Tommaso Ciampa saw his NXT Championship reign end back in March 2019 after a serious neck injury demanded he undergo surgery. Ciampa returned in October of that year as a babyface, declaring that his mission was to win back “Goldie” from Adam Cole. That never happened, in large part due to Johnny Gargano turning heel and robbing him of his chance to win the title at NXT TakeOver: Portland. Back at NXT TakeOver: In Your House Ciampa lost a prolonged squash match against Karrion Kross and disappeared from television for more than two months.
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He popped back up in late August and had seemingly readopted his heel persona by violently attacking Jake Atlas. He then targeted Velveteen Dream, who cost him a win against Kushida and claimed he was the one holding him back from reaching the top of NXT again. Ciampa won cleanly against Dream on this week’s NXT, then seemingly turned back into a full babyface after the cameras stopped rolling.
Ciampa praised the fans who attended this week’s show at the Capitol Wrestling Center, saying that “sooner than later” they’d be able to start touring again and thanked the fans who continued to support them through the COVID-19 pandemic and the chaos it brought to 2020.
It’s unclear whether or not NXT will have another TakeOver event between now and the end of the year. NXT TakeOver: WarGames usually takes place on the same weekend as Survivor Series but nothing has been announced. On top of that, NXT has been inexplicably excluded from the Survivor Series event this year after winning the “battle for brand supremacy” in the debut one year ago.
Check out the full card for Survivor Series (so far) below:
- WWE Champion Randy Orton vs. WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns
- Raw Women’s Champion Asuka vs. SmackDown Women’s Champion Sasha Banks
- United States Champion Bobby Lashley vs. Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn
- Raw Tag Team Champions The New Day vs. SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Street Profits
- Men’s Survivor Series Elimination Tag Match: Team Raw (Keith Lee, AJ Styles, Sheamus, Braun Strowman, TBD) vs. Team SmackDown (Kevin Owens, Jey Uso, TBD)
- Women’s Survivor Series Elimination Tag Match (Nia Jax, Shayna Baszler, Mandy Rose, Dana Brooke, Lana) vs. Team SmackDow (Bianca Belair, TBD)
