Add as a preferred source on Google Tommaso Ciampa left WWE in early 2026 with the sense that several important opportunities had gone to waste during his run on the main roster.
Speaking on the Stick to Wrestling Podcast, hosted by James Stewart, the current AEW star said he never got to share the ring with some of the company’s biggest names, including Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Cody Rhodes, and Kevin Owens.
“My biggest goal, and I said it to Tony early on, is that I just want to check off the checklist. I feel like I spent the last ten years, specifically when I was on the main roster, where I had this checklist, and I never felt like I checked it. I worked with AJ Styles on a couple of live events, once on television. Never worked with Sami Zayn outside of live events. Never did stuff with Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins, Cody Rhodes, or Roman Reigns. The list goes on with people that I never crossed paths with on TV. I was like, ‘these are just missed opportunities.’ As a performer, you want that and want to share the ring with people who at that elite level. That’s how you continuously progress. I felt like I didn’t get a lot of those the last four years.”
Ciampa’s only televised match against Styles came on the June 20, 2022 episode of Monday Night RAW. His matches with Zayn were limited to non-televised events.
His final WWE match came on December 19, 2025, when he and Johnny Gargano were defeated by Ilja Dragunov and Carmelo Hayes on Friday Night SmackDown.
He made his AEW debut on January 28 and, three days later, defeated Mark Briscoe to win the TNT Championship in his first match for the company. The title reign lasted 11 days.
Ciampa — known as “The Psycho Killer” — is now set to face Chris Jericho in a No Holds Barred match at AEW Redemption on July 26 in Montreal.