Every WWE Release Of 2021 - Where Are They Now? (Five Years Later)

Then: This guy had the world at his feet and everyone watching wrestling in a chokehold with his sensational Velveteen Dream gimmick before it all went south. Allegations popped up in April 2020 claiming that Dream was sending inappropriate messages to minors, but WWE investigated and apparently didn't find anything alarming when they did.

So, Velveteen trundled on, but his aura definitely took a hit and he was gone from the promotion by May 2021. People just felt totally uncomfortable with supporting him due to all of the ongoing controversy, and so WWE management chucked the towel in on his once proud act.

It was a depressing end considering his promise inside the ring and the seriousness of those allegations outside it.

Now: Dream vanished from wrestling for around 3 years before making his in-ring return on the independent circuit as Velveteen Man. That bargain bin NXT knock off guise (you know it's bad when it's called an NXT knock off!) soon fell by the wayside and he was wrestling under his real name Patrick Clark.

Since then, Clark has agitated for a return to the big time, but it's unlikely that TKO/WWE would sign him up after everything that's happened. Yes, WWE's own investigation into his behaviour found no evidence of wrongdoing, but bringing him back would play before significant backlash from all corners and probably isn't worth the hassle.

Velveteen Dream was a time and a place, man. It happened when NXT existed in a pre-AEW cultural bubble, and likely wouldn't work again in 2026 anyway.