Tommaso Ciampa Reveals WWE Exit After Contract Expires, Predicting Superstar's Next Landing Spot

Tommaso Ciampa announced Wednesday that his WWE tenure is coming to an end after 10 years with the company.

In a statement posted on X, Ciampa noted that his WWE contract is set to expire "in the very near future," and he is "beyond excited" for the next and final decade of his pro wrestling career:

Ciampa did not offer any specifics regarding the date of his contract expiration or where he intends to go next, but he figures to be highly sought after by numerous promotions, including AEW, TNA, New Japan Pro-Wrestling and a host of others.

After a highly successful run on the independent scene highlighted by a stint in Ring of Honor, Ciampa signed with WWE in 2015 along with Johnny Gargano.

Ciampa and Gargano became a hugely popular tag team in NXT known as DIY before eventually splitting up and facing off in arguably the greatest rivalry in the history of NXT.

Over the course of seven years in NXT, Ciampa established himself as one of the most popular and accomplished Superstars in the history of the brand, holding the NXT Championship twice and NXT Tag Team Championships once.

Ciampa got called up to the main roster in 2022, and he reunited with Gargano the following year, reforming DIY.

As a duo, Ciampa and Gargano primarily appeared on SmackDown and went on to become two-time WWE tag team champions.

Ciampa's last WWE matches took place last month when he lost a United States Championship match to Ilja Dragunov and then came out on the losing end of a tag team match with Gargano against Dragunov and Carmelo Hayes.

Since then, Gargano has been wrestling as a singles competitor on SmackDown, and it appears as though that will be his role moving forward.

As for Ciampa, he is set to become a free agent at 40 years of age, and he should have his pick of the litter in terms of where he wants to go next.

At the conclusion of his statement, Ciampa noted that he will be available for bookings, which suggests he could be a true independent wrestler who isn't tied to a singular promotion, much like Matt Cardona for the past several years before his recent WWE return.

AEW is WWE's chief competition, and it has more financial resources than any other non-WWE promotion, so if AEW has interest in Ciampa, it may be tough for other companies to compete for his services.

However, if money isn't Ciampa's biggest motivating factor, there is an argument to be made for other promotions being a better landing spot.

Ciampa could undoubtedly have some great matches in AEW, but the roster is so large that it would perhaps be a difficult path to the top.

Conversely, TNA offers a potential immediate path to the main event scene and the TNA World Championship, which could be attractive to Ciampa given that he didn't have those opportunities on the WWE main roster.

No matter where he ends up, Ciampa is a special talent who excels in the ring, on the mic and in terms of character work, and he figures to succeed outside of WWE just like he did within it.