The promoter of Dynasty Wrestling has defended booking Patrick Clark for an event following backlash among fans. 

Clark, known for his time as Velveteen Dream in WWE NXT, appeared at a Dynasty event in New York last month. The show marked Clark’s first wrestling appearance since his release from WWE in 2021. 

The former NXT North American champion was let go following allegations that he had sent explicit messages and photos to minors. WWE said they found no evidence in their investigation, though one of Clark’s accusers would later state that they were never contacted for the investigation. 

Dynasty Defends Clark Booking

The choice to feature Clark at the event was met with heavy backlash, especially as fans were not informed of his presence at the show ahead of time. One of Dynasty’s ex-talent also believed that Clark’s involvement sent the wrong message. 

Speaking to Bucklebomb Entertainment, Dynasty promoter Chris Envy spoke highly of Clark. 

“He is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. We spent a couple hours together that day. He was so nice, one of the nicest people… He said hello to everybody, he took pictures, class act all around.”

Many fans took issue with Clark appearing on the same show as Rita Chatterton. The former WWE referee has alleged for years that she was raped by Vince McMahon in the 1980s. In the interview, Envy claimed that Chatterton supported Clark at the event. 

“They were shoulder to shoulder, there was nothing uncomfortable about the situation. She told me to give him her number and have him reach out to her.”

Envy argued that it ultimately comes down to the Dynasty fans, who he believes would be excited to see Vince McMahon despite the allegations against the ex-WWE Chairman. 

“All these people that are coming at me, ‘you’re not family entertainment.’ It’s easy to say that, but if I had Vince McMahon on my next show, all those clowns would still be buying tickets.”

What’s Next?

Patrick Clark hasn’t competed since the Dynasty Wrestling show. In the interview, Envy said that he he has had talks with Clark regarding future bookings and that other promoters have reached out to ask about obtaining Clark’s services. 

H/T – Fightful

A former wrestler for Dynasty Wrestling has spoken out against the promotion for using Patrick Clark at one of their recent events. 

Clark, better known to fans as Velveteen Dream, was part of a show earlier this month that marked the former WWE NXT Superstar’s return to wrestling. In 2020, Clark faced allegations of sending inappropriate messages to minors. WWE claimed that their investigation into the matter showed no proof of misconduct, though one of Clark’s accusers would state that WWE never reached out as part of their investigation. After massive fan backlash, Clark was released from WWE in 2021. 

Terra Calaway on Dynasty Wrestling

Given the allegations Clark has faced as well as additional run-ins with the law, Dynasty’s decision to use him at their event has received a mixed response from fans. On Twitter, Dynasty defended using Clark, saying they wanted to give somebody a second chance to live out their dream. 

This message caught the attention of Terra Calaway, a former member of the Dynasty Wrestling roster. In a tweet of her own, Calaway shared her disappointment and disgust at using Clark. Calaway, a victim of sexual assault, said that using Clark made it clear that victims are not safe at Dynasty Wrestling. 

As a former member of your roster and a sexual assault victim, I am so beyond disappointed and disgusted.

Thank you for showing other victims they are not safe in your locker room or your crowd. https://t.co/p9HoWbKXVg

— ??? ??? (@TerraCalaway) February 18, 2024

Patrick Clark Outside of the Ring

Clark recently emerged in Culpeper and spoke at a County Board of Supervisors meeting. The former WWE NXT Superstar urged the board to prioritize the collective desires of the county’s residents and suggested potential drawbacks of solar power. In a recent video, Clark apologized to WWE and Triple H for causing them problems but stopped short of admitting to any of the allegations against him. 

Pro wrestling gets in your blood, and it’s hard to get out once you’ve started. Even for controversial figures, they find a way back in. Now, Velveteen Dream is making his mark in the pro wrestling world in his own way, years after his WWE release.

Velveteen Dream Returns

Velveteen Dream, now known as Patrick Clark, returned to wrestling, stepping back into the ring at Dynasty in New York. This was a big surprise, one that nobody saw coming.

YO ITS PATRICK CLARK (FKA velveteen dream) WTF pic.twitter.com/mkKMxXlOtO

— Za’Nief Washington (@zanief_) February 18, 2024

The former WWE NXT Superstar interrupted the first match and issued an open challenge. The responses online were shocked, and posts started coming out directly after that about Dream’s surprise.

Alec Odin took Dream’s open challenge. In the end, the former NXT North American Champion won the main event match. Dream was also working as a babyface and he greeted fans around the ring as well.

