Former World Champion Hopes to See the NXT Side of Tommaso Ciampa in AEW

Tommaso Ciampa has displayed babyface-like tendencies upon his AEW debut, but will this change in the near future?

Just mere days after his WWE contract expired, Tommaso Ciampa made his surprise AEW debut by answering Mark Briscoe's TNT Title open challenge on the January 28 episode of Dynamite. Just 72 hours later, Ciampa would go on to defeat Briscoe to capture TNT Championship in his first AEW match on Collision.

Despite being dubbed as the "Psycho Killer," Ciampa has largely positioned himself as a babyface to the AEW audience so far. But a former AEW World Champion would like to see the NXT black and gold era of Ciampa emerge in the future.

All Elite Wrestling's Swerve Strickland recently spoke with Adam's Apple. When asked about Tommaso Ciampa's recent AEW debut, Strickland praised Ciampa's arrival and noted they spent a great deal of time together in the Black and Gold NXT era. Strickland is hopeful we'll see more of that side of Ciampa in the future.

"Tommaso Ciampa is a phenomenal talent," Swerve Strickland said. "He's somebody I go back with about eight years. I've never faced him in the ring, though. But he was around when I was in the NXT Black and Gold era.

"He was one of the main villains there; main guys. So I wish to see that side of him again. It's been kind of extinguished for quite some time. But now that he's here in AEW, he's ready to let it all out, and I'm excited, and we welcome it."

Tommaso Ciampa has a huge challenge awaiting him on AEW Dynamite

Tommaso Ciampa will arguably face his biggest AEW challenge to date this week on Dynamite as he defends his TNT Championship against Kyle Fletcher of the Don Callis Family.

#AEWDynamite
LIVE, 8/7c on TBS + HBO Max
This Wednesday, 2/11!

TNT Championship
Tommaso Ciampa vs @KyleFletcherPro

Fletcher wants to walk into #AEWGrandSlam Australia as TNT Champion, but to get his "Hero’s Welcome," he'll have to defeat the "Psycho Killer," THIS WEDNESDAY! pic.twitter.com/ScveVA9wNi
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) February 9, 2026

Fletcher first confronted Ciampa after his shocking in-ring debut on AEW Collision when he defeated Mark Briscoe to capture the TNT Championship. He confronted him again on Saturday night after his first successful title defense against Roderick Strong and Claudio Castagnoli.

The Protostar made it clear that he wanted to walk into AEW Grand Slam: Australia with the TNT Championship. In order to make that a reality, he issued a challenge to Ciampa for this week's episode of Dynamite. A challenge that the Psycho Killer quickly accepted. Who will be the TNT Champion heading into Saturday's huge AEW event? We'll find out soon enough.

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