10 Most Improved Wrestlers Of 2018
6. Tommaso Ciampa
Ruptured ACLs ruin careers.
Tommaso Ciampa's made his career.
His knee exploding concurrent with DIY's own explosion helped stretch NXT's best-told 2017 storyline into 2018, building vast intrigue for Ciampa's eventual return. Johnny Gargano was left running from a ghost he could never truly escape. Tommaso wasn't on TV, but his spectre was there in everything 'Johnny Wrestling' did, and the period built the former 'Sicilian Psychopath' up as the ultimate threat.
Fleeting Full Sail appearances built to TakeOver: New Orleans. Branded an instant classic, their unsanctioned match showcased Ciampa's evolution. Though he lost, NXT's most loathed man had grown in his absence, with his new supervillain status present in everything from his song-less ring walk to the violent snap in his in-ring execution. Ciampa was free of the pain of being a man. He'd made a beast of himself, and his campaign of fear and loathing continued throughout the year.
Though Ciampa was an excellent professional wrestler prior to the injury, his game has gone to a new level this year. His NXT Title reign is becoming something monumental. So indomitable is this devil that whoever eventually topples him is set for a historically huge rub, and we can't wait to see how it pans out.