Velveteen Dream

Clark trained as a professional wrestler at the Maryland Championship Wrestling training center under Patrick Brink.[4] He made his debut for the promotion after four months of training on October 3, 2014 under the ring name "Rick Powers".[4] Clark went on to wrestle for MCW, winning the MCW Tag Team Championship with Lio Rush in October 2015.[5] He briefly used the ring name "Slugger Clark" before settling on "Patrick Clark" in February 2016. In addition to working for MCW, Clark appeared with various American independent promotions throughout 2015 including Combat Zone Wrestling and World Xtreme Wrestling.[2]

Clark was selected as a contestant for the sixth season of the WWE reality television program WWE Tough Enough, which began airing in June 2015. Despite being tapped as one of the favorites to win the competition, he was eliminated in the fifth episode due to a perceived lack of humility, placing ninth overall in the series.[1]

On October 17, 2015, it was reported that Clark had signed a developmental contract with WWE.[6] He made his in-ring debut for the company at a NXT live event in Lakeland, Florida on February 5, 2016, losing to Riddick Moss.[7] He made his television debut on the July 20 episode of NXT, losing to Austin Aries.[8] On the October 19 episode of NXT, Clark confronted and challenged NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura but was attacked and beaten down by Nakamura.[9] Clark returned and had his first televised victory on the March 1, 2017 episode of NXT, defeating Sean Maluta.[10]

Dream in June 2018

On the May 3, 2017 episode of NXT, Clark started appearing in weekly vignettes, debuting a new Prince-inspired character called Velveteen Dream.[11] He made his debut as a heel on the May 24 episode of NXT, defeating Robert Anthony.[12] On the September 20 episode of NXT, Dream interrupted Aleister Black, where he constantly stalked and harassed Black in order for him to acknowledge Dream and say his name.[13] This led to a match at NXT TakeOver: WarGames, where Dream lost.[14][15] On the December 6 episode of NXT, Dream was supposed to face Kassius Ohno in a qualifying match for a number one contender's fatal-four way match for the NXT Championship; however, an injury kept Dream out of competition, and he was replaced by Johnny Gargano, who defeated Ohno and later won the fatal-four way to become the number one contender.[16] On the January 10, 2018 episode of NXT, Dream interrupted Gargano to mock him for taking 20 minutes to defeat Ohno, claiming that he could've beaten him in "30 seconds tops."[17] On the January 24 episode of NXT, Dream was confronted backstage by Ohno, who pushed him into a wall, starting a feud.[18] At NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia, Dream defeated Ohno.[19] During the rest of 2018, Dream participated in several TakeOver events, such as at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans, Dream competed in the ladder match for the inaugural NXT North American Championship (which was won by Adam Cole)[20][21] at NXT TakeOver: Chicago II, he was defeated by Ricochet,[22] and at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn IV, he defeated EC3.[23][24]

Dream during his reign as NXT North American Champion

On the September 26 episode of NXT, Dream began a feud with NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa after Dream accused him of attacking Aleister Black, thus turning face in the process.[25][26] At NXT TakeOver: WarGames on November 17, he failed to capture the NXT Championship from Ciampa.[27][28] On February 2, 2019 at Royal Rumble Axxess, Dream entered the 2019 Worlds Collide tournament,[29] in which he defeated Tony Nese in the first round, Humberto Carrillo in the quarterfinals, Jordan Devlin in the semifinals, and Tyler Bate in the final to earn a future singles championship match of his choice on the NXT or NXT UK brands.[30][31] Dream chose to challenge for the NXT North American Championship, held by Johnny Gargano.[32] On the February 20 episode of NXT, Dream defeated Gargano to win the title, marking his first championship win in WWE.[33] At NXT TakeOver: New York, Dream defeated Matt Riddle to retain the championship, handing Riddle his first loss in NXT.[34][35] In the following weeks, he went on to successfully defend the title against challengers including Buddy Murphy, Tyler Breeze, Roderick Strong, and Pete Dunne.[36][37] On the September 18 episode of NXT, he lost the title to Roderick Strong after interference from The Undisputed Era, ending his reign at 231 days, the longest reign in the title's history.[38] After taking time off due to a back injury, he returned on the February 5, 2020 episode of NXT to attack The Undisputed Era.[39] At NXT TakeOver: In Your House, Dream challenged Adam Cole for the NXT Championship in a Backlot Brawl, but ended up unsuccessful, and due to a pre-match stipulation, Dream could no longer challenge for the title while Cole was still champion.[40]

Dream returned on the August 12 episode of NXT, where he lost to Cameron Grimes in a triple threat match also involving Kushida.[41] After the match, Dream attacked Kushida, thus turning heel in the process.[42] The following week on NXT, he defeated Finn Bálor to qualify for a spot in a ladder match for the vacated NXT North American Championship at NXT TakeOver: XXX.[43] At the event, Dream failed to win the title.[44] At NXT TakeOver 31, Dream was defeated by Kushida.