Former champion declares title pursuit after celebrating 19 years since first WWE appearance with a huge win on RAW
Triple H and Co. have been slowly building this WWE Superstar on Monday Night RAW since June 2023. It is evident that the Chief Content Officer is a huge fan and has high hopes for Tommaso Ciampa and his tag partner, Johnny Gargano.
On October 2nd, Gargano returned after a long hiatus, assisting Ciampa during a post-match beatdown by Imperium. They reformed DIY shortly after that.
Ciampa picked up a major pinfall victory over former WWE Universal Champion Finn Balor on the latest edition of RAW. This may have been the start of a future Undisputed WWE Tag Team Title program involving DIY and The Judgment Day.
Reminding viewers on social media earlier today that it has been 19 years since his first appearance for the global juggernaut, the former NXT Champion revealed that the next step is to win gold alongside Johnny Wrestling.
Check out his post below:
"What a way to celebrate 19 years! I always love visiting and wrestling in Portland. Amazing crowd. Amazing energy. 🖤 2024 - DIY - Tag Champs," Ciampa wrote on Instagram.
The 38-year-old shared his biggest goal in 2024 - to make it to the WrestleMania match card for the first time in his WWE career. Not only that, he wants to do it by being in the best shape of his life. Read Ciampa's message here.
Ciampa's WWE career kickstarted opposite The Undertaker
Tommaso Ciampa first appeared on SmackDown in July 2005. He became part of the infamous storyline between The Undertaker and Muhammad Hassan. Recently, he looked back on the "surreal" moment that was stepping into the ring with the Hall of Famer, and in turn, getting a huge payday.
He made sporadic appearances for the Stamford-based promotion on Velocity and Heat, before signing a developmental contract in early 2007. By August, though, he was released.
After working in the independent circuit for the next few years, including Ring of Honor, he re-signed with WWE in 2015. Ciampa was paired with Johnny Gargano and the duo became favorites among wrestling fans for their work in NXT, both as DIY and against each other.
Tommaso Ciampa is a two-time NXT Champion and a one-time NXT Tag Team Champion alongside Gargano. He made his official main roster debut in 2022. After a brief alliance with The Miz, Ciampa suffered a hip injury. He made a comeback in June 2023. He is yet to win a title on the main roster.