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Before Velveteen Dream became one of the most must-see Superstars on NXT television, he was known to fans by his real name – Patrick Clark – as a contestant on the 2015 season of Tough Enough.
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Following his early exit from the competition, he was signed to a WWE developmental contract in October 2015 and he made his in-ring debut during a live event match against Riddick Moss in February 2016.
Over the next year, he made sporadic appearances on NXT but it wasn’t until he debuted his current gimmick, Velveteen Dream, in May 2017 that he really began to capture the audience’s attention.
Since then, the former Tough Enough star has been involved in TakeOver rivalries with Aleister Black, Kassius Ohno and Ricochet, while he was also part of the six-man ladder match for the NXT North American Championship at TakeOver: New Orleans.
WWE and NXT fans have learned plenty about Dream as a performer over the last year, but how much do you know about the man behind the character?
In this article, with extra focus on the time he spent on Tough Enough, let’s take a look at five things you need to know about one of WWE’s next huge prospects.
#5 He finished ninth on Tough Enough
The 2015 edition of Tough Enough has produced two main-roster Superstars so far – Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose – but the biggest future star from the show looks set to be Velveteen Dream.
Then known to everyone as Patrick Clark, he impressed in the competition’s physical challenges and he clearly had superior wrestling knowledge to the rest of the contestants, but his lack of humility and perceived arrogance meant he struggled to connect with the viewers.
Despite winning the men’s skills challenge in three consecutive weeks, Clark was eliminated from the show in Week 5 after gaining just 25 percent of the audience’s vote (compared to ZZ with 36% and Josh Bredl with 39%).
His early exit meant he finished in ninth place, ahead of Sonya Deville but below Mandy Rose and current independent star Chelsea Green.
#4 He was a Tag Team champion with Lio Rush
Before becoming a contestant on the Tough Enough competition, Velveteen Dream was starting to carve out a wrestling career for himself on the independent scene.
Then known as Rick Powers, he competed for promotions including World Xtreme Wrestling and Combat Zone Wrestling, while he even won the MCW Tag Team Championships with 205 Live star Lio Rush (then known as LI Green) during his time with Maryland Championship Wrestling.
You can check out a 2014 match that the duo had against Punk Rock Allstars & Appalachian Outlaws below.
#3 He was the only Tough Enough contestant to watch The Beast In The East
Remember when The Beast In The East aired on the WWE Network in July 2015? The show was a Network special from Tokyo, Japan which featured five matches, including Kevin Owens vs. Finn Balor (NXT Championship) and Brock Lesnar vs. Kofi Kingston.
It took place at the same time that the Tough Enough contestants were living together while filming the reality TV show, so you would have thought that they would all have interest in the modern-day product and tune in like the rest of the WWE Universe, right?
Wrong! Patrick Clark was the only person from Tough Enough who woke up early (approximately 05:30 am in the USA) to watch the event.
#2 Hulk Hogan said his promos sucked
Despite winning the Tough Enough promo challenge, Patrick Clark’s skills on the mic didn’t captivate WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan in the same way they did the rest of the audience.
Hogan, a judge on the 2015 edition of Tough Enough, bluntly told Clark that his promo skills “suck” and he wanted the rookie to stop being “Patrick the smart mark” every time he was on the mic.
Who knows, perhaps the Hogan-inspired attire we saw Velveteen Dream wear at TakeOver: Chicago was in response to these comments from “The Hulkster”!
#1 John Cena wants to face him
As the face of WWE for most of the last 15 years, John Cena has firmly established himself as one of the company’s greatest Superstars of all time, so any words he can offer to today’s up-and-coming performers should be taken very seriously.
Speaking recently at a MegaCon Convention in Orlando, Florida, the 16-time world champion described Velveteen Dream as “The One” and said, if he had to choose out of the three, he would prefer to have a match against Dream over Ricochet or Adam Cole.
The NXT Superstar responded on Twitter by saying, “Whenever He Wants, The DREAM Is Here… The DREAM… Is… Here!”
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