Add as a preferred source on Google Tommaso Ciampa says the early leak about his WWE departure ended up playing a huge part in kickstarting his run in AEW.
On January 5, a report from Cory Hays indicated Ciampa wouldn’t be re-signing with the company once his contract expired. Ciampa confirmed the exit himself a few weeks later, closing out a 10-year run with WWE.
Speaking with James Stewart on Stick to Sports, Ciampa said he still doesn’t know who leaked the information, but admitted the fallout led multiple companies to reach out.
“The best thing to happen to me is that there was a leaked internet report when I had about two or three months left on my deal that said, ‘Ciampa is leaving WWE. We don’t know why, but when his deal is up, he’s leaving.’ I have no idea where that came from, but it was the best thing that ever happened to me. It raised this interest, and I started to get a lot of inquiries. ‘Oh, look at these options I have.’ AEW wasn’t even part of that because, in Tony’s defense, he is very adamant that there is no tampering.”
Ciampa explained that AEW wasn’t among those early options, since Tony Khan never opened up a conversation while his WWE deal was still in effect.
“We never spoke once. I didn’t meet or speak to Tony Khan one time until the day I was at Dynamite for my debut.”
Ciampa’s WWE contract officially expired on January 26. Just two days later, he showed up on AEW Dynamite and was announced as the company’s newest signing. The entire deal came together in that short window.
Ciampa captured the TNT Championship in his very first match with AEW, defeating Mark Briscoe.