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

Velveteen Dream is a great wrestler, but his awesome sense of style- and the way he uses it to tell stories in the ring -is what helps him steal the show at events like TakeOver Brooklyn.

Velveteen Dream is the breakout NXT superstar of 2018 for a reason. There’s simply nothing he can’t do well. He is a god of promos, seemingly able to manipulate light and sound and summon purple smoke out of nowhere just to get a point across. He is near-unstoppable in the ring, a match-of-the-year machine. He is the man who knocked the Knock-Out Artist out at 30 seconds. He’s the man who made Aleister Black say his name.

(He also used to be on Tough Enough, but the Dream has no memory of that, so neither should we.)

Most recently, he’s been one-half of the best NXT feud in recent memory, tearing the roof off the  arena at TakeOver Chicago in an incredible 20 minute bout with Ricochet. And this Saturday, he’ll be fighting EC3 at TakeOver Brooklyn in a match that is almost guaranteed to steal the show.

The Dream is truly Over, and while a lot of that comes down to his sheer skill and charisma in the ring, there’s one more element of his character that sets him apart from the rest of the roster. Velveteen Dream is absolutely the best-dressed performer on NXT, and when he’s up against a good opponent, his fashion sense becomes a part of his offense.

That isn’t just to say he always looks good. He does, of course, but looking good isn’t tough when you have money and a tailor. Just ask EC3. Plenty of wrestlers know how to dress themselves, but Dream takes his fashion choices to a whole other level by using them to help tell the stories he wants to tell and get himself over in the process.

Some wrestlers use their time in the ring to hustle t-shirts, or wear the same boring get-up every time they fight. Velveteen Dream knows better. Who needs to cut a whole promo on an unworthy opponent when you can get your point across with a well-chosen accessory?

Don’t believe me? Let’s take a look at some of his most inspired sartorial choices.

The Purple Mouthpiece

Dream typically uses his clothing choices to make fun of his opponents, but that isn’t always the case. Sometimes he uses his accessories to create allusions, build up his character in a promo, or even- in one instance -help build up the intensity of a match by selling an opponent’s killer strike.

NXT Takeover Philadelphia was a highly-anticipated PPV, and it remains one of the best shows NXT has ever pulled off. This was Velveteen Dream’s second high-profile TakeOver bout, and his opponent was none other than Kassius Ohno. An arrogant Dream claimed that not only could he beat Ohno, but he could knock him out in thirty seconds.

Dream’s entrance into the ring was delightfully theatrical- vamping to his theme song, strutting through purple smoke, and pausing ringside to place his gum on a velvet pillow held by a stone faced member of his entourage. After he did that, a similarly glamorous woman placed a purple mouthguard in his mouth.

It was a lot of pomp and circumstance for a piece of safety equipment, but it served an important storytelling purpose later in the match.

True to his word, Dream did manage to knock Ohno to the ground within the first thirty seconds of the match. But he paused to cheer for himself instead of going for the pin when Ohno was vulnerable. He paid dearly for this just seconds later, as Ohno got back to his feet and delivered an elbow to Dream’s face that was so stiff it sent Dream’s mouthguard sailing out of his lips and out of the ring.

While Velveteen Dream did win this match, the mouthguard moment proved it wasn’t as easy as he thought it was going to be. It also established Dream as someone whose arrogance will lead him to make bad choices in the ring, and whose ego can occasionally cost him.

The Johnny Wrestling Shirt

It’s easy to forget that Johnny Gargano has ever had a rival in NXT that wasn’t Tommaso Ciampa. However, Velveteen Dream and Gargano did clash for at least one episode of NXT. Due to an injury sustained at TakeOver New Orleans, Dream had to miss out on a number-one contender’s match to take on then-champ Andrade Cien Almas for the belt.

Gargano ended up being selected to take Dream’s place. Dream took exception to this, as he felt Gargano wasn’t ready for a title shot in the way that Dream was. So Dream challenged Gargano to a match for the number one contender’s spot. Gargano accepted, and the match was set for the go-home NXT before the championship bout.

A whole new set of Johnny-taunting gear would have been a big ask for a single episode of NXT, but that didn’t stop Dream from getting creative with his fashion choices for the evening. As the match began, Dream came out in his own customized Johnny Wrestling t-shirt, made Dream-ified by a midriff and sleeves cut to fringe.

There are a lot of ways you can put down an opponent in the ring, but looking better in their own merch than they do is definitely a legitimate burn.  And while Dream didn’t come out on top that night, he still left an impression on the crowd. Honestly, if Dream ever wants to start a YouTube channel on how to make wrestling shirts look less boxy and weird, I think we would all be grateful.

As far as Gargano being ready for the title picture…well, I guess we’ll find out this Saturday. But so far, I think Dream was right about that one.

