Tommaso Ciampa doesn't want to go to the main roster, at least not yet.
Ciampa has been sidelined since before WrestleMania with a neck injury that required surgery, and forced him to vacate his NXT Championship. When speaking to Sports Illustrated, Ciampa made it very clear that he wants to continue the path he was on ahead of the surgery.
“I don’t know if people think I’m going to Raw or SmackDown, but here’s a spoiler, I’m not,” said Ciampa. “I’m going to NXT. If someone tells me anything else, I’m answering them with a no. I bleed black and gold. NXT is home. And I have unfinished business there. I didn’t lose the title. Storyline or not, entertainment or not, that title meant the world to me. I was ‘The Guy’ for NXT, the hottest brand in the entire world. I came through knee surgery and two shoulder surgeries to get to that point. That’s what I worked my entire career for, so giving up the title is not how I envisioned it ending. I am the best sports entertainer in the world. I always hear, ‘Sports entertainer? You’re a sell-out!’ Call me a sell-out if you want. I’m buying in. This is my brand. NXT is mine.”
Despite his desire to remain on NXT, Ciampa actually competed on WWE Raw and Smackdown in the days ahead of his final set of NXT appearances in February.
Fightful Select learned last week that Tommaso Ciampa was actually listed as an August update date, and we were told that his surgery was considered "minimally invasive." That being said, that listing is hardly a guarantee, and as "minimally invasive" as any neck surgery may be considered, it's still neck surgery.
