17. Velveteen Dream
Coming in at No. 17 is someone who should just stop and smell the NXT roses for a while longer. He is the current reigning and defending NXT North American Champion, the Velveteen Dream. He faces Tyler Breeze on Saturday night for his championship, and Breeze should be a telling tale to the Dream in 2019 why the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.
At NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn IV, the Dream came to the ring in new gear that got everyone talking. He sported the words “Call me up Vince,” on his wrestling tights, making for one of the most talked-about things that happened on the show. While Dream might not see it now, he was fortunate that Vince never made that call.
The Dream went on to capture the North American Championship earlier in 2019 after defeating Johnny Gargano. This was an accomplishment that would have never occurred had he been called up. Dream has been praised by many of the WWE’s main roster including John Cena, who has called him the future of the business. Praise like that from Cena doesn’t come lightly and Triple H has to protect his investment.
While we don’t know how much longer the Dream will remain in the black and gold brand, we feel the longer he is down there the better. When he finally gets his main roster debut let’s hope McMahon doesn’t sabotage him like he recently did with EC3, who should be a star on the main roster right now as well. The Dream is absolutely the future of WWE, but for now, he must be protected at all costs.