Steve Cook chimes in about the recent controversy surrounding Velveteen Dream, and wants everyone to take a “wait and see” approach.

Just a few weeks ago, the Velveteen Dream’s future looked bright. He was looking forward to receiving a shot at Adam Cole’s NXT Championship at NXT TakeOver: Tampa Bay. It was going to be his highest profile match yet, and there was a good chance that he would emerge from WrestleMania Weekend as NXT Champion.

Obviously, NXT TakeOver: Tampa Bay never took place. Some of the matches ended up on NXT television, but Dream has yet to receive a title shot. Adam Cole’s been a hiding champion, refusing to defend against anybody since he claims that nobody has earned a title shot. One assumed that Dream would get his title shot at some point, but the longer it gets put off, the more chance there is that something could happen to postpone it for good.

Something might have happened.

There are allegations out there concerning Velveteen Dream & his online activity. There’s audio, there’s a picture, there’s all kinds of stuff that you can find out there suggesting that Dream was engaging in things he shouldn’t have been engaging in and targeting people he shouldn’t have been targeting. That being said, Dream has professed his innocence, and it would be irresponsible of me to take one side or the other in the matter until more information comes out. WWE needs to do their due diligence, investigate the situation, and make the right decision based off what they find out.

It’s not my place to say what that decision should be. If Dream did what he’s accused of doing, he won’t have much of a career going forward. WWE will let him go for cause, and no other major promotion with an ounce of integrity will sign him. The passage of time may result in an eventual comeback, but that would be years down the road. If in fact he was hacked or framed, then we should give him the benefit of the doubt. While it’s impossible for me to say what’s true & what’s false here, I will admit my first reaction when I read about it.

“Well, I mean…the guy does act pretty weird. Might be into some strange stuff.”

I based my first opinion on the news off of my perception of Velveteen Dream on NXT. Let’s be honest, Dream’s character is a bit of an odd duck. You could see the Velveteen Dream character doing the kind of stuff being alleged. The thing is: I don’t know the man behind the Velveteen Dream character. I have no idea if Patrick Clark Jr. is anything like the Velveteen Dream when he isn’t in character. He might be. He might be nothing like the Velveteen Dream at all.

We don’t really know any of these people. All we know about them is what they present to us on television & social media. Just because Velveteen Dream comes off a little sketchy on television doesn’t mean anything about his personal life. The same goes for any wrestler. For whatever reason, we have difficulty separating the character from the person.

All we know for sure is that Dream did make the classic mistake of taking a picture of his reproductive organ. Wrestlers & other celebrities should really know better by now. You think your classy picture will remain a secret to everybody except the person you sent it to. That never happens. They always go public.

Don’t take pictures of your junk.

If I was to give the youth of America one piece of advice, it would be that. I would also say don’t try to get with minors if you’re over 18, but that one seems self-explanatory. And one more piece of advice…don’t hang people until you find out they’re actually guilty.

Us adults could use that advice as well.