Tommaso Ciampa

Thomas Whitney, ESQ

Demarso Whitney

Ciampa appeared on the 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 December 17 episode of *Velocity*, under the ring name **Demarso Whitney**, he was defeated by Jamie Noble. On the August 25, 2006 episode of *Heat*, he and Kofi Kingston had a dark match against Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch.

Although not re-signed to WWE, on September 2, 2015, Ciampa was announced as part of the 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 defeated Bull Dempsey on the February 24, episode. On March 15 tapings, Ciampa scored another win, this time against Jesse Sorensen.

On April 2, 2016, it was confirmed that Ciampa had signed with WWE earlier in the week. On June 23, Ciampa entered the Cruiserweight Classic tournament, losing to Johnny Gargano in his first round match. On August 20 at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II, Ciampa and Gargano unsuccessfully challenged The Revival (Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson) for the NXT Tag Team Championship. Ciampa and Gargano, now collectively billed as "#DIY", received another title shot in a two out of three falls match on November 19 at NXT TakeOver: Toronto, where they defeated The Revival to become the new NXT Tag Team Champions.

DIY went on to successfully defend their championships against the team of Tajiri and Akira Tozawa and TM61 in Japan and Australia, respectively. They retained their titles against The Revival on the January 11, 2017 episode of *NXT*, but were attacked by The Authors of Pain (Akam and Rezar) afterwards. Ciampa and Gargano lost the championships to The Authors of Pain at NXT TakeOver: San Antonio. They would get their rematch on the March 1 episode of *NXT*, which ended in a no contest after The Revival interfered and attacked both teams. This led to NXT TakeOver: Orlando, a triple threat elimination match between all three teams for the titles, but DIY were unsuccessful after being the first team eliminated.

At NXT TakeOver: Chicago, DIY faced The Authors of Pain in the first-ever ladder match for the NXT Tag Team Championship, which they lost. After the match, Ciampa attacked Gargano, turning heel and disbanding #DIY. It was later revealed that Ciampa had suffered a ruptured ACL in his right knee during the ladder match and would await surgery. In a further update, it was reported that his surgery was successful and the timetable for his return was estimated for early-to-mid 2018.

On January 27, 2018, Ciampa returned at NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia, attacking Gargano with a crutch to close the show. He then cost Gargano his NXT Championship match against Andrade "Cien" Almas on the February 21 episode of *NXT*, forcing Gargano to leave NXT as per the pre-match stipulation. Ciampa made his in-ring return in the main event of NXT TakeOver: New Orleans, losing to Gargano in an unsanctioned match, resulting in Gargano being reinstated to NXT. Their feud would continue throughout the following weeks in which they attacked each other and interfered in each other's matches, leading to a Chicago Street Fight at NXT TakeOver: Chicago II, which Ciampa won.

On the July 18 tapings of the July 25 episode of *NXT*, Ciampa defeated Aleister Black to capture the NXT Championship after Gargano interfered and accidentally hit Black with the title belt. This made Ciampa only the second wrestler to hold both the NXT Championship and NXT Tag Team Championship, after Neville. At NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn IV, he was scheduled to defend the title against Black and Gargano in a triple threat match, but Black was removed from the match due to being ambushed in the arena parking lot by an unknown assailant (in reality, Black had suffered a legitimate groin injury). The match was changed to the first-ever Last Man Standing match for the NXT Championship between Ciampa and Gargano, where Ciampa retained his title. At NXT TakeOver: WarGames, Ciampa retained the championship against Velveteen Dream. Ciampa faced Black for the championship at NXT TakeOver: Phoenix, in a winning effort.

Ciampa debuted on *Raw* on February 18, 2019 with three other fellow NXT stars Johnny Gargano, Aleister Black and Ricochet. In his debut match on Raw, he and Gargano defeated Raw Tag Team Champions The Revival. The next night on *SmackDown Live*, Ciampa and Gargano defeated The Bar (Cesaro and Sheamus). On March 6, it was reported that Ciampa would have to undergo neck surgery, thus forcing him to vacate the NXT Championship. At that point, he had not wrestled since February 19. WWE later confirmed the story saying he would undergo an anterior cervical fusion.

On March 13, 2019 tapings of NXT (airing March 20), Ciampa relinquished his NXT Championship, thus ending his reign at 237 days. Ciampa gave an update on April 1, saying that if he is able to return to the ring, doctors say he will be on "borrowed time". Ciampa made a surprise appearance at NXT TakeOver: New York after Gargano defeated Adam Cole to win the NXT Championship, and embraced Gargano to celebrate his victory.