Velveteen Dream interrupts the opening match at Dynasty in Albany, NY. Makes an open challenge. pic.twitter.com/CgMrSUEbIt

— Headlocked Comics (@HeadlockedComic) February 18, 2024

Dream worked as a face, went over clean. Slapping hands with fans around the front row. pic.twitter.com/f1vpmZyVzs

— Headlocked Comics (@HeadlockedComic) February 18, 2024

Allegations Against Velveteen Dream

In March 2020, Patrick Clark faced allegations of inappropriate contact with a minor on social media. He addressed and denied the accusation in April 2020. During the Speaking Out movement in June 2020, Dream faced further accusations of inappropriate contact with a minor and grooming by pro wrestler Joshua Fuller.

WWE released Velveteen Dream in May 2021. On August 26, 2022, Dream was arrested in Orlando, Florida, on a charge of Possession Of Drug Paraphernalia. This followed an incident on August 20, 2022, at a gym in Florida where he allegedly assaulted an employee.

Patrick Clark’s Recent Advocacy

Prior to his return to the ring, Patrick Clark was also spotted in another settling that few saw coming. During the February 6th Culpeper County Board of Supervisors meeting, he urged the board to prioritize the collective desires of the county’s residents and suggested potential drawbacks of implementing large-scale solar power.

SEScoops will have more on this story and many more in the pro wrestling world. 

Velveteen Dream was released from WWE in 2021, and he hasn’t made any noise for another pro wrestling company since. That being said, headlines about the former NXT North American Champion were not hard to come by as arrests and other allegations followed him. Now, he is onto his next venture, and he’s advocating to preserve rural America. 

Velveteen Dream’s Next Phase

According to Star Exponent, Patrick Clark frequently visits Culpeper to reunite with family and appreciates its rural ambiance. Recently settling in the county for three months, he is introduced as the cousin of Don Haight, a Stevensburg farmer advocating for local farmer programs and the preservation of the county’s rural essence.

Although Clark originally hailed from Washington D.C, he has seemingly found a new home in Culpepper, and he loves the vibe there. During the February 6th Culpeper County Board of Supervisors meeting, he urged the board to prioritize the collective desires of the county’s residents and suggested potential drawbacks of implementing large-scale solar power. 

While expressing apprehension about technological and political changes, he cautioned against external influences jeopardizing Culpeper’s distinct identity.

“I’m afraid that there is a technological and a political gentrification that may occur if we allow outside forces to corrupt Culpeper.”

“Culpeper has this sweet nature to it, sweet as black garlic if you will. It’s got this nature that I’m afraid is going to be corrupted if you all let personal interest affect the decisions that affect the citizens of Culpeper.”

Clark also noted the backing the board receives from residents on this issue, drawing a parallel to his own encounter with dwindling support.

“I lost my job because I took for granted the support that was given to me by the people who paid good money to see me perform.”

In May 2017, Clark debuted a new Prince-inspired persona on NXT named Velveteen Dream. He gained traction and clinched the NXT North American Championship once. However, after a lengthy hiatus due to WWE’s investigation into allegations of Clark’s misconduct involving children, he was released from WWE in May 2021.

Allegations Against Patrick Clark

Patrick Clark was making reference to the allegations that surrounded his WWE departure. In April 2020, there were allegations of misconduct involving minors against Clark. He denied these allegations, and the WWE conducted an investigation, which found no evidence supporting the claims. He was never formally charged.

Allegations of drug use and setting up a camera in a bathroom to snap photos of male Superstars without consent were also made. His name has been ripe with controversy, and he has addressed these accusations in the past.

WWE tried to use Velveteen Dream on television after that, with Triple H even saying that they determined that nothing out of line happened after concluding an investiation. Still, #FireVelveteenDream popped up and trended on Twitter every time he made an appearance on television.

Last month, Patrick Clark, aka Velveteen Dream, was arrested twice.

On August 20, Clark was arrested over an alleged first-degree battery, and was arrested again six days later for a violation of probation by the Orlando Police Department.

Battery

TMZ has added new details to Clark’s first arrest from last month, which is reported to have happened around 8:45pm EST at the Club Orlando fitness facility in Orlando, Florida.

Officers connected to the case claimed that Clark was confronted by a senior employee of a gym, who informed the wrestler that he had to vacate the area of the gym as it was due to cleaning.

Clark reportedly became “irate and argumentative” and after things escalated, the ex-NXT Superstar was told to leave the gym entirely.

Threats

After being ordered to leave the gym, Clark is reported to have become more aggressive at the employee.

TMZ’s report states that Clark threatened to kill the man, before punching him in the face.

Officers said the gym employee told them the two then got into a fight, during which Clark bit him on the left side of his chest, near his armpit.

The two were separated by other employees of the gym.

According to the documents, officers arrested Clark after they observed teeth marks on the employee.

