Tommaso Ciampa Tommaso Whitney ( May 8 , 1985 ) is an American professional wrestler , better known by the ring name Tommaso Ciampa , currently signed with WWE and competes in their developmental territory NXT , where he is a one - time NXT Tag Team Champion along with Johnny Gargano . He is best known for his work in Ring of Honor Wrestling ( ROH ) , where he is a former 1 - time World Television Champion , and several other independent promotions , including Beyond Wrestling , Chaotic Wrestling ( CW ) , Top Rope Promotions ( TRP ) and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla ( PWG ) . Professional wrestling career . Training and early years ( 2005 – 2007 ) . He was trained by Killer Kowalski , and debuted in January 2005 . He predominantly wrestled for independent promotions located in Massachusetts , most notably Chaotic Wrestling and Top Rope Promotions . On May 22 , 2005 , he had an IWF Junior Heavyweight Championship match against champion Sean Royal , but was unsuccessful . Later that day he also failed to win a battle royal to earn the number one contendership to the IWF Heavyweight Championship . Whitney debuted in Chaotic Wrestling as " Tommy Penmanship " in 2005 . On April 1 , he lost a qualifying match for entry in the Chaotic Wrestling Heavyweight Championship Tournament to Fred Sampson . In June , Penmanship teamed with Arch Kincaid to unsuccessfully challenge the Logan Brothers for the Chaotic Wrestling Tag Team Championship . Penmanship won his first championship on August 8 , by defeating Chase del Monte for the Chaotic Wrestling New England Championship . He held it for half a year , successfully defending it against former del Monte , Jason Blade , and Psycho , before eventually losing it to Psycho at " Cold Fury 5 " . Penmanship then spent a couple of months without winning a singles match losing to Matt Logan and Psycho , but alongside Psycho , he won a Lethal Lottery Tournament first round match . Penmanship and Psycho qualified for a battle royal to determine the number one contender to the CW Heavyweight Championship , but the match was won by Luis Ortiz . At " Breaking Point 2006 " Penmanship lost to Psycho once again in a " Psycho Rules " match with Tommy Dreamer as the special referee . On May 19 , Penmanship defeated Handsome Johnny and became Chaotic Wrestling Heavyweight Champion . As the Chaotic Heavyweight champion Penmanship defeated Bryan Logan , del Monte and Max Bauer . He held the Championship until February 2007 , when he lost it to Brian Milonas in a " Loser leaves CW " match . World Wrestling Entertainment ( 2005 , 2006 , 2007 ) . He appeared on July 14 , 2005 , episode of Smackdown as Thomas Whitney , ESQ one of Muhammad Hassan ' s lawyers and confronted The Undertaker . Tommaso read a statement from Hassan before being attacked by The Undertaker . On the August 25 , 2006 , episode of " WWE Heat " he and Kofi Kingston had a dark match against Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch . On February 4 , 2007 , it was announced that Whitney signed a developmental contract with WWE and was sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling . He debuted on February 21 and wrestled as " Tommaso " . After suffering an injury , he was forced to step away from in ring competition and became known as Dr . Thomas , Anger Management Specialist – during which time he managed Bolin Services ( Charles Evans and Justin LaRouche ) , winning the OVW tag team titles . Dr Thomas would eventually make his in ring debut during a 6 man tag at Six Flags , tagging with Bolin Services to take on Elijah Burke and Cryme Tyme . On June 27 , 2007 , Whitney debuted a new gimmick when he began wrestling under a mask as Prodigy . On August 9 , Whitney was released from his WWE developmental contract . Independent circuit ( 2007 – present ) . In late 2007 , he returned to the independent circuit . On September 29 Tommaso defeated A . J . Styles and Eddie Edwards to become the MWF Television Champion In September 2008 Ciampa debuted in Harley Race ' s World League Wrestling . In October he took part in Nine Man Battle Royal for the vacant WLW Heavyweight Championship , which was won by Go Shiozaki . Ciampa also unsuccessfully challenged WLW Tag Team Championship twice : on November 22 , 2008 alongside Steve Anthony and on March 21 , 2009 alongside Marc Godeker . After returning to New England in 2008 , Ciampa went on to compete in the ECWA Super 8 Tournament in 2009 and 2010 before finally winning the tournament in 2011 when he defeated Adam Cole . On August 30 , 2013 , Ciampa made his debut for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla ( PWG ) , when he entered the 2013 Battle of Los Angeles , losing to Brian Cage in his first round match . It has been announced that Ciampa will be making an appearance for Northwest Ohio Wrestling in Toledo , Ohio in February 2016 . Ring of Honor ( 2011 – 2015 ) . At " Honor Reclaims Boston " he , Alex Payne and Ernie Osiris lost a dark match to Bobby Dempsey , Grizzly Redwood and Rhett Titus . Ciampa appeared in dark matches for Ring of Honor in both 2007 and 2009 . In January 2011 , Ciampa began working regularly for ROH . On the January 22 " Ring of Honor Wrestling " tapings , he defeated Mike Sydal . He joined Prince Nana in his heel stable The Embassy . He later defeated Adam Cole and Grizzly Redwood . On April 1 he debuted on internet pay - per - view at Honor Takes Center Stage Night One , taking part in a Four Corners match that was won by Homicide . Ciampa went on to defeat Homicide twice , once on the second show of Honor Takes Center Stage and again on May 6 , at " ROH Revolution : USA " . The next day , at " ROH Revolution : Canada " , Ciampa was part of the first " Double Danger Scramble " match , which was won by Michael Elgin . On July 13 , Ring of Honor announced that Ciampa had signed a contract with the promotion . On September 17 at Death Before Dishonor IX , Ciampa pinned Homicide in a tag team match , where he teamed with Rhino and Homicide with Jay Lethal . At an ROH house show on January 21 , 2012 , Ciampa