Tommaso Ciampa is officially All Elite.
And now he’s opening up about why the timing finally felt right to leave WWE behind.
Ciampa announced on January 21 that he would be departing WWE once his contract expired.
Just days later, he made his AEW debut on Wednesday’s episode of Dynamite, where he was revealed as Mark Briscoe’s opponent for this Saturday’s Collision.
Speaking with Rich Ucchino of The Takedown on SI.com, Ciampa explained that the decision wasn’t sudden, noting that he had been leaning toward a WWE exit well before his deal officially came due earlier this month.
“It’s something I’ve been leaning towards for quite some time,” Ciampa said. “I don’t know that I can say there’s one sole factor that led to it or caused it.”
Ciampa framed the move as a natural evolution based on the era of wrestling he wants to be part of, comparing AEW’s current position to defining companies of past generations.
“If I wrestled in the 90s, I’d wanna be a part of ECW… Early 2000s, you wanna be a part of Ring of Honor. I was lucky I got to do that a little bit. 2010s, I think for me at least, I wanted to be part of NXT Black and Gold. And when I looked at the landscape of professional wrestling in the 2020s… the answer was AEW, man. That’s what I want to be a part of.”
For Ciampa, the move is also about creative freedom.
Particularly when it comes to fully unleashing his “Psycho Killer” persona, something he felt was never able to completely translate to WWE’s main roster.
“There were a lot of times I tried… and for one reason or another [over the years in WWE], it just wasn’t something that I could do. But for Tony [Khan] and the whole crew to just collaborate the way they did and have open arms, and see the vision and just allow it to breathe and have a chance, I’m already thinking six months, 12 months ahead on the evolution of the Psycho Killer.”
One thing Ciampa made clear: he doesn’t believe his best work is behind him.
“For a long time, I had to listen to people tell me, not so much directly to my face but more so online, that 2018 was prime Ciampa. I’m a hundred times better now than I was then. That was nothing. That was absolutely nothing.”
Now, with a fresh start in AEW, Ciampa sees this next chapter as the ultimate proving ground.
“I finally have a shot to find out if I’m as good as I think I am.”
Tommaso Ciampa challenges Mark Briscoe for the TNT Championship on AEW Collision this Saturday from Arlington, TX.
Make sure to join us here at WrestlingHeadlines.com on Saturday night for complete AEW Collision Results coverage.
