NXT: Velveteen Dream’s Secret TakeOver Weapon Is His Style

Credit: WWE.com

The Portrait Tights

Velveteen Dream has always been a memorable character, but there was one feud that solidified him as the asset he is to NXT. 2017’s NXT Rivalry of the Year, as a matter of fact: Aleister Black VS Velveteen Dream. 

This was the rare wrestling plotline that wasn’t driven by a belt, a betrayal, or really anything tangible at all. Instead, it was Dream’s need to be recognized by a fellow competitor that drove him to stalk the relatively more accomplished Black, attacking him in promos and making a single demand: he just wanted Black to say his name. Black managed to ignore him for a while, but one interference too many finally pushed him to accept a match with Dream at TakeOver War Games.

There are two notable things about the start of their bout. The first is that the crowd was going absolutely bonkers for Dream the entire time. Sure, Black is a satanist, but he’s also more or less a babyface. He’d probably be the person you’d expect to root for over the course of a feud like this. But Dream’s incredible talent on the mic, and his impressive abilities in the ring, were enough to win over the NXT audience.

The second notable moment happens when Dream pulls off his chaps to reveal a pair of elaborately airbrushed tights. One leg has his own face, one leg has the face of Aleister Black. Not only does this completely rule, it’s a purposeful homage to famous wrestling feuds of the past, most notably Rick Rude vs Jake Roberts.

Rude’s feud with Roberts was fueled by an obsession with Roberts’s wife, which eventually manifested as a pair of tights with a prominent portrait of her face over his butt and crotch. (It was as classy as it sounds.)

By biting Rude’s style, Dream was able to tie his feud with Black to another high-profile obsession-powered clash between two well-known superstars, and make his claim that his rivalry with Black deserved to be regarded on its level.

In the end, after a grueling twenty-minute bout where both wrestlers nearly died, Black got the win. But so did Dream, as Black paused to say his name and congratulate him on his newfound infamy on the way out of the ring.

This match was the birth of the dominant Dream we know and love on the roster today. It seemed like Dream was unstoppable after this fight, and for the most part, he was. But eventually, he needed to be taken down a peg. He didn’t have to wait too long.