Tommaso Ciampa addressed the misconception surrounding his and Johnny Gargano‘s supposed reluctance to move to WWE‘s main roster.
In a recent interview on the INSIGHT with Chris Van Vliet podcast, Tommaso Ciampa passionately clarified that their focus was on building something extraordinary in NXT before considering a transition. Ciampa expressed frustration with the false narrative that emerged, stating that they were not afraid or hesitant about joining the main roster.
When we were in NXT, there’s this false, awful narrative that has now since been created that drives me crazy because people will look back at some of the NXT stuff and just be like, ‘Yeah, well, they didn’t want to go up’, or ‘They didn’t want to get called up’ or like, ‘They were scared of this.’ It’s like no.
He emphasised the special atmosphere that was created in NXT, comparing it to the cult following enjoyed by ECW. Ciampa highlighted the goals of the NXT talent, which were centred around making the brand bigger and more successful.
We were creating, like, that group of guys. NXT blew up when it came from like Sami Zayn and Claudio, Cesaro, to the Kevin stuff to Bayley and Sasha and then our group coming in with Finn and Shin and then into like Johnny and I and Undisputed. If you were in that room at that moment, you knew how special it was.
Tommaso Ciampa explained that their mindset was akin to ECW legends Tommy Dreamer, Sandman, and Raven wanting to build the promotion’s equivalent to WrestleMania before considering a move to WWE. Ciampa emphasised their desire to see if NXT could achieve milestones like drawing 10,000 fans, generating a million-dollar gate, and making NXT TakeOver events equivalent to WrestleMania.
It would be like going to ECW and saying, ‘Hey, Tommy Dreamer and Sandman and Raven, you guys don’t want to leave this place and go, you know, because WWE, that’s where the big stars are. Do you want to go do like WrestleMania? Yes, but I want to see if we can make this WrestleMania first.
What Else Did Tommaso Ciampa Say About Being On The Main WWE Roster?
Tommaso Ciampa said in a different interview recently that he doesn’t think he’d have lasted on the main roster ten years ago because he felt that self-doubt would have led him to have a short-lived stint with the company due to him not being considered a top star on the independent scene. Ciampa spoke about how thankful he was for his time in NXT and how it helped him to grow as a performer.
H/t to Wrestlingnews.co