Velveteen Dream

Velveteen Dream
Dream in April 2018
Birth name Patrick Clark Jr.[1]
Born (1995-08-19) August 19, 1995[2]
Washington, D.C., U.S.[1]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Patrick Clark
Rick Powers
Slugger Clark
Velveteen Dream[3]
Billed height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[3]
Billed weight 227 lb (103 kg)[3]
Billed from Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C.[3]
Trained by MCW Training Center
Corporal Punishment
Calvin Raines[4]
Debut October 3, 2014

Patrick Clark Jr. (born August 19, 1995)[2] is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on their brand NXT under the ring name Velveteen Dream.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (2014–2015)

Clark trained to become a professional wrestler at the Maryland Championship Wrestling training center, and made his debut (as Rick Powers) for the promotion after four months of training on October 3, 2014.[4] He continued to wrestle for MCW, winning the MCW Tag Team Championship with Lio Rush (Then going by the name 'LI Green') in October 2015.[5] In addition to working for MCW, Clark made numerous appearances for various American independent promotions during 2015 including World Xtreme Wrestling, Combat Zone Wrestling and Marvelous Puroresu USA, and Lancaster Championship Wrestling.

WWE

Tough Enough (2015)

Clark was chosen to be a contestant in the sixth season of the WWE competition WWE Tough Enough, which began airing in June 2015.[6] Despite being tapped as one of the favorites to win the competition, he was eliminated in the 5th episode due to a perceived lack of humility, placing 9th overall in the series.[1]

NXT (2015–present)

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 July 20, 2016 episode of NXT, losing to Austin Aries.[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]

Dream at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans in April 2018

On the May 24 episode of NXT, Clark debuted a new Prince-inspired character called "Velveteen Dream" with no mention being made about his past accomplishments under his real name. In September, Dream then began a feud with Aleister Black, where he constantly stalked and harassed Black in order for him to say his name. This led to a match at NXT TakeOver: WarGames, where Dream lost. After the match, Black sat next to a dazed Velveteen Dream, before ultimately saying his name.[12]

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 suffered at NXT TakeOver: WarGames 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. On the January 10 episode of NXT, Dream would interrupt Gargano's interview to mock him for taking 20 minutes to defeat Ohno, claiming that he could've beaten him in "30 seconds tops." On the January 24 episode of NXT, Dream challenged Gargano for his title opportunity, but lost the match. Following the match, Dream was confronted backstage by Ohno, who pushed him into a wall. Triple H confirmed that a match between Ohno and Dream would be signed for NXT Takeover: Philadelphia.[13] At NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia, Dream defeated Ohno via pinfall. During a backstage interview before the match, Dream claimed he would knock out Ohno within the first 30 seconds of the match. During the match after the opening bell, the crowd began counting in unison to thirty, and Dream did indeed manage to punch Ohno hard enough for him to fall to the ground dazed before the count of 30. Dream began calling to the referee to wave the match off, but Ohno soon awoke. At NXT TakeOver: New Orleans, Dream competed in the ladder match for the inaugural NXT North American Championship, which was won by Adam Cole.[14]

On the May 9 episode of NXT, Dream interrupted Ricochet while he spoke about pursuing the NXT Championship.[15] The following week, a match between the two ended in a no-contest after Lars Sullivan attacked both men.[16] Dream and Ricochet teamed to face Sullivan in a handicap match the following week, where Sullivan was victorious after Dream turned on Ricochet.[17] This led to a match between Dream and Ricochet at NXT TakeOver: Chicago II, where Dream was defeated.[18]

On June 26 as part of the NXT U.K. Championship event, Dream teamed with EC3 to face Ricochet and NXT Champion Aleister Black. Dream and EC3 were defeated after Dream walked out on EC3.[19] On the August 1 episode of NXT, it was announced that Dream and EC3 would have a match at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn IV; Dream defeated EC3 at the event.[20][21] The following weeks, the Dream entered a feud with then NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa showing signs of a face turn.

Championships and accomplishments

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Patrick talks about his shocking elimination from WWE Tough Enough - Channel Guide Magazine". 22 July 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Velveteen Dream Profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved October 4, 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Velveteen Dream". WWE.
  4. 1 2 "MARYLAND CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING TRAINEE PATRICK CLARK IS TOUGH ENOUGH - PWInsider.com". www.pwinsider.com.
  5. 1 2 "MCW Tag Team Championship history".
  6. ↑ "Patrick Clark | Tough Enough". wwetoughenough.com. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
  7. ↑ "WWE SIGNS ANOTHER TOUGH ENOUGH COMPETITOR - PWInsider.com". pwinsider.com.
  8. ↑ "FORMER TOUGH ENOUGH COMPETITOR MAKES WWE NXT DEBUT: 2/5 NXT IN LAKELAND, FLORIDA RESULTS - PWInsider.com". www.pwinsider.com.
  9. ↑ "NXT: Bayley survives Jax in rubber match".
  10. ↑ "Patrick Clark learned the hard way not to challenge Nakamura".
  11. ↑ "3/1 Moore's NXT TV Review: Authors of Pain vs. Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano for the NXT Tag Team Championship, Asuka vs. Peyton Royce for the NXT Women's Championship, Patrick Clark vs. Sean Maluta - Pro Wrestling Dot Net". 1 March 2017.
  12. ↑ "NXT TakeOver War Games Live Results, News & Recap". Wrestling Observer. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  13. ↑ Currier, Joseph. "Final Match Set for NXT Takeover Philadelphia which he went on to win!Card". Retrieved January 24, 2018.
  14. ↑ Benigno, Anthony. "Adam Cole def. EC3, The Velveteen Dream, Lars Sullivan, Killian Dain and Ricochet to become the first-ever NXT North American Champion". WWE.com. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
  15. ↑ "Ricochet, Velveteen Dream signal a game of one-upmanship is afoot". WWE.com. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  16. ↑ "Ricochet vs. Velveteen Dream ended in a No Contest when Lars Sullivan attacked both Superstars". WWE.com. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  17. ↑ "Lars Sullivan def. Ricochet & Velveteen Dream in a Handicap Match". WWE.com. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  18. ↑ Pappolla, Ryan. "Ricochet def. Velveteen Dream". WWE.com. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  19. ↑ Counihan, Alan. "6/26 WWE UK Championship Tournament – Night 2: Alan4L's detailed report on Black & Ricochet vs. Dream & EC3 plus matches for the NXT Tag Titles, NXT Women's Title, NXT North American Title, UK Title". PWTorch.com. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  20. ↑ "EC3 def. Kona Reeves". WWE.com. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  21. ↑ "Velveteen Dream def. EC3". WWE.com. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
  22. ↑ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2018". cagematch.net. Retrieved September 29, 2018.
  23. ↑ "NXT TakeOver Philadelphia live results: Almas vs. Gargano". Wrestling Observer. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
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