Patrick Clark Jr. (born August 19, 1995) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his time in

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

where he performed under the

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or projecting ...

Velveteen Dream. Clark began his professional wrestling career in 2014, when he debuted in the

Maryland Championship Wrestling MCW Pro Wrestling (formerly known as Maryland Championship Wrestling) is a regional independent wrestling promotion based in Joppa, Maryland. It has regularly run events in the Mid-Atlantic region since the late 1990s. History Maryland Champions ...

promotion where he trained. During his time there, he won the

MCW Tag Team Championship The MCW Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling tag team championship owned by the MCW Pro Wrestling promotion. The title was created and debuted on August 18, 1998, at a MCW live event. The inaugural champions were The Headbangers (Mo ...

with

Lio Rush Lionel Gerard Green (born November 11, 1994), better known by the ring name Lio Rush, is an American professional wrestler and musician currently signed to New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a member of the Chaos stable. He has also ap ...

. After competing in several other independent promotions, Clark participated in the WWE's reality show Tough Enough, a series focused on finding new wrestlers for WWE. Clark did not win the contest, but he was signed to a developmental contract and was assigned to WWE's farm territory, NXT. In 2017, Clark debuted his new gimmick, a

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

-inspired character called Velveteen Dream. After several well-received matches, Dream became very popular in NXT and defeated

Johnny Gargano John Anthony Nicholas Gargano (born August 14, 1987) is an American professional wrestler best known under the ring name Johnny Gargano. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand. He is best known for his time in NXT, wh ...

to win the

NXT North American Championship The NXT North American Championship is a professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It is primarily defended as the secondary men's championship of the NXT brand division, the promotion's developmental ...

. Clark was released from WWE in 2021.

Early life

Patrick Clark Jr. was born on August 19, 1995 in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Professional wrestling career

Early career (2014–2015)

Clark trained as a professional wrestler at the

training center under Patrick Brink. He made his debut for the promotion after four months of training on October 3, 2014 under the ring name "Rick Powers". Clark went on to wrestle for MCW, winning the

with

in October 2015. He briefly used the ring name "Slugger Clark" before settling on "Patrick Clark" in February 2016. In addition to working for MCW, Clark appeared with various American independent promotions throughout 2015 including

Combat Zone Wrestling Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) is an American independent wrestling promotion. In 1998, John Zandig and five of his students, Ric Blade, T.C.K, Lobo, Nick Gage and Justice Pain, along with trainer Jon Dahmer, began to run professional wrestling sh ...

and

World Xtreme Wrestling World Xtreme Wrestling (WXW) is a Florida-based independent circuit, independent professional wrestling promotion which has held events across the United States and toured in Japan, the Middle East and South Pacific region including American Sa ...

WWE

''Tough Enough'' and training (2015–2017)

Clark was selected as a contestant for the sixth season of the

reality television program ''

WWE Tough Enough ''WWE Tough Enough'' was an American professional wrestling reality competition series that was produced by WWE, wherein participants undergo professional wrestling training and compete for a contract with WWE. There were two winners per season ...

'', 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. On October 17, 2015, it was reported that Clark had signed a

developmental contract In Major League Soccer, in addition to the senior roster, each team can carry a developmental roster of a certain number of young players whose contracts do not count against the salary cap. The allowable size of developmental rosters has varied t ...

with WWE. He made his in-ring debut for the company at a

NXT NXT may refer to: Professional wrestling * ''WWE NXT'', a professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that began in 2010 ** NXT (WWE brand), WWE's Florida-based brand and former developmental territory * ''NXT UK'', the British spin- ...

live event A house show or live event is a professional wrestling event produced by a major promotion that is not televised, though they can be recorded. Promotions use house shows mainly to cash in on the exposure that they and their wrestlers receive du ...

Lakeland, Florida Lakeland is the most populous city in Polk County, Florida, part of the Tampa Bay Area, located along Interstate 4 east of Tampa. According to the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau release, the city had a population of 112,641. Lakeland is a principal c ...

on February 5, 2016, losing to

Riddick Moss Michael Carter Rallis (born October 10, 1989) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and former college football player. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown brand under ...

