Tommaso Ciampa 'more laid back' about leaving NXT
Tommaso Ciampa has revealed that he is slightly more open about leaving NXT to join Monday Night RAW or SmackDown. He was adamant on not living NXT before but has now changed his mind about it.
The former NXT champion had neck surgery last year after relinquishing his NXT Championship. Since then, he insisted on staying with NXT and not moving to the main roster as he did not want to work 250 days a year.
The same was brought up on Inside The Ropes, and Tommaso Ciampa was questioned if his mind was still set on it or there was a change. The former NXT champ immediately said that he was more laid back about the move to RAW or SmackDown but still does not want to work 250 days a year.
“Yeah, well I’m a year and a half out of surgery now. So I feel my stance getting slightly more laid back on it, but it’s one of those things were like, I don’t want to get too comfortable with ‘Oh, my neck feels great.’ Because I just know it, you’re one mistake away, you’re one bump away from it not feeling great.
Right now I feel great, I mean, I’ve been on a limited schedule. I came back [with] such a slow, progressive pace of live events. And then when I started to hit a lot of live events, knock on wood I felt pretty good.
Right now I feel great, but again, I just haven’t taken on a very hard load. So I try not to fool myself. It’s one of those like, ‘Hey, I probably can’t do 250 days a year. Wait, but I feel great even this many dates.’ Would I feel great if I did 250? Probably not.
“And honestly, a lot of it has to do with travel, too. The travel is the hardest port sometimes for me, if I have a long travel and then I have to warm up for a match and get on a bus or a car, or a flight. That part is very difficult, that cool down and then repeat process.”
[H/T 411Mania for the Tommaso Ciampa quotes]
What would it take for Tommaso Ciampa to join RAW or SmcakDown?
Tommaso Ciampa went on to say that he would be open to moving to RAW or SmackDown if they came up with the right offer. He wants to work on a limited schedule so that he can have a long career and not have an abrupt end.
The NXT star insisted that he wants to have 'meaningful matches' and leave his legacy in WWE. Tommaso Ciampa wants to continue working for as long as possible and is open to doing it on an any of the three brands as long as the schedule and storyline appeals to him.