, Ian. "Velveteen Dream court date canceled, battery & trespassing case potentially dropped". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved September 20, 2022.
  62. ^ "AJ Styles y Becky Lynch lideran los premios PWI 2018". SuperLuchas (in Spanish). January 11, 2019. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
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  65. ^ "Bonus show: Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards". PostWrestling.com. March 17, 2019. Retrieved March 23, 2019.
  66. ^ "NXT North American Championship". WWE. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  67. ^ Witner, Arya (27 January 2018). "NXT TakeOver Philadelphia live results". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  68. ^ Arizona, Eddie (January 27, 2019). "Tournament winner is..." PWInsider.com. Retrieved January 27, 2019.

External links[edit]

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