10 Secret Pasts Of WWE Wrestlers

3. Tommaso Ciampa

Tommaso Ciampa Laywer
WWE

Tommaso Ciampa once held the NXT Title for 238 days, and WWE didn't even have the common decency to mention that the talented son-of-a-gun could wrestle law just as well as his opponents. Only kidding. Why the hell would they mention a one-off segment from SmackDown in 2005?

As Jerry Lawler is prone to saