38-year-old WWE Superstar shares unrecognizable throwback photo, reflects on lengthy wrestling career
A current WWE Superstar celebrated the anniversary of his wrestling debut by sharing a throwback photo of his first gimmick.
Tommaso Ciampa trained under WWE Hall of Famer Killer Kowalski before making his professional wrestling debut in January 2005. He started at Chaotic Wrestling in Massachusetts and used Thomas Penmanship as his first ring name and character.
Ciampa shared a throwback photo of himself under his Thomas Penmanship gimmick. He still had long hair and wore reading glasses, similar to the Thomas Whitney, ESQ character he used during an episode of SmackDown in 2005, serving as Muhammad Hassan's lawyer.
"19 years ago today, Thomas Penmanship was born, as I had my very first match inside of a professional wrestling ring. Since I can remember, I've always been fascinated by 'the journey' in pro wrestling. Everybody in wrestling has their own path, their own story," Ciampa wrote.
He added:
"After 19 years, I can’t help but feel extremely grateful towards wrestling. It's allowed me to live out my childhood dream while providing a life for my family that I never possibly imagined."
Tommaso Ciampa continued to appear on Heat and Velocity as an enhancement talent. He eventually signed a developmental contract in February 2007 but was released four months later.
After his release, Ciampa competed on the independent circuit and wrestled for promotions such as East Coast Wrestling Association, Pro Wrestling Guerilla, Ring of Honor, and World League Wrestling. He returned to WWE as part of NXT in 2015.
Tommaso Ciampa's WWE career so far
Tommaso Ciampa began his second stint with WWE in 2015 and aligned with Johnny Gargano as #DIY. They won the NXT Tag Team Championship once before battling it out in one of the greatest feuds in developmental brand history. As a single star, Ciampa won the NXT Championship twice.
However, injuries slowed down The Sicilian Psychopath, who had to spend seven years in developmental. He suffered serious injuries, such as a torn right ACL in his knee and a broken neck. He even had a severe hip injury six months after being called to the main roster in 2022.
Tommaso went after Gunther and the Intercontinental Championship shortly after his return from the hip injury. However, he fell short like all the previous challengers to The Ring General's title. Ciampa is now back to teaming with Gargano, and they are looking to win the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship.
Do you think Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano will win the tag team titles this year? Share your answers in the comments section below.