The Plea

According to court records, Clark has been charged with two misdemeanors: battery and trespassing on a property after warning.

Clark’s attorney has filed a not guilty plea in this case.

The main event of this week’s NXT was a women’s championship 3-way elimination match. Asuka would once again defend her title against Ruby Riot and Nikki Cross.

NXT
June 14th 2017
Full Sail University

1. Drew McIntyre vs. Rob Ryzin

• No highlights of this match were posted.
• This was a showcase match for Drew.
• McIntyre wins a quick bout, finishing him off with a Yakuza kick.

Winner: Drew McIntyre

2. Authors of Pain vs. Anthony Dominguez & William Freyday

• Only Akam wrestled for AOP in this match. Rezar just stayed on the outside and talked with Paul Ellering.
• Akam finished off the local talent, and his partner finally came into the ring after the match to deliver the Super Collider.
• They cut a promo about how Heavy Machinery were foolish to challenge them.
• This brought out Heavy Machinery and the 2 teams stared each other down for a moment.
• Paul Ellering got in between the four of them and ordered his team to back away.

Winners: Authors of Pain

3. The Velveteen Dream vs. Raul Mendoza

• The Velveteen Dream does not appear to be going by Patrick Clark anymore.
• He wins clean here with a very Macho Man-esque flying elbow drop.

4. NXT Women’s Championship Match
3-Way Elimination Match
Asuka (c) vs. Ruby Riot vs. Nikki Cross (Sanity)

• Cross picked up the first pin by eliminating Riot with a corkscrew neck breaker while Riot was draped on the top rope.
• Asuka and Cross then just started to have a wild brawl.
• They brawled to the back and the ref waved the match off.
• In the final move of the brawl Cross hit Asuka with a cross body that took both of them through a table.

The Wendy’s Twitter account was asked if they had debuted a “Broken Brilliance Burger” yet? Wendy’s responded and referenced Matt Hardy.

First we must delete the frozen beef patties from obsolete restaurants. pic.twitter.com/ZTjmKqcGki

— Wendy’s (@Wendys) January 8, 2017

WWE artist Rob Shamberger painted The Undertaker in the newest episode of Canvas 2 Canvas. The Undertaker will be making his return to Monday Night Raw later on tonight. You can check out the video below.

NXT Superstar Patrick Clark took to Twitter to call out wrestling fans. Clark seemed to be disgruntled at fans who pay to attend events and voice their opinions during the show. Clark went on to call fans entitled and classless.

https://twitter.com/PatrickClarkWWE/status/817614519711186944

• Preview For Tonight’s Episode Of Monday Night Raw

– As noted, Monday’s RAW from Los Angeles drew 2.797 million viewers, up from last week’s record-low of 2.478 million. The final rating for this week’s RAW was a 1.92, up from last week’s 1.75.

– Tonight’s NXT episode will see the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic kick off with The Authors of Pain vs. The Bollywood Boyz and The Revival vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas and Cedric Alexander.

Other matches taped for tonight include Dan Matha’s debut, Rich Swann vs. Patrick Clark and Danielle Kamella vs. Peyton Royce.

– Apollo Crews is shown preparing for matches in this new Tapout ad:

"I want them thinking he went out there and left everything in the ring. He came out and brought 150% and killed it!" @ApolloCrews @TapouT pic.twitter.com/SNyrnV8wOb

— WWE (@WWE) October 3, 2016

– Kevin Owens is featured on the latest episode of Superstar Ink with Corey Graves.

– Patrick Clark of Tough Enough fame was busted open by Hideo Itami during their match at Friday’s NXT house show in Ocala, FL. He tweeted the following warning to Itami after:

https://twitter.com/PatrickClarkWWE/status/756652945505124353

– Also at last night’s house show in Ocala was an appearance by WWE Hall of Famer Dory Funk, Jr. Funk, who runs a wrestling school in Ocala, came to the ring and thanked Triple H for bringing NXT to the area. He was interrupted by a heel Mandy Rose but Bayley quickly made the save and hit her finisher. The segment ended with hugs between Dory and Bayley, seen below:

Mandy interrupts Dory Funk …. #NXTOcala seriously ? pic.twitter.com/TLUll4fRMf

— Morgan? (@MorGunShow) July 22, 2016

https://twitter.com/Cody_Starbuck/status/756639128947687426

https://twitter.com/Cody_Starbuck/status/756640983949963264

Patrick Clark of WWE Tough Enough fame has been trying out a new gimmick NXT house shows this week. After cutting a promo on Friday about women belonging in the kitchen, not the ring, Clark wore a Donald Trump t-shirt at Saturday’s house show in Jacksonville, FL.

