WWE: Ranking The Top 10 Breakout Stars Of 2018

2. Velveteen Dream, NXT

The Velveteen Dream first exploded on the scene at NXT TakeOver: WarGames in 2017, earning the respect of Aleister Black after receiving those poetic words: “Enjoy infamy, Velveteen Dream.”

Of course, The Dream has become more than infamous in 2018, as he’s supplanted Johnny Gargano as NXT’s top babyface. When he took on Tommaso Ciampa for the prestigious NXT Championship at NXT TakeOver WarGames 2 a year after his “Feud of the Year” match with Black, the entire NXT Universe vociferously backed Dream against WWE’s most odious heel.

Every nail-biting nearfall left fans breathless and pissed, baffled at how Dream was unable to put down Ciampa – or simply relieved that the beloved superstar had managed to keep the dream alive with a desperate kick-out.

In the end, a DDT on the steel grates in between the two rings spelled doom for The Velveteen Dream, but it was another gutsy performance from one of NXT’s most accomplished in-ring performers.

Just 23, The Dream already has more talent than most wrestlers on the planet could only hope to achieve. He’s just naturally engaging, confident, and aware of what works in the ring. Dream knows his strengths, he knows his limitations (noting that there are very few of those), and he’s quite clearly WWE’s next big star. John Cena, Kurt Angle, and pretty much every established name in the industry understands his talent. He has an almost innate understanding of the fine details that others needed decades to even identify.