The Velveteen Dream has emerged as one of NXT’s greatest creations. While he was a rising indie star with Maryland Championship Wrestling (now MCW Pro) for a year between 2014 and 2015, the Artist Formerly Known as Patrick Clark has essentially been a homegrown star from the WWE Performance Center since he joined the WWE in 2016. With several gimmick changes and enhancement roles (as Patrick Clark) on NXT television, he finally officially debuted as the Velveteen Dream in the spring of 2017.
Velveteen Dream Utilizes Recent News Into Curious Tweets
But with his Prince-inspired character change, Dream was still very much a work in progress. With his outlandish appearance, his bizarre presentation, and matches against the likes of Raul Mendoza, Cezar Bonani, and Ho Ho Lun, he didn’t exactly set the world on fire. But that all changed when he began to get under the skin of Aleister Black and had one of the WWE’s matches of the year at NXT TakeOver: WarGames that November against Black. Suddenly, the world was watching.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiCBjm0OkmA
In early 2018, he became a star, and he began to gain more notice in matches against Johnny Gargano and wins over the likes of Trent Seven and Tyler Bate, plus his participation in the classic 6-man match for the NXT North American Championship, against the likes of Ricochet, Adam Cole and EC3, followed by another show stealer against Ricochet at NXT TakeOver: Chicago II. He wowed the crowd once again at NXT TakeOver: WarGames II this past November against NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa.
But amidst all the All Elite Wrestling buzz of the past few weeks, Velveteen Dream has taken to Social Media – something he used to prelude his long feud against Ricochet – to work in the buzz and rumors of the current day to create more allusions to a potential matchup – and maybe at the Grandest Stage of Them All.
Velveteen Dream: Remember This Tweet
On Saturday, Velveteen Dream teased a potential match against John Cena, when he sent out this tweet early in the morning.
https://twitter.com/VelveteenWWE/status/1086625069290405888
It’s no secret John Cena is a big fan of the Dream. Last May at the Orlando MegaCon, Cena stated that while Ricochet may be the “One and Only”, he felt that Dream may, in fact, be “The One”.
Would @JohnCena rather face @AdamColePro, @VelveteenWWE, or @KingRicochet? He chooses Velveteen Dream! #NXT #MegaConOrlando pic.twitter.com/oE4ni5eJTZ
— JohnCenaCrews™ (@JohnCenaCrews) May 27, 2018
Dream’s tweet carried some true tongue in cheek, as it was nearly word for word a copy of the now ominous tweet sent out by The Revival‘s Dash Wilder this past December, where he predicted that The Revival would one day face their online rivals, The Young Bucks. Since then, rumors have run rampant that the Raw tag team has requested their release.
https://twitter.com/DashWilderWWE/status/1069792017528557568
Velveteen Dream: Finding His Worth
Speaking of the Young Bucks, Dream sent out another tweet on Monday afternoon, that seemed to play on some recent comments from Matt Jackson of the Bucks. While the main takeaway was that the Dream was in a state of protest (stemming from his recent anger at not being included in the latest round of recruits from NXT to Raw or SmackDown).
https://twitter.com/VelveteenWWE/status/1087402577304657920
But the comments on knowing “MY WORTH” comes off of a recent interview with the Young Bucks by CBS 2 in Chicago, where Matt Jackson divulged details of the Bucks negotiations with the WWE prior to the announcement of All Elite Wrestling. “I’ll tell you this. For a moment, I thought that we would probably be going to WWE. That was the closest that it’s ever come to us going there, for sure. And they were great. They were respectful, and they told us what our value was,” Jackson told Chuck Carroll. “I think it was really like a wake-up call for us. It was almost like, wow. It’s good to be wanted. These guys, they’re teaching us we are valuable and we’re worth this much.”
While Matt Jackson found out his worth from the WWE, Velveteen Dream is now proclaiming to already know his worth, and it appears his “holding out” of appearing for NXT could be the groundwork for his own transition to Raw or SmackDown, perhaps after this Sunday’s Royal Rumble – or maybe the Raw after WrestleMania 35 – and that perhaps the Dream is looking to make a statement as large as his personality. By taking on the face that has run the WWE for the past 15 years. A man that is already a fan of the Dream and, based on recent “rubs” for the likes of Finn Balor, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Bray Wyatt, may just be ready to enter the ring with “The One”.
