10 Best Wrestling Talkers Of 2018

9. Tommaso Ciampa

Chris Jericho Intercontinental
WWE.com

What's especially impressive about Tommaso Ciampa's promo game is that he isn't a natural.

He has had to work really, really hard to reach the apex of NXT - he entered through the backdoor, and not the front row of TakeOver - and it is this arduous road to the NXT Championship that has informed the unassailable belief he has in himself.

Knowing that a great promo is as much in the eyes as it is in the throat, Ciampa often raises his brow when delivering a response loaded with his warped truth. It's as if he is questioning everybody and everything around him. Ciampa also has gigantic balls: knowing full well that sitting cross-legged is a very iconic position in which to cut very iconic promos, he nonetheless does it without giving one f*ck about Aleister Black or the events 2011. He gives not one f*ck about offending the Undertaker on Twitter. He deems himself the best, ever, and carries himself as such.

Ciampa is so unnerving and intense in his delivery that it wouldn't be a surprise to learn that he has never blinked - and this very real, unaffected character work has anchored NXT's lofty melodrama to incredible effect in 2018.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!