. He made his television debut on the May 24th episode of ''

'', beating Robert Anthony. On the October 19 episode of ''NXT'', Clark confronted and challenged

NXT Champion The NXT Championship is a professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE. It is defended as the top championship of the NXT brand division, the promotion's developmental territory. I ...

Shinsuke Nakamura is a Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown WWE brand extension, brand. Nakamura is known for his time in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where ...

but was attacked and beaten down by Nakamura. Clark returned and had his first televised victory on the March 1, 2017 episode of ''NXT'', defeating

Sean Maluta Sean Maluta (born September 30, 1988) is an American professional wrestler currently competing on the independent circuit. He made a number of appearances with WWE and took part in the first Cruiserweight Classic. Professional wrestling career M ...

NXT North American Champion (2017–2019)

On the May 3, 2017 episode of ''NXT'', Clark started appearing in weekly

vignettes Vignette may refer to: * Vignette (entertainment), a sketch in a sketch comedy * Vignette (graphic design), decorative designs in books (originally in the form of leaves and vines) to separate sections or chapters * Vignette (literature), short, i ...

, debuting a new

-inspired character called Velveteen Dream. He made his debut as a

heel The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower Human leg, leg. Structure To distribute the compressive for ...

on the May 24 episode of ''NXT'', defeating

Robert Anthony Robert Anthony (born June 11, 1982) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Egotistico Fantastico. He is the current NWA National Heavyweight Champion in his first reign. He has worked for All Elite Wrestling (AEW), ...

. On the September 20 episode of ''NXT'', Dream interrupted

Aleister Black Tom Budgen (born 19 May 1985) is a Dutch professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under the ring name Malakai Black. He is also known for his time in WWE, where he performed under the ring name Aleister Black from 2017 ...

, where he constantly stalked and harassed Black in order for him to acknowledge Dream and say his name. This led to a match at NXT TakeOver: WarGames, where Dream lost. On the December 6 episode of ''NXT'', Dream was supposed to face

Kassius Ohno Cassius may refer to: People * Cassius, an ancient Roman family name, see Cassia gens **Gaius Cassius Longinus (died 42 BC), Roman senator and a leader of Julius Caesar's assassination ** Avidius Cassius (130–175), usurper Roman Emperor * Cass ...

in a qualifying match for a number one contender's fatal-four way match for the

NXT Championship The NXT Championship is a professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE. It is defended as the top championship of the NXT brand division, the promotion's developmental territory. In ...

; however, an injury kept Dream out of competition, and he was replaced by

, who defeated Ohno and later won the fatal-four way to become the number one contender. 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." On the January 24 episode of ''NXT'', Dream was confronted backstage by Ohno, who pushed him into a wall, starting a feud. At NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia, Dream defeated Ohno. 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

(which was won by

Adam Cole Austin Kirk Jenkins (born July 5, 1989) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Adam Cole. He is also known for his tenures with WWE and Ring of Honor (ROH). Col ...

) at NXT TakeOver: Chicago II, he was defeated by

Ricochet A ricochet ( ; ) is a rebound, bounce, or skip off a surface, particularly in the case of a projectile. Most ricochets are caused by accident and while the force of the deflection decelerates the projectile, it can still be energetic and almost ...

