Just days after his WWE contract expired, Tommaso Ciampa is now a member of All Elite Wrestling, together with his in-ring debut set for Saturday’s edition of “AEW Collision.” In accordance with the previous WWE NXT Champion, his arrival to AEW was a long-time coming, especially with the thrill and artistic backing currently surrounding the corporate.
“[Leaving WWE] is something I have been leaning towards for quite a while,” Ciampa told The Takedown on SI. “I do not know that I can say there’s one sole factor that led to it or caused it. I feel it’s considered one of those things when your contract is coming to an end, you naturally have discussions.”
“… If I wrestled within the 90s, I’d wanna be an element of ECW… Early 2000s, you wanna be an element of Ring of Honor,” he continued. “I used to be lucky I got to try this just a little bit. 2010s, I feel for me not less than, I desired to be a part of NXT Black and Gold. And after I checked out the landscape of skilled wrestling within the 2020s… the reply was AEW, man. That is what I need to be an element of.”
With the support from his wife and daughter, Ciampa officially made the leap to AEW on Wednesday’s edition of “AEW Dynamite” by revealing himself as Mark Briscoe’s next TNT Championship challenger. There, Ciampa also brought his “Psycho Killer” moniker to life.
As confirmed by Ciampa, AEW CEO Tony Khan and crew members warmly welcomed him and his persona, a lot in order that music producer Mikey Rukus created and finished his recent theme music in a mere 36 hours. That collaborative nature, combined with the passionate fanbase of AEW, then made AEW seem much more like the proper fit for his next landing spot.