Although names such as Finn Balor, Kevin Owens, Shinsuke Nakamura, Samoa Joe, and Bobby Roode have been major blows to the NXT roster, the company is spending time building up stars, as well as acquiring former Impact Wrestling and Ring of Honor stars. Currently, the top babyface of NXT has been Aleister Black, while the company is making the Undisputed Era faction of Adam Cole, Bobby Fish, and Kyle O’Reilly the top villains. At the recent NXT TakeOver: Philly event, Aleister Black was able to defeat Adam Cole and Fish & O’Reilly retained their NXT Tag Team Championships against the Authors of Pain.
Another match on the show was Kassius Ohno competing against The Velveteen Dream. Just as the show at NXT TakeOver: War Games , Velveteen Dream won the crowd over by his illustrious mannerisms and impressive in-ring work. In fact, the crowd in Houston started to even boo the heavily fan-favored Black, who seemed impenetrable when it comes to getting jeers. In Philadelphia, Ohno, who is also a heavy crowd favorite, was booed when he rebounded from the near 30-second knockout that Dream promised before the show began.
From a backstage perpective, many are quite impressed with the work of Dream over the past few months. In fact, according to PWInsider , he is the “hand-picked” protege of WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels, who is now doing work at the Performance Center.
https://twitter.com/VelveteenWWE/status/957846291601555457
Both fans and wrestlers alike agree that Patrick Clark as the Velveteen Dream has an extremely bright future and will certainly be a champion. The fans voted him and Black as the 2017 NXT Rivalry of the Year. Kevin Owens spoke highly of Dream’s performance against Black in San Antonio, stating , “I think plenty of people will be saying your name for years to come.”
Edge would also speak highly of Dream on his podcast. He stated that he has not seen much of Dream, but he is incredible for someone who has only been wrestling pro for three years (at the time). He compared his character to Rick Rude and Prince, and affirmed that he has a bright future ahead of him. Overall, the evolution of The Velveteen Dream is a goldmine that people are very interested to see where he goes from here.