, and at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn IV, he defeated EC3. Velveteen Dream NA Champion

On the September 26 episode of ''NXT'', Dream began a feud with NXT Champion

Tommaso Ciampa Tommaso Whitney (born May 8, 1985) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Tommaso Ciampa. Whitney began his career in 2005, working on several independent pro ...

after Dream accused him of attacking Aleister Black, thus turning

face The face is the front of an animal's head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may aff ...

in the process. At NXT TakeOver: WarGames on November 17, he failed to capture the NXT Championship from Ciampa. On February 2, 2019 at Royal Rumble Axxess, Dream entered the 2019 Worlds Collide tournament, in which he defeated

Tony Nese Anthony Nese (born August 6, 1985) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling. He is best known for his time in WWE, where he is a former one-time WWE Cruiserweight Champion. Professional wrestling career Ind ...

in the first round,

Humberto Carrillo Humberto Garza Carrillo (born October 20, 1995) is a Mexican professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Humberto. He previously worked under the ring name Último Ninja whi ...

in the quarterfinals,

Jordan Devlin Jordan Devlin (born 15 March 1990) is an Irish professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand under the ring name JD McDonagh. He previously performed in NXT UK, where was a one-time and the longest re ...

in the semifinals, and

Tyler Bate Tyler Bate (born 7 March 1997) is an English professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE where he performs on the NXT brand. In 2017, he became the inaugural WWE United Kingdom Champion (later renamed NXT United Kingdom Championship), ...

in the final to earn a future singles championship match of his choice on the

NXT UK ''NXT UK'' is a professional wrestling television programme that was produced exclusively in the United Kingdom by the American promotion WWE. It aired on BT Sport and 5Action (previously known as Paramount Network). In the United States, the s ...

brands. Dream chose to challenge for the NXT North American Championship, held by Johnny Gargano. On the February 20 episode of ''NXT'', Dream defeated Gargano to win the title, marking his first championship win in WWE. At NXT TakeOver: New York, Dream defeated

Matt Riddle Matthew Fredrick Riddle (born January 14, 1986, in Allentown, Pennsylvania) is an American professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand, but is currently inactive due t ...

to retain the championship, handing Riddle his first loss in NXT. In the following weeks, he went on to successfully defend the title against challengers including

Buddy Murphy Matthew Adams (born 26 September 1988) is an Australian professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under the ring name Buddy Matthews as a member of the stable House of Black. He is best known for his time with WWE w ...

Tyler Breeze Matthew Clement (born January 19, 1988) is a Canadian professional wrestler and professional wrestling trainer. He is currently signed to WWE under the ring name Tyler Breeze as a trainer at the WWE Performance Center. From 2010 to 2012, he per ...

Roderick Strong Christopher Lindsey (born July 26, 1983), better known by his name Roderick Strong, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand, as the leader of Diamond Mine, but is currently inactive due to ...

, and

Pete Dunne Peter Thomas England (born 9 November 1993) is an English professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Butch. He is a former WWE United Kingdom Champion and also a former NXT ...

. On the September 18 episode of ''NXT'', he lost the title to Roderick Strong after interference from

The Undisputed Era The Undisputed Era was a professional wrestling stable from WWE's NXT brand. It formed on August 19, 2017 at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III shortly after Adam Cole, Bobby Fish, and Kyle O'Reilly signed with WWE, although Fish and O'Reilly had ...

, ending his reign at 231 days, the longest reign in the title's history.

Final storylines (2020–2021)

After taking time off due to a back injury, he returned on the February 5, 2020 episode of ''NXT'' to attack The Undisputed Era. 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. Following several months off after an injury related to a car accident, Dream returned on the August 12 episode of ''NXT'', where he lost to

Cameron Grimes :not to be confused with actress Camryn Grimes who voices Mrs. Claus in Mickey Saves Christmas Trevor Lee Caddell (born September 30, 1993) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand under the ...

in a

triple threat match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or " gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

also involving

Kushida is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist, better known by his mononymous ring name Kushida. He is currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), as well as Impact Wrestling. He is best known for his tenure in NJP ...

. After the match, Dream attacked Kushida, thus turning heel in the process. The following week on ''NXT'', he defeated

Finn Bálor Fergal Devitt (born 25 July 1981) is an Irish professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Finn Bálor (), and is a member of The Judgment Day. Devitt is widely known for his ten ...

to qualify for a spot in a ladder match for the vacated NXT North American Championship at NXT TakeOver: XXX. At the event, Dream failed to win the title. At

NXT TakeOver 31 NXT TakeOver 31 was the 31st NXT TakeOver professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held exclusively for wrestlers from the promotion's NXT brand division. The event took place on October 4, 2020, ...