defeated ROH World Television Champion Jay Lethal in a Proving Ground Match to earn a future match for the ROH World Television Championship . On March 4 at the 10th Anniversary Show , Ciampa ' s match with Lethal for the ROH World Television Championship ended in a fifteen - minute time limit draw . Ciampa continued his feud with Lethal on March 31 at Showdown in the Sun , where he interfered in his match with Roderick Strong and cost him the title . On the April 7 episode of " Ring of Honor Wrestling " , Ciampa defeated Lethal , Adam Cole and Mike Bennett in a four - way final to win the 2012 March Mayhem tournament . On May 12 at Border Wars , Ciampa ' s undefeated streak was ended , when he was defeated by Lethal in a singles match . On June 24 at , Ciampa received another shot at the ROH World Television Championship , but was defeated by Roderick Strong in a three - way elimination match , also involving Lethal , following interference from Prince Nana . Afterward , Ciampa turned on Nana , after it was revealed that he had struck a deal with Truth Martini to keep the Television Championship on Strong , broke away from The Embassy and adopted R . D . Evans as his new manager . The feud between Ciampa and Lethal culminated on August 11 at Boiling Point , where Lethal defeated Ciampa in a Two Out of Three Falls match . During the match Ciampa tore his anterior cruciate ligament , sidelining him indefinitely from in - ring action . On September 7 , Ciampa announced that his injury required surgery , which would sideline him for a year . Ciampa made an appearance on December 16 at , trying to get his hands on R . D . Evans , after he had defeated Prince Nana in a match . Ciampa returned from his injury on May 4 at Border Wars 2013 , chasing Evans and his new associate , Q . T . Marshall , out of the ring . On August 3 , Ciampa entered a tournament to determine the new ROH World Champion , defeating Silas Young in his first round match . On August 17 , Ciampa defeated Michael Bennett to advance to the semifinals of the tournament . On September 20 at Death Before Dishonor XI , Ciampa was eliminated from the tournament by Adam Cole . At Final Battle 2013 on December 14 , Ciampa began his first reign as ROH World Television Champion , when he defeated Matt Taven for the title . The following month Ciampa successfully defended the title against Taven and Jay Lethal in a three - way match . At the 12th Anniversary Show in February 2014 , he retained the championship against Hanson . On April 4 , at Supercard of Honor VIII , Ciampa lost the title to Jay Lethal following outside interference from Truth Martini . After an extended period of absence , Ciampa returned on July 19 with a new look , having increased his muscle mass and sporting an untrimmed full beard . He promptly defeated Adam Page of The Decade , then followed it with a promo hinting at a heel turn stating that he felt under - appreciated and wanted a shot at the ROH World Championship before being interrupted by Silas Young . He followed this up on August 9 by losing to Rocky Romero by disqualification due to not releasing the Sicilian Stretch at the referee ' s count of five . After unsuccessfully challenging Michael Elgin for the ROH World Championship on August 23 , Ciampa was ( kayfabe ) suspended indefinitely by ROH for attacking the ring crew and ring announcer Bobby Cruise , thus cementing his heel status . At the ROH 13th Anniversary Show , Ciampa suffered two fractured ribs during his match , forcing him out of action . He later said he ' d finished the match " on autopilot " as the pain was more intense than when he ' d torn his ACL . He missed several Ring of Honor shows before returning to action ( albeit with taped ribs ) at an independent show in Toronto . On March 29 , 2015 , Ciampa announced his departure from ROH . His final match was a failed effort to win the TV title from Jay Lethal who retained after delivering a low blow to Ciampa . Ciampa then attacked referee Todd Sinclair with a low blow as payback for not calling a DQ for the illegal move . Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ( 2015 – 2016 ) . Ciampa made an appearance on the pre - taped September 30 episode of " Impact Wrestling " in an X - Division triple threat match , also involving DJ Z and winner Trevor Lee . Ciampa wrestled for TNA once again on the April 1st 2016 edition of " TNA Xplosion " in a losing effort against Crazzy Steve . Return to WWE . NXT ( 2015 – present ) . Although not re - signed to WWE , on September 2 , 2015 , Ciampa was announced as part of the WWE NXT Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament . On September 9 , he successfully advanced in the first round of the tournament alongside his new partner Johnny Gargano , defeating the also newly formed duo of Tyler Breeze and Bull Dempsey . On the September 16 episode of " NXT " , Ciampa and Gargano lost to Baron Corbin and Rhyno thus eliminating them from the tournament . On the September 30 episode , Ciampa lost to Breeze in a singles match . He appeared on the December 2 episode of " NXT " , losing to Samoa Joe . Ciampa won a match against Danny Burch on the January 13 , 2016 , episode of " NXT " and won his biggest match in " NXT " when he beat Bull Dempsey on the February 24 , episode . On March 15 tapings , Ciampa scored another win , this time against Jesse Sorensen . On April 2 , it was confirmed that Ciampa had signed with WWE earlier in the week . Ciampa ' s NXT contract was a so - called " Tier 2 " contract , which allowed him to continue working independent dates alongside his now regular NXT bookings . On June 23 , Ciampa entered the Cruiserweight Classic tournament , losing to Johnny Gargano in his first round match . The following month , Ciampa announced that his final independent booking was set for September as he was entering a new exclusive NXT contract . Personal life . Whitney is married to former professional wrestler Jessie Ward . Up until March 2014 , he managed a fitness studio ; he left to focus on a full - time career in professional wrestling .