Tommaso Ciampa Makes Surprise Reveal About WWE Exit

Tommaso Ciampa is now ‘All Elite.’

On January 21, Ciampa uploaded a rare social media post, confirming that his time in WWE was coming to an end and he had decided against renewing his contract.

At the time, The Sicilian Psychopath had been in the tag team division with Johnny Gargano while chasing the United States Championship, too.

His last appearance came on the December 15 episode of SmackDown, where he teamed up with Gargano in a losing effort against Carmelo Hayes and Ilja Dragunov.

As fans speculated about his next destination, the 40-year-old arrived in AEW on the January 28 edition of Dynamite by answering the then-TNT Champion Mark Briscoe’s open challenge.

On January 31, he defeated Briscoe on Collision to not only win the TNT Championship, but also become the company’s first wrestler to win a title in his debut match.

While recently speaking to Renee Paquette on Up Close, Tommaso Ciampa revealed being tight-lipped about his WWE contract, so much so that even his Johnny Gargano did not know when it ended.

We [Ciampa and his wife] knew my contract end date. I was very very private about that. No one knew that date. I don’t even know that my tag partner at the time [Johnny Gargano] knew the specific date.

I just didn’t tell anyone. ‘Okay, contract ends midnight the 26th.’ I already had the plan of what I wanted the next evolution to be and the presentation to be. Whether or not AEW was going to be the place to do was kind of wishful thinking. [H/T: Fightful]

Tommaso Ciampa’s Next TNT Championship Challenger Revealed

On the Feburary 4 taping of Collision, Tommaso Ciampa successfully defended his TNT Championship against Claudio Castagnoli and Roderick Strong, whom he pinned after hitting him with a running knee strike.

After the match, ‘The Protostar’ Kyle Fletcher made his way out and picked up Ciampa’s title before handing it over to him.

He also challenged The Psycho Killer for the championship, which would take place on Dynamite. In doing so, he explained his intention to visit his home country of Australia as a champion when AEW heads over to the continent for Grand Slam Australia on February 14.

Also read: Why Tommaso Ciampa Really Chose AEW Over WWE