, Dream was defeated by Kushida. On the December 23 episode of ''NXT'', Dream was defeated by Adam Cole in what would be his final WWE appearance. On May 20, 2021, Dream was released from his WWE contract after five months of inactivity.

Professional wrestling persona

After getting signed to a developmental contract, he initially debuted on NXT

house show A house show or live event is a professional wrestling event produced by a major promotion that is not televised, though they can be recorded. Promotions use house shows mainly to cash in on the exposure that they and their wrestlers receive du ...

s with the gimmick of a

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

supporter, wearing shirts with Donald Trump's image and the "

Make America Great Again "Make America Great Again" or MAGA is an American political slogan popularized by Donald Trump in his successful 2016 presidential campaign. The slogan became a pop culture phenomenon, seeing widespread use and spawning numerous variants in ...

" slogan. In 2017, Clark adopted the persona of "Velveteen Dream", a character inspired by the musician

the day he died. The Velveteen Dream 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". Patrick described the character as "a Sexually Ambiguous, Gender Fluid, Self Absorbed Diva". As Velveteen Dream, Clark's finishing move is the "Purple Rainmaker", a

diving elbow drop Aerial techniques, also known as "high-flying moves" are maneuvers in professional wrestling using the ring's posts and ropes as aids, in many cases to demonstrate the speed and agility of smaller, nimble and acrobatically inclined wrestlers prefer ...

named after a Prince

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

Other media

As Velveteen Dream, he made his

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

debut as a

playable character A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters that are not control ...

in ''

WWE 2K19 ''WWE 2K19'' is a professional wrestling video game developed by Yuke's and published by 2K Sports. It was released worldwide on October 9, 2018, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It is the twentieth overall game in the ''WW ...

'' and has since appeared in ''

WWE 2K20 ''WWE 2K20'' is a professional wrestling video game developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K Sports. It was released worldwide on October 22, 2019, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It is the twenty-first installment of ...

''.

Underage sexual harassment allegations

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 subreddit r/SquaredCircle, although Clark has denied these allegations. In June 2020, Clark again made national headlines after new allegations were made that he sent a sexually explicit photo to an underage girl as well as having inappropriate communications with underage boys and grooming them amidst the

Speaking Out movement The Speaking Out movement is a social movement against emotional, physical and sexual abuse in the professional wrestling industry, where people publicize their allegations of misconduct committed by powerful and/or prominent individuals. Similar ...

. WWE reportedly investigated the incident but found no evidence of wrongdoing.

Legal issues

In August 2022, Clark was arrested twice in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. 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 then arrested again on August 26 on charges of possessing drug paraphernalia. The battery and trespassing charges were dropped the following month.

Championships and accomplishments

( 1 time) – with

*''

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publish ...

'' **

Most Improved Wrestler of the Year This is a list of both active and inactive ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' awards which are voted on by '' Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') readers every year from 1972 onwards, expanding to more categories in later years. Unlike other wrestlin ...

(2018) **Ranked No. 26 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the ''

PWI 500 ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publishi ...

'' in 2019 * ''

Wrestling Observer Newsletter The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Founded in print in 1982 by Dave Meltzer, the ''Wrestling Observer'' website merged with Bryan Alvarez's ''Figure Four We ...

'' ** Best Gimmick (2018) *

( 1 time) **

NXT Year-End Award The NXT Year-End Awards is a concept used by WWE, where awards, similar to the Academy, Grammy and WWE's own Slammy Awards, are given to professional wrestlers who have competed in NXT in the previous year. There have been five editions of the c ...

for Rivalry of the Year (

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

) – ** Worlds Collide (

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Velveteen Dream Living people 1995 births American male professional wrestlers African-American male professional wrestlers Professional wrestlers from Washington, D.C. Tough Enough contestants NXT North American Champions 21st-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century professional wrestlers