Tommaso Ciampa Laments Not Working With Top Names in WWE; Aims to “Check off the Checklist” in AEW

AEW star Tommaso Ciampa recently lamented missed opportunities during his WWE stint. Ciampa spent nearly a decade in WWE, including four years on the main roster.

However, he basically worked as a tag team guy and missed out on working with top stars such as Cody Rhodes, Sami Zayn, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins on television. Speaking to James Stewart of Stick to Sports recently, Ciampa said his biggest goal in AEW is to “check off the checklist” and work with top names, something he couldn’t do in WWE.

Here’s what Tommaso Ciampa said [per Fightful]:

“My biggest goal, and I said it to Tony 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, or 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.”

Tommaso Ciampa made his AEW debut in January 2026 and captured the TNT Championship from Mark Briscoe in his very first match for the company. He is currently embroiled in a feud with Chris Jericho and is set to battle the veteran in a No Holds Barred match at Redemption this Sunday.