Velveteen Dream (Patrick Clark Jr.) has released a video apologizing to those in the industry and fans for his behaviour in recent years.
In the video Clark begins: “As you’ve probably seen or have heard over the course of the last few years, I want to apologize for my behavior. Both professionally and personally, I always preach to those closest to me about the power of accountability and responsibility and I take full accountability for my behavior over the last three years of my life. When narratives were written about me — it doesn’t matter. It didn’t matter what was written about me. It doesn’t matter what was said about me. It doesn’t matter what’s on the internet about me. I was wrong and because of that, I need to apologize to a few people.”
Clark issued statements to his former bosses first:
“I want to apologize to Paul Levesque. Paul, you are such an understanding and patient man and leader. And getting the opportunity to work with you and to learn from you, I get the sense of what makes you who you are and how you’ve been able to handle the responsibility of being in the public light for such a long time. I want to apologize to you, Paul. I’m sorry…Also, want to say I’m sorry to Shawn Michaels. Shawn, it’s still beyond me that I’ve been having the opportunity in this lifetime to learn from you, to have your mentorship and your guidance. And I apologize if you feel like you’ve wasted your time and your energy investing into me. You have not. I’m still a work in progress. I’m still learning. And I remember all the lessons that you’ve taught me. Shawn, I’m sorry.”
He then addressed his fans:
“I want to apologize to the fans and those in my professional and personal life that I have affected by my behavior. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I recognize that I was losing myself, and I apologize to anyone that I lost along the way, anyone that I’ve upset or offended because of my behavior. Man, I’m sorry. And I hope you all forgive me. Thank you,” he said.
Clark had a bright future in NXT after competing on WWE Tough Enough where he passion for the business really shone through. Although he didn’t win the series he was offered a contract by WWE and became a mainstay of NXT. He became NXT North American Champion defeating Johnny Gargano and held the belt for eight months until he was defeated by Roderick Strong. Clark was released under a cloud of controversy in 2021. He hadn’t appeared on WWE TV for five months.
Clark had been investigated by WWE for inappropriate interactions with fans but the WWE cleared him of those accusations. After being released from WWE, Clark was arrested on charges of possessing drug paraphernalia and was involved in a separate arrest for trespassing and assault at a local gym but those charges were dropped.
In his last match for WWE, Clark lost to Adam Cole 0n an episode of NXT.