Tommaso Ciampa Told WWE He Would Retire If Moved To Raw Or SmackDown

On the 10/02 episode of NXT on the USA Network, Tommaso Ciampa made his emphatic return to NXT TV by confronting NXT Champion Adam Cole.

Ciampa was forced to vacate the NXT Championship back in March 2019. It was later revealed that he would require major neck surgery.

When it was revealed that he would need to take a good portion of 2019 away from the ring to recover from his injury, many people speculated that Ciampa could return to TV on either Raw or SmackDown instead of NXT.

This came after Ciampa was surprisingly called-up to the main roster on the 02/18 episode of Raw along with Ricochet, Aleister Black and Johnny Gargano.

Speaking to Lillian Garcia on the Chasing Glory podcast, the NXT star revealed that he fought hard to stay in NXT instead of being called-up permanently to Raw or SmackDown.

“I have legitimately vocalised to them that if I have to go to Raw or SmackDown, then I’m going to retire. And I would love to produce or coach or be a part of it, but there’s no way I’m taking on that load.”

Ciampa discussed that one of the main reasons he doesn’t want to move to Raw or SmackDown is because of the workload:

“I have a little one at home and my schedule is better in NXT than it would be on the road – and I had neck surgery and I’m not freaking stupid. I get that my window is smaller than it was and my bump card is ticking, and I just look at it like if I’m doing 200+ days a year on the road with Raw or SmackDown, or I’m doing a manageable load of 30 to 50 matches with NXT. […] So I can do four years of that in the time I do one year with Raw and SmackDown. So how long can my career and portfolio grow here as opposed to going there.”

This certainly makes it seem like Tommaso Ciampa will stay in NXT for the foreseeable future, something the NXT fans will likely be elated to hear.

Do you think Tommaso Ciampa is making the right decision by refusing to go to Raw or Smackdown? Let us know on Twitter or Facebook.

Thanks to Cultaholic for the transcription.

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