Tommaso Ciampa on How He Had Been Eyeing Move to AEW For Long Time, His First Meeting with Tony Khan, How He Tried To Use His “Psycho Killer” Character in WWE, & His Decision To Not Re-sign With WWE

As noted before, Tommaso Ciampa’s contract with WWE expired earlier this week. Ciampa made his official surprise debut for AEW at this past Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite show in Cedar Park, Texas and signed an official contract with the company.

Sports Illustrated’s The Takedown on SI held a recent interview with Ciampa. One of the topics discussed included Ciampa’s thoughts about how he had been eyeing a move to AEW for a long time for his wrestling career.

“There’s something about that underground and passionate fanbase that I’ve always loved about professional wrestling. It was with ECW, it was at Ring Of Honor, it was at early NXT, and it’s AEW now. I’ve been eyeing it up for a long time and just kind of waiting for the right moment and everything lined up really well.”

Ciampa also gave his thoughts about how he met with AEW CEO Tony Khan for the first time at this past Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite show and his praise of Khan’s passion for pro wrestling.

“I’ll tell you, last night’s the first night I met Tony Khan. First time I’ve been backstage and kind of mingled with all the guys, but Tony in particular has a contagious passion for professional wrestling. I love meeting with him, I loved the energy that he shared. He cares a lot about his locker room, he cares about his fanbase. It felt right, everything about last night felt like hey, this is the place you’re meant to be.”

Ciampa also gave his praise to AEW lead music producer Mikey Rukus and AEW EVP and Head of Global Production Mike Mansury for bringing his presentation together for his official debut appearance in AEW.

“Kudos to Mikey [Rukus] and Mike Mansury for the music and the tron and all the effects and everything. That was something I was kind of working on a vision board for quite some time. It felt like somebody walked past me, looked at that vision board and just said yes to everything. That’s never happened in my career ever, so to have that happen was outrageous man. I still don’t think I’ve ingested it all.”

Ciampa also gave his thoughts about how he had tried to use his “Psycho Killer” character on multiple occasions in WWE

“For a very long time, I’ve wanted to bring my vision of the Psycho Killer to a very large market and see if it would be as special as I thought it would be. When I left Ring Of Honor and I was doing the independent scene, Psycho Killer was starting to really take off for me. Then, obviously I signed with NXT and WWE and I had to just put it on the shelf. There was a lot of times that I tried, ‘Hey, can we try this?’ For one reason or another, it just wasn’t something I could do. But, for Tony and the whole crew to just collaborate the way that they did and have open arms and see the vision and just allowing to create and have a chance. I’m already thinking six to twelve months ahead on the evolution of Psycho Killer is. I trademarked Psycho Killer and Psycho King, we’re thinking steps ahead. I have merchandise designs ready to go, I have gear ready to go, shoutout to Mandy because she crushed the gear. The fact that I’m hopefully going to continue to get the opportunity to portray this character the way I’ve always wanted to — for a long time, I had to listen to people tell me not so directly to my face but more so online that 2018 was prime Ciampa. I’m 100 times better now than I was then. That was nothing, that was absolutely nothing. I’m physically better, I’m mentally sharper, my storytelling and my psychology is on a whole different level than it was back then. I just need an opportunity and what people are about to see is gonna blow their minds. It’s gonna shock the world because I finally have a shot to find out if I’m as good as I think I am. I think I’m really freaking good at this.”

In a separate recent interview with CBS Sports, Ciampa gave his thoughts about his decision to not re-sign with WWE and leave for AEW.

“We chatted a handful of times in the last two or three months. I just needed to do what was right for my wife and me. I have not one bad word to say about WWE. They gave me an incredible opportunity and platform. Over the last 10 years, I learned a ton. I evolved a ton. It’s time for me to take all that and really apply it. The biggest part was the leap.

My interest in doing this has been for at least two or three years. For the last six months, I’ve had a foot out the door. It was one of those things: do you bet on yourself, see this through and see if you were right, or do you stay put and take the safe bet?

I have a seven-year-old. I want her to know that you get one life. You get one career, you get one chance at this. You don’t want to leave it with ‘What if?’ That was the final determining factor.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com 1 & 2