Tommaso Ciampa is one of the finest talents on NXT and he is also making frequent appearances on RAW owing to his rivalry with Dolph Ziggler.
Ciampa was trained by WWE Hall of Famer Killer Kowalski. Not many know this but Ciampa was in WWE before his current stint. He appeared on July 14, 2005, episode of SmackDown. He was introduced as Thomas Whitney, ESQ one of Muhammad Hassan’s lawyers. Whitney would confront The Undertaker.
He would read a statement and afterwards would be attacked by The Undertaker.
On the December 17 episode of Velocity, he was defeated by Jamie Noble. He wrestled under the name Demarso Whitney. He had a dark match teaming up with Kofi Kingston to take on the team of Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch. This happened in mid-August in 2006 on an episode of WWE Heat.
In 2007 it was announced that he had signed a developmental contract and would wrestle under the name Tommaso. He would show promise but eventually suffer an injury. Tommaso carried on as a manager for Bolin Services (Charlie Evans and Justin LaRouche) and his character was named Dr. Tommaso – an anger management specialist.
He would make his in-ring debut under this character when he teamed with Bolin Services to take on the team of Elijah Burke and Cryme Tyme in a six-man tag team match at six flags.
Finally, he would portray another character but this time it wore a mask and was named Prodigy. He was released from the company in 2007 after none of the characters quite worked.
This has been a much better stint for Ciampa. He came back with a lot of experience after being one of the top guys in the Ring of Honor promotion from 2011 to 2015.
Ciampa was announced as part of the 2015 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament. He would team up with Johnny Gargano and it was the start of something special. They didn’t manage to win the tournament as they were eliminated by Baron Corbin and Rhyno. Ciampa hadn’t been signed by the company as yet. He competed in some singles matches until on April 2, it was confirmed that he was re-signed by WWE.
As per his contract with WWE, he could wrestle on the independent circuit alongside his regular appearances on NXT. During this time he would participate in the Cruiserweight Classic Tournament in which he was defeated by Johnny Gargano in the first round.
WWE signed him for an exclusive contract after realizing his potential. This contract would bar him from competing on the Independent scene.
Ciampa would form a team with Gargano and this time the team would last much longer. They beat The Revival in their second attempt to capture the NXT Tag titles. Their tag team was known as #DIY.
They would have a fine little run but eventually lost the titles to Akam and Rezar (The Authors of Pain).
#DIY would get a few more shots to reclaim their title but they squandered all of them. Their final attempt to get their tag titles back took place at NXT TakeOver, Chicago in a ladder match against The Authors of Pain. They would fail once again and a frustrated Ciampa would attack his partner Gargano after the match. As a result, Ciampa turned heel.
Ciampa’s feud with Gargano wouldn’t continue immediately as he got injured during the ladder match and required time off for surgery. Upon his return, he went after Gargano costing him his NXT Championship.
Ciampa and Gargano would battle it out over the next few weeks and their feud would culminate at NXT TakeOver: Chicago II in a Chicago Street Fight. The Blackheart Ciampa would go on to win the match.
Ciampa would go on to win the NXT Championship from Aleister Black. He defeated some top superstars during his reign.
Ciampa would debut on RAW in 2019 and once again revive the tag team of #DIY with Gargano. They beat RAW tag champs, The Revival, and The Bar (Sheamus and Cesaro) in quick succession.
Ciampa would once again suffer another injury. That would force him to relinquish the NXT Championship after an impressive reign lasting 237 days.
Ciampa returned and became a two-time NXT Champion going past Pete Dunne, LA Knight, and Johnny Gargano in a fatal 4-way match.
He would have another impressive reign for 112 days before losing to current champion Bron Breakker.
Ciampa’s looking for his third reign as NXT champion. He takes on Dolph Ziggler and Bron Breakker in a triple-threat match for Breakker’s NXT championship at NXT TakeOver. This week on RAW he teamed with Breakker to defeat the team of Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler.
Ciampa has been involved in an interesting feud with Dolph Ziggler and the two could end up fighting at The Grandest Stage of Them All – WrestleMania 38.
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