.@NXTPatrickClark WHAT?! Oh my god 😂 #NXTJacksonville pic.twitter.com/ScjR5B8nNS

— katie latronico (@katieloud) May 14, 2016

Patrick Clark, who competed on the last season of Tough Enough, made his NXT wrestling debut at Friday’s live event in Lakeland, Florida.

Wrestling as a babyface against Riddick Moss, he lost in a brief match.

With his debut, Clark is the first male competitor from Tough Enough to wrestle on an NXT show.

Here are photos from his debut.

An impressive showing by @NXTPatrickClark at #NXTLakeland pic.twitter.com/OSuyoxslNu

— Wayne (@BrokenZen333) February 6, 2016

It was nice to finally see @NXTPatrickClark wrestle! #NXTLakeland pic.twitter.com/ZwVsS7h2P5

— Dylan Cox (@dylxncox) February 6, 2016

https://twitter.com/gravenbabies/status/696058309317632002

https://twitter.com/gravenbabies/status/696049917060628480

• WWE looking to sign Goldberg for 2016

The popular Chad Dukes Radio Show out of Washington, D.C. is reporting that fan favorite WWE Tough Enough contestant Patrick Clark has signed a developmental deal with WWE and is currently training at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.

Clark was originally scheduled to make two appearances for Maryland Championship Wrestling this weekend, however he did not show up to either of them.

According to PWInsider.com, Clark, age 19, will soon be officially signed to WWE, as he is currently waiting to complete the standard medical tests required to sign with the company as an active performer.

Clark took part in a tryout at the WWE Performance Center a few weeks back and according to one source, Lita (Amy Dumas), who is now working behind-the-scenes in WWE, played a big role in Clark getting his deal.

• Paul Heyman Seems To Think A CM Punk Return To WWE Isn’t Out Of The Question …

– The latest edition of Jim Ross’ “Ross Report” podcast, which is available now, features an interview with WWE Tough Enough’s Patrick Clark. You can download the show right now at PodcastOne.com.

– Speaking of Tough Enough, below is this week’s “Tough Talk” post-show from the WWE Network.

• Brock Lesnar/UFC News, CM Punk Update, Rousey/WWE & More!

Local independent wrestling promotion Maryland Championship Wrestling issued a press release today to hype up WWE Tough Enough finalist Patrick Clark, who is a MCW trainee.

Below is the release with all of the details.

Maryland Championship Wrestling Trainee Patrick Clark is Tough Enough.

Baltimore, MD June 13, 2015- Over 11,000 video submissions were sent in to the WWE with the hopes of being chosen as a finalist for the upcoming season of the WWE Television Show. Only 40 people were chosen as finalists to come to the WWE Performance Center. Among those 40 chosen was Patrick Clark, a 19 year old trainee at the Maryland Championship Wrestling Trainee Center and current member of the MCW Roster.

“I could tell the first time I saw him he’d one day be in the WWE. He’s that one in a million special athlete that any coach from any sport would be thrilled to have a chance to mentor” says Patrick Brink a trainer at the MCW Training Center who himself spent several years under a WWE Developmental contract under the ring name Calvin Raines.

After 3 grueling days at the WWE Performance Center the 40 hopefuls were narrowed down to the 13 finalists. The announcement was made this past Friday on the official WWE Tough Enough Facebook Page. Patrick Clark was chosen as one of the finalists and will now advance to the show to compete for a WWE Contract. Tough Enough debuts on the USA Network on Tuesday June 23rd.

Patrick Clark began his journey into Professional Wrestling only 1 year ago in June 2014 when he signed up to a beginner’s class at the MCW Training Center. “He is a naturally gifted athlete; he has the heart of a champion. He does not know the meaning of the word quit and I believe in my heart without any doubt that he has a real chance to win the whole thing” Says RJ Meyer who wrestles as The Bruiser and is the current MCW Heavyweight Champion.

After four short months of training Patrick made his Professional Wrestling debut for MCW in Waldorf, MD on October 3, 2015. Shortly after that he formed a tag team with his best friend LI Green known as “Sudden Impact”. The entire MCW locker room as well our Fan base will be cheering Patrick On during his journey towards a lifelong dream.

The next MCW Training Center beginner’s class will start on the same exact day as the debut of Tough Enough on Tuesday June 23, 2015. If you would like more information you can visit our official website www.MarylandWrestling.com Also make sure to stay up to follow MCW on all of our social platforms. On Facebook search Maryland Championship Wrestling, follow us on Twitter @MCWWrestling and also follow on Instagram @MarylandWrestling

• Paul Heyman Talks In-Depth About CM Punk’s Upcoming UFC Debut