Tommaso Ciampa Talks Transition from WWE to AEW and Explosive Debut on Dynamite

Just days after his WWE contract expired, Tommaso Ciampa shocked the wrestling world last week by showing up at AEW Dynamite to answer an open challenge for the TNT Championship.

He faced Mark Briscoe at Collision and defeated him to claim his first All Elite Wrestling title, marking one of the most successful debuts in the company's history.

We had a chance to talk to Ciampa after his Dynamite debut about several topics.

Bleacher Report: How did it feel walking out and getting that kind of reaction for your first appearance in AEW?

Tommaso Ciampa: "Dude, insane, right? I think for the entirety of my career, I've heard people say they come back from an injury or whatever it is and say, 'I hope people remember,' or 'I hope people care.' And I've always kind of thought, 'Come on, you know they're going to care. You're just saying that.'

"But being in that position for the first time ever, where I'm a surprise, and there's a production and all this stuff, I couldn't help but talk to my wife constantly. I'm going, 'God, I really hope they care. I really, really hope they care.' And it blew my mind to hear the response and just feel the energy in that room.

"It's something I haven't felt in a long time, man, just outrageous. And then to see the aftermath, whether it was social media or different outlets, text messages. The outpouring of love and support.

"When you put yourself out there in any entertainment aspect, you're giving a lot of yourself to people for them to judge you and for them to make opinions and whatever it be, so to get the kind of support that I've gotten has been one of the coolest feelings of my entire career."

B/R: And you got to debut some new entrance music. Did you have any input in that, or was that just Mikey Rukus doing his thing?

TC: "Mikey Rukus is a collaborative genius. I've never had an experience working with a music artist like the one that me and Mikey had. This all came together in less than 48 hours. My contract expired at midnight the 26th. Me and Mikey are on the phone Tuesday [Jan. 27].

"And luckily I've had some time, quite a bit of time, six to eight weeks at home to really deep dive and dig and prepare. And I had four songs ready. We had a 20-minute conversation and I got off the phone and I was like, 'Man, we're clicking. This dude gets it. He's hearing me and he's listening.'

"And he got that rough draft to me so fast. I want to say that final take was take seven. For anyone who has never gone through the process, that's insanely fast. You don't get to that kind of finished quality product in seven takes.

"When we finally got to that, I'm listening to it in my car and my seven-year-old daughter continues to ask, 'Can you play it again?' She was humming to it, and I was like, we're onto something. Kudos to Mikey. He just crushed it on all elements."

B/R: You said your deal came together pretty quickly. Was there any part of you that thought about pursuing other opportunities, or was AEW where you were dead-set on ending up?

TC: "AEW was head and shoulders where I wanted to be. I take everything pretty seriously when it comes to doing it by the book. And with my contract coming up the way it was, I was like, 'Well, I can't really have a conversation right now, so let me just wait this out.'

"I did put the statement out a week early because I wanted to, one, see what the response was online and in the industry, and two, I wanted people to go, 'Oh, so that weird report that came out a month ago, there's some truth to that.' So that was definitely on purpose.

"When my wife and I had the conversation about what's next, and obviously we're done here with WWE and we're going to move on and bet on ourselves and figure out this next chapter. A big conversation was AEW and how do I get there.

"So we started to look at where they are after my contract is up and we saw Texas. Long story short, my wife for five years now has been eyeing up Blue Hill Ranch in Texas. It's like this giraffe safari where you get to have all these awesome animal experiences. And we just never had the time to come out there.

"So I was like, 'Why don't we just book a family vacation, and if things happen to work out and we can shock the world and show up two days later, we're a two-hour drive away. And if it doesn't work out, we still have this awesome family vacation.'

"And sure enough, it worked out fast. Tuesday I had a couple of quick conversations with QT Marshall and RD Evans, who used to work with me in ROH. We always had great chemistry and he's a writer now.

"This thing for worked out extremely fast. Faster than I would have ever guessed. I met Tony [Khan] for the first time Wednesday. His passion is contagious. His love for his roster, his fanbase, for AEW is just beaming off him. So we had a very quick conversation and it just felt really right."

B/R: How long before your contract expired did you decide you were going to move on and try something else?

