WWE Confirms Departure Of 5-Time Champion

WWE has publicly confirmed the departure of a former champion.

On January 21, Tommaso Ciampa announced that he was leaving the Stamford promotion after a 10-year stint. Sharing a post on X, he thanked a host of people while also announcing his availability for future bookings.

Days after announcing his departure, Ciampa shared a workout video on Instagram, looking insanely ripped and raring to take his next step.

Meanwhile, Dave Meltzer reported that the former WWE was not expected to end up in AEW due to a surplus of talent available in the company.

Instead, he claimed that Ciampa may be headed to New Japan Pro Wrestling.

There is talk of him trying to get into New Japan. He’d fit in style wise with AEW but AEW has such a large roster filled with top talent so it’s a tough place to break through.

The fact he’s pushing indie bookings would seem to indicate he didn’t leave for AEW and a deal there, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see such a deal happen given Tony Khan signing so many people and he’s a strong in-ring wrestler.

WWE Moves Tommaso Ciampa To The Alumni Section

On Tuesday, WWE moved Tommaso Ciampa’s profile to its alumni section on its official website, something it does whenever a talent leaves the company.

Elsewhere, Ciampa has been preoccupied with securing bookings and aggressively promoting his merch on the Pro Wrestling Tees store.

Tommaso Ciampa has been moved to WWE’s alumni page pic.twitter.com/zF8MImUlZE

— Felix Upton (@felixupton_) January 27, 2026

While competing in WWE, he was a part of #DIY alongside Johnny Gargano, who shared his silent tribute online to his former teammate.

After years of competing as part of the tag team division, Gargano has entered the singles division. On the January 23 episode of SmackDown, he lost to Nathan Frazer of Axiom.