5 Things you need to know about Tommaso Ciampa
Tommaso Ciampa was a recent guest on E&C's Pod of Awesomeness and the injured NXT Superstar opened up on a myriad of topics related to professional wrestling. Ciampa left no stone unturned when reminiscing about his storied career and revealed just how serious his current neck injury is.
If you think you know the NXT Superstar often referred to as Blackheart, think again because Ciampa has gone out of his way to keep kayfabe and reveal only a minimal amount of his own personal character during his career.
In the following, Tommaso Ciampa reveals more about himself than ever before, so sit back, relax, and enjoy 5 Things You Need To Know About Tommaso Ciampa.
#5. Ciampa was not supposed to be in The Cruiserweight Classic
When the inaugural Cruiserweight Classic got underway, neither Johnny Gargano nor Tommaso Ciampa was officially signed to any WWE roster. Ciampa's long-time friend, Johnny Gargano, was scheduled for the tournament, however, Ciampa was not.
Ciampa told Edge and Christian,
"I wasn't going to be in the Cruiserweight Classic. They [WWE] had their list together. I forget how we found out, whether it was a text or not, but we found out that he [Johnny Gargano] was in and I wasn't."
That's when Ciampa decided to take a major risk. After talking with Gargano, Ciampa approached NXT founder and senior producer Triple H and made his pitch.
Ciampa implored Triple H,
"I said, 'Listen, I know I'm not in the Cruiserweight Classic, but you guys have 16 matches on night one and obviously 16 guys have to come and just lose. Let me be one of them and let it be versus Johnny and we'll give you a close to the show where, at least, you'll know that you will get a main event caliber match. It can just be a one off and if we revisit it, awesome. If we don't, we don't, but at least we can give you a main event for that first night. With sixteen matches deep the crowd is going to be burnt out.'"
Triple H inevitably concurred and the two put on a barn burner as the opening round's main event match.
Gargano would best his long-time friend in the 11 minute classic, but the bout would have a lasting impact on each of their careers. According to Ciampa, "Everybody in the back started to go, 'Woah, we have something here.'"