Tommaso Ciampa On Getting Advice From Edge, The Idea of A Possible Match With Him

Speaking with Inside the Ropes, Tommaso Ciampa revealed what advice he’s gotten from Edge and weighed in on a possible match between the two. Edge of course came back to the ring for a limited schedule earlier this year and has been feuding with Randy Orton. Before that though, Ciampa revealed that Edge offered to give the NXT crew advice and took him up on it, getting tips on how to play a heel more effectively.

You can see highlights from the discussion and the full video below:

On getting advice from Edge: “Yeah, Edge was kinda in my back pocket the whole time. I would — I don’t know when exactly it started, it’s hard for me to say. I feel like it was some time after New Orleans, but I’m not sure exactly when. But it was, he came down to the Performance Center, and we got chatting then. And he kinda just put it out to a bunch of us, saying, ‘Hey, if you guys wanted to throw ideas by me or whatever,’ I think he gave his phone number, his email or whatever it was. And I just took him up on it, and I started to just send him — I feel like it was shortly after winning the title.

“I started to just, if I had a big match coming up, a Takeover or whatever, I would send him kinda my thought process, my outline. And I’d just say, ‘Hey, am I missing anything? Are there any holes in this, is there anything that you would, you know, embellish on or that you would, you know, stay away from?’ And he kinda just became my sounding board as far as prepping to go into matches. And just, a lot of it was exactly what you just said. It was, ‘How do I make sure I get booed and I don’t have any redeeming qualities?’ And he was awesome for that. He’s got a great, great mind. Like, I would love it if he became somebody who took on a role like Shawn Michaels has in NXT because he just is so awesome so work for.”

On the idea of a match with Edge: “Anything could happen. I mean, I saw that he had a list. Not maybe quite like Cody Rhodes’ list that he trotted out. But he’s name-dropped people in interviews and I’ve heard my name brought up quite a few times. I mean, obviously I would love it. There’s no question there. I think like, it’s just the timing of it and having it make sense. And we have … obviously, both [have] neck injuries and having an off-camera relationship and stuff. So it’s just making sure we get the most out of it, I think. Because you know, I know that he’s on a limited schedule, and I know going through the surgery and stuff, you want to be smart with your matchups and your bumps going forward.

“So for both of us, I think it’d be like, how do we get the most out of this, and what stage is that on, and what’s the story? I”m watching how him and Randy started telling their stuff. Both of us are very into story, and something that people can sink their teeth in. So I think it’s definitely possible. I’d definitely love for it to happen. I mean, for me, I’d get to get in there with one of the guys I’ve looked up to for many, many years. So hopefully, and you know, fingers crossed it happens on a TakeOver. Just because it’s kind of my home at that point, and it’d be really cool to see a guy like him step out on that stage, because it only helps the product at that point.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Inside the Ropes with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.