On the October 2 episode of NXT, Ciampa returned from injury as a face by confronting Adam Cole and his NXT Championship. After Ciampa saved Matt Riddle and Keith Lee from a beatdown at the hands of The Undisputed Era (Cole, Bobby Fish, Kyle O'Reilly, and Roderick Strong) on the October 30 episode of *NXT*, a WarGames match was scheduled between Ciampa's team against The Undisputed Era. At NXT TakeOver: WarGames on November 23, Team Ciampa (Ciampa, Lee, Dominik Dijakovic, and Kevin Owens) defeated The Undisputed Era. This led to a match between Ciampa and Cole at NXT TakeOver: Portland on February 16, 2020 for the NXT Championship, which Cole won after Johnny Gargano cost Ciampa the match, thus re-igniting their feud. On the April 8 episode of *NXT*, this culminated in a No Holds Barred match between Ciampa and Gargano, which Gargano won after interference from Candice LeRae.

Ciampa would then enter a feud with Karrion Kross, who attacked him backstage during an interview. At NXT TakeOver: In Your House, Ciampa was quickly defeated by Kross. After a brief hiatus, Ciampa returned on the August 26 episode of *NXT*, where he defeated Jake Atlas and would continue his post-match assault on Atlas, thus turning heel in the process. He would then compete in a losing effort in the fatal four-way sixty minute Iron Man match for the vacant NXT Championship, tying with Gargano at one fall a piece. Ciampa turned face again when he began a feud with Timothy Thatcher, which led to a match at NXT TakeOver: WarGames, where Ciampa won. On the January 20, 2021 episode of *NXT*, Ciampa fought Thatcher in the Fight Pit, where he lost. After the match, Thatcher and Ciampa showed respect to one another and Ciampa asked Thatcher to be his partner for the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, which Thatcher accepted. They defeated Ariya Daivari and Tony Nese in the first round and The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole and Roderick Strong) in the quarterfinals, before being defeated by the Grizzled Young Veterans in the semi-finals. At NXT TakeOver: Stand and Deliver, Ciampa was defeated by Walter in a match for the NXT UK Championship. On the June 15 episode of *NXT*, Ciampa and Thatcher defeated the Grizzled Young Veterans in a tornado tag match to earn a future NXT Tag Team Championship match. They faced the champions MSK on July 6 at The Great American Bash, but were defeated.

On the September 14 edition of *NXT*, Ciampa defeated LA Knight, Pete Dunne, and Von Wagner in a fatal four-way match to win the vacant NXT Championship. At Halloween Havoc, Ciampa successfully retained his title against Bron Breakker. At WarGames, Ciampa teamed with Johnny Gargano, LA Knight and Pete Dunne (as "Team Black & Gold") against Breakker, Carmelo Hayes, Grayson Waller, and Tony D'Angelo (as "Team 2.0"), but were defeated after Breakker pinned Ciampa. At New Year's Evil on January 4, 2022, Ciampa lost the title to Breakker in a rematch, ending his second reign at 112 days. On April 2 at NXT Stand and Deliver, Ciampa would be defeated by Tony D'Angelo in what would be his final match in *NXT*.

On the April 11 episode of *Raw*, Ciampa would be revealed as a new member of the *Raw* roster in a backstage segment with Ezekiel and Kevin Owens. On the April 25 episode of *Raw*, Ciampa would turn heel after he attacked a returning Mustafa Ali following his match with The Miz. During this time, his name would be shortened to **Ciampa**. On the July 4 episode of *Raw*, Ciampa aligned himself with The Miz after helping him attack AJ Styles after their match. On the August 1 episode of *Raw*, Ciampa defeated Dolph Ziggler and Chad Gable in a triple threat match while also defeating Styles later that night to earn an opportunity to face Bobby Lashley for the United States Championship. Ciampa faced Lashley for the title the following week in a match dedicated to Harley Race, but lost. On the September 5 episode of *Raw*, his ring name was reverted back to **Tommaso Ciampa**.

On the June 19, 2023 episode of *Raw*, Ciampa returned after a prolonged injury to answer The Miz's open challenge. Ciampa won, ending their alliance and turning Ciampa face once again. In late September, Ciampa began a feud with Intercontinental Champion Gunther, losing a match for the title on on the October 2 episode of *Raw*. Post-match, after a five month hiatus, Johnny Gargano returned and saved Ciampa from an attack from Imperium, reforming DIY.