This should be the last of my shortened version of Wrestling Thursday. As Summerslam and NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn draw near, I think it's gonna be time for me to resume full coverage. But not yet. This is Wrestling Thursday, and I want to talk about Tommaso Ciampa.
I have written this before, and it remains the truth: Tommaso Ciampa is the best heel in wrestling right now. The Sicilian Psychopath enters without music. His entrance music is the crowd's boos. A highly regarded independent wrestler before arriving at NXT for the first Dusty Rhodes Classic, Ciampa's career has been tied to that of of Johnny Gargano - his teammate in the Classic, his opponent in the first Cruiserweight Classic, and his tag team partner in the super popular tag team championship team DIY - ever since his arrival at NXT.
Ciampa's turn on Gargano was both an utter shock and entirely unsurprising. When Gargano beat him in the Cruiserweight Classic, it looked like he was going to turn on him, but he didn't. Something about him really screams "heel." But aligning with the babiest of babyfaces Gargano made him incredibly popular. He was the "good bad guy," fighting for right against his instincts. But once those kicked in, he bloomed.
The most evil man in wrestling (image is promotional material released by WWE)
For most wrestlers, being out for 8 months immediately after a heel turn may cause the turn to fizzle. Not so Ciampa. His amazing heel work on twitter has played a major part in that, as did his explosive return, attacking Gargano from behind with a crutch, and later costing him a championship match.
And now, the most over heel in wrestling is the champ. And it feels so weird and so right. While he obviously bulked up a LOT during his absence, Ciampa is undersized. He's the kind of guy who is a nice featured attraction. But even without the title he was - as he pointed out - in the main event of the last two TakeOvers. In a very real way, the story of NXT in the past two-three years has been the story of Ciampa and Gargano, despite both being out with injuries for prolonged periods. That's both unusual and incredible.
And now, along with Aleister Black, both of them will be in the main event of NXT's biggest show of the year, TakeOver Brooklyn. Amazingly, considering that this feud has been going on for over a year, this will only be their third match since it started. And with Black in the mix, it may not deliver a definite end to the feud. I fully expect Black to be moved up after TakeOver, and I would guess that the story of NXT will continue to be the story of Ciampa and Gargano, the undersized indie darlings who became NXT mainstays and who will, I believe, make it on the main roster.