TC: "I don't know that there was an exact time. I was, self-admittedly, a foot out the door for a long time. You have one career and one life, and you can take this however you want, but I did my 10 years on the indies and I loved it. I did 10 years in WWE, I loved it.

"And I started to just go, 'I got 10 years left in me. How do I want this to play out?' And when I started to take a second and really think and have the discussion with my wife, it was like man, if I had wrestled in the '90s, I would have wanted to be part of ECW.

"If you wrestled in the early 2000s, you likely wanted to be part of Ring of Honor. 2010s? Black and gold NXT. 2020s? AEW. I have this weird connection with underground passionate fanbases and rosters who want to prove something to the world. It's creatively fulfilling and there's a chip on the shoulder of the entire organization.

"I have always wanted to see how far Psycho Killer could go with proper presentation, with a big stage, and I obviously had no idea if they were going to go for it, but you're never going to know unless you know. I knew that where I was, I wasn't going to be able to have that opportunity. It was made very clear to me.

"So it was OK, I can stay here and just collect a check, or I can go out and bet on myself and be really proud of how these last 10 years go. And what a hell of a start."

B/R: You immediately stepped into a storyline with Mark Briscoe. It's been over 12 years since you two shared a ring. How is Psycho Killer going to be different from what fans are used to?

TC: "To touch on Mark Briscoe, I've got the utmost respect for him, Jay, as well, obviously. I loved them in Ring of Honor. They were locker room leaders. They were lead-by-example guys. They delivered at all times. What Mark has been able to do as a singles wrestler blows my mind.

"He is arguably the most likable babyface in professional wrestling. I had a couple of family members there on Wednesday who saw him for the first time, and that's all they could talk about. The idea that that's the first opponent, I don't think I could have personally picked one better.

"As far as the Psycho Killer thing, it's crazy what happens to an artist when they have time and a chip on their shoulder. In 2017, I tore my ACL and I had nine months to develop The Black Heart. I knew how that guy walked, how he thought, how he dressed, everything.

"Psycho Killer is something that has been brewing for 11 years. I was doing it on the independents and it was really taking off, and then I just cut it off and signed with WWE. And there's no regret there by any means, but there has always been in the back of my mind, a what-if.

"I had these last six or eight weeks at home to really just sit in it. I think people are going to be blown away. For a very long time, I've heard people talk about 2018 peak Ciampa, and it drives me crazy. It makes me sick to my stomach. It genuinely does.

"Because I'm sitting here going, 'I'm 100 times better now than I was back then. I'm better in the ring, on the mic, storytelling, psychology.' I just need an opportunity and a platform. I'm six months, 12 months ahead on this thing as far as the evolution goes, as far as the branding goes. It's going to be special."

B/R: Who in AEW has impressed you?

TC: "An insane amount. I've never shared a ring with Will Ospreay, Kenny Omega, Jon Moxley, MJF, Cope, Christian. Even people I crossed paths with but never shared a ring with.

"And then there are guys that I've done stuff with, but I've never had a program with. I've never had a singles match with Ricochet, which to me kind of sounds silly to say. That's kind of the thing that has followed me for a lot of my career.

"When I was in Ring of Honor, there was this laundry list of guys. I never got to wrestle Generico. I never got to wrestle Bryan Danielson and Samoa Joe. There were just all these top guys I never had a singles match with, and in WWE, I felt similar.

"Me and AJ Styles worked on a couple of live events but never on television. Randy Orton, never had a match with him. Seth Rollins. There are just so many of them that I didn't, so coming to AEW, that was actually a massive goal of mine, to not leave the checklist unchecked.

"I just want to mix it up with all of these different people, and I think that's what brings out the best in me. I have a real passion and drive for first-time matchups, specifically when they're in front of big audiences. There's no prior chemistry and no feeling-out process. I think that's where the artform really is.

"Anyone can go and rehearse matches and have seven matches together before they ever do it live, and that's not the artform. There's still a skill set needed for that. So when I started looking at the roster and making that list, it didn't end. It kept going."

Quotes were edited for clarity and conciseness. To hear the full interview with Ciampa's unedited quotes, as well as Ciampa discussing other topics, you can listen to the embedded video above.