If you were super excited to see Patrick Clark appear in NXT as The Velveteen Dream then you weren’t the only one because I marked out as well. Clark/Dream was a guy once known from Tough Enough who was cut drastically early in the competition and he would have amazing verbal bouts with his fellow contestants to proclaim his seriousness about the pro wrestling business.
His passion for pro wrestling paid off and now he’s a top name in NXT. But it was recently noted maybe his abilities and accolades in the ring have more to do with who he’s up against than his actual abilities to put out a great match.
“I tell you what about Velveteen Dream, it’s like Aleister Black is one freakin’ great wrestler… that’s what I think about Velveteen Dream,” Dave Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Radio before clarifying his statement.
“Velveteen Dream is great and he didn’t have a very good match against Kassius Ohno who’s a very good wrestler. But his match against Tino Sabbatelli and it was the main event so they’re allowed to go all out god was this match like really bad. I was stunned at how bad it was, and it was both of them. It wasn’t just one guy they were both just bad.”
“So it’s like he definitely needs… I’m glad he’s still on NXT because if he went in there with one of the guys on the main roster and wasn’t so great he’d be exposed something fierce. Because every spot was off.”
Meltzer went on to discuss the serious torn pectoral injury Tino suffered during the match saying, “the injury wasn’t because a spot was off the injury wasn’t like ‘oh my god they were in the wrong spot.’ The injury is just one of those freaky ass things like it was like a dropkick or something, I don’t even remember what it was but he took a bump and all of a sudden you could see he just grabbed his chest and shoulder and it’s like the thing just tore it was nobody’s fault. It wasn’t because they were bad wrestlers that happened but the match was really… whew.”
It was also noted Dream has worked with Ricochet at house shows and considering the fact that The One And Only is one of the best pro wrestlers on the planet, everyone should come off looking great in their match at NXT TakeOver: Chicago.
In time we might see Patrick Clark aka Velveteen Dream make it to the main roster because he’s got a character, the look, and promo ability that doesn’t need much of any tweaking at all. But apparently, there is some brushing up he could do in the ring before he’s ready to showcase his abilities alongside WWE’s biggest Superstars.
But let’s not count out Velveteen Dream yet because he is still young and has incredible potential. If he has a little room to grow in NXT then that’s okay because this is why WWE has a developmental territory. The important part is that he is being groomed for success, let’s just hope he can grab the brass ring when it’s in front of him.
If you use our quotes please credit Wrestling Observer Radio with a H/T to Still Real To Us for the transcription
