Tommaso Ciampa On WWE NXT Revamp: "I Just Don't Think I'm Going Anywhere"
Ciampa dismisses the upcoming changes
Sep 7, 2021
While changes are on their way to NXT, Tommaso Ciampa has said he will remain on the developmental brand for the foreseeable future.
It emerged in recent weeks that NXT would be undergoing a revamp on the September 14 show and reports have noted that Vince McMahon and Bruce Prichard will be making the "big decisions" around marketing, direction and promotion going forward.
Despite the revamp having been confirmed by WWE President Nick Khan, Ciampa somewhat dismissed the changes coming to NXT and he noted he will still be on the brand.
"There's always noise in wrestling. That's all I can chalk it up to for now. I'll be the first to admit I got caught up in it a lot five, six, seven years ago, whatever it may be. I was reading the internet and keeping up on it and stuff. I've tended to pull back a lot from that, especially in the last few years since having a daughter. I just realised how little it affects my life. It's rumblings, it's rumours. I did see the logo and I don't know. Cool? I'm not very picky. Whatever, it's fine with me," Ciampa told Busted Open Radio.
"NXT, for me, is, it's hard sometimes for me to articulate it. I still remember the exact moment I was watching on my phone when I saw NXT Arrival and I saw Cesaro in the ring with Sami Zayn, and I was like, 'I have to be there.' It's the first time I had ever felt that way, and at that point, I think I had been wrestling for twelve years. It's what it represented. It was taking the indie style and it was putting the lights behind it, the music, the production, and going, 'we're going to deliver. Bell to bell, we're going to deliver. But we're also going to have a commentary team that can support it and tell our story. And we're going to have entrances and this awesome vibe and crowd and atmosphere.'
"It just had everything I loved about pro wrestling when I was growing up. Then I started to watch it continue to grow while I was at Ring of Honor, and I was watching from a distance and going, 'oh man, now they're running a PPV called TakeOver once every three to four months. And they're building storylines and everything means something. There's a purpose and a matter.' As a fan, I can get invested because I feel like, 'they're going to pay it off for me. They're not just going to forget my story in a week or two. They're going to actually see things through.' That's what attracted me. And when I got to the company and I got that opportunity, and Johnny and I got brought in, not signed, for the Dusty Classic. Everything that's transpired my entire time there, it's still that desire and has lived up to every expectation and hope I had. So I don't know, man," Ciampa continued.
"What's to come for me? I'm still there, I'm still in NXT and Hunter and Shawn and all these great minds with their vision are still there. I see them every week; every time I go to TV, they're there. So it's hard for me to read too much to an internet report when my day-to-day life, my week-to-week life hasn't really changed a lot. I'm still going to work and say, 'hey, I think my promo can get the best reaction and tell the best story this way. I think the match can go this way or that way.' And we're still being heard, and we're still seeing our visions being delivered and put through on camera to a wider crowd at home through USA and stuff. So, it's hard for me to buy into too much. I just don't think I'm going anywhere. So, as long as Tommaso Ciampa gets ten, fifteen minutes on NXT, you're going to see me doing what I do best and what NXT does best. I'm going to represent the company the way I have been the last six years."
H/T to Wrestling Inc.