Can Velveteen Dream Work as Face?

When you look at the landscape of NXT I don’t think there is anyone who is as over as the Velveteen Dream. A gimmick that could easily have flopped has become one of the most encapsulating characters in the entire company. A lot of that is down to the charisma and the commitment of Patrick Clark to make the gimmick work.

When you look at the gimmick it natural feels like a heel because he’s so obsessed with the spotlight and getting all the attention for himself. If you didn’t know that and you tuned in to NXT, you could be forgiven for thinking he was a face. The Dream seems to have captured the attention of the fans ever since Takeover War Games when he put on a match of the year candidate with Aleister Black. Ever since then the reactions for him have just gotten louder.

I think this was a combination of The Dream’s charisma and the fact that the match with Black was better than anyone could have expected.

This has me thinking: Could the Velveteen Dream work as a face?

He’s certainly popular enough to warrant a face turn. It’s just a matter of how you turn him. You can’t just have him come out one-week high fiving kids and giving generic babyface promos.

There are certain characters whose gimmick can work as both a heel or a face and don’t really need to change much about them. The Rock was pretty much the same when he was a heel or face he would still cut biting promos and still use all his memorable catchphrases.

If you have the dream come out still acting the same way but just cut promos on heels and use parody heels in his entrance gear he natural made the switch from heel to face. You don’t have to change much about his character. Allow him to acknowledge the thunderous cheers he’s getting every week. Just imagine Face Velveteen Dream going against heels like Adam Cole, Lars Sullivan or even Tomasso Ciampa.

On this weeks NXT Dream cut a pre-taped promo recapping his Takeover matches and promising to put on another show stealer in Brooklyn. When you look at the current storylines it seems like they might be building to Velveteen Dream vs EC3 for Brooklyn.

Logic would dictate that Dream would be the heel since he abounded EC3 in their tag match at the UK Tournament. EC3 has a right to be angry but he’s another guy whose character is suited to being a heel.

Both guys are over with the crowd, but I have a felling Dream will be the more over of the two especially in Brooklyn. I’m not sure how they’ll handle it but I have confidence in NXT to pull of something good. It wouldn’t be the first time the Dream defied expectations.

As fun as a Dream face turn would be I think it’s sometime away because when he gets called up I think he’ll be heel for his first few months to allow the main roster audience to get an idea of the character. If he can get over with that audience maybe then he’ll turn face. He’s defiantly talented enough to pull it off.