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.

The Puma Look

Ricochet vs Velveteen Dream was a feud that made sense from the jump. Dream and Ricochet are perfectly paired in the ring; flashy, cocky, and willing to go to extreme measures to win. As the two antagonized each other in the build-up to TakeOver Chicago, their roles became clear. Ricochet was the improbably good indie kid who wanted to prove himself, and Velveteen Dream was a treacherous wall of ego for him to climb.

Dream considered himself the king of the roster at NXT, a WWE pedigree, and he explicitly told Ricochet over and over again that his rinky-dink past in church basements wouldn’t have given him the skills he needed to win a singles match with an elite WWE superstar. Ricochet maintained he deserved the chance to prove himself, and that Dream had to back up his ego in the ring. Equally skilled, equally confident, and equally hungry for a win, there was no way their TakeOver Chicago match wouldn’t be a blow-out.

Ricochet’s gear for the match was…fine. It looked like he may have gotten lost on his way to an anime convention, but at least it was fun. It’s a good thing he didn’t put a lot of effort into showing up Dream, because he would have been wasting his time.

First, we have Dream’s entrance. A vision in yellow feathers and a canary t-shirt, Dream once again drew on his knowledge of epic confrontation to give his fight with Ricochet a little more depth by referencing another infamous big-time bout. (We’ll get into that shortly.) But once he ripped away his Hulkamaniac cocoon, he revealed another surprise: tights painted to resemble Prince Puma, former champion of Lucha Underground.

Prince Puma was a masked wrestler, so a person unfamiliar with Ricochet may not have caught the reference. (The WWE commentary table also didn’t point it out, presumably for copyright reasons.) But by dressing up like the character Ricochet had abandoned to come to WWE, Dream was able to wordlessly remind Ricochet of the indie past that he held in such contempt, and threaten to show up Ricochet in his own clothing. Anything Ricochet can do, Dream can do better.

If you haven’t watched that fight, go do it now. It might be the best singles match that has happened on WWE this year. Ricochet and Dream decimated each other, eventually stealing each other’s finishers in an attempt to put the other one down for good. In the end Ricochet came out triumphant, literally defeating a version of his former self to win his first big victory at NXT. It was an awesome moment, made all the more awesome by Dream’s attention to detail and willingness to go above and beyond to make a match shine.

The Sickest Burn

Velveteen Dream’s kickass sense of style gets him plenty of attention in the ring, but occasionally it draws eyes outside of the ring too. And whether he’s on NXT or on Twitter, the Dream won’t hesitate to put someone in their place.

While the Puma tights were the most obvious reference in Dream’s appearance that night, fans also noticed his entrance and mid-ring posedown were an obvious reference to The Rock vs “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania X8. 

The internet being what it is, Twitter exploded with joy over Dream referencing Hulk Hogan with a ring entrance and attire. Hogan remains a popular wrestler with many WWE fans, despite the fact that he has been recorded cheerily asserting  that he is a racist. Not everybody is on board with Hogan’s recent image rehab tour, of course. Frankly, I am still not sure why anybody would be eager to bring him back into a wrestling ring when there are literally dozens of equally-talented or superior wrestlers who haven’t yelled racial slurs into a concealed mic and then offered a contrite weak-sauce apology about the fact they got caught.

Just saying.

Anyway! Word spread about Dream’s homage, and eventually reached the Hulkster himself. Perhaps flattered by the reference, or perhaps just hoping to prove to the world that he is not a racist because he has a black friend, Hulk reached out to thank Dream and propose a team-up:

However, the Dream was not having it.

"HollyWoodDREAM has a nice ring 2 it, but DREAM rides solo. Good Try Terry! https://t.co/Q9BrLsAumC — HollyWoodDREAM (@VelveteenWWE) June 22, 2018"

(Dream regularly purges his Twitter, so his reply is lost to the archives. But I assure you, it happened.)

The Dream’s response to Hogan is honestly pretty perfect. Velveteen Dream may borrow your clothes and your poses, but he doesn’t need a has-been riding his coattails. In the past Hogan was the man, but Dream currently is the man, and the man does not share his spotlight just because you asked him to.  He doesn’t even give Hogan the respect of using his WWE name, instead using Hogan’s real name to twist the knife a little more.

Velveteen Dream is a work of art. Look, but don’t touch. Good try, Terry.

So as we’ve seen, Dream brings a lot of flair to his day-to-day style. But we can count on him to use TakeOvers as an excuse to pull out all the stops and get in an opponent’s head via a savvy wardrobe choice. Will EC3 have a similar devastating burn to look forward to this Saturday? Almost definitely. As for what it will be, we’ll just have to wait and see.