Tommaso Ciampa says he never got to check off his list of dream opponents during his last years in WWE. Speaking to James Stewart on Stick To Sports, Ciampa said clearing that list was the goal he laid out to Tony Khan when he arrived in AEW.
“My biggest goal, and I said it to Tony [Khan] 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, 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 spent most of his four years on the WWE main roster teaming with Johnny Gargano. Since joining AEW he has won and lost the TNT Championship and wrestled for the World Title. He faces Chris Jericho in a no disqualification match at Redemption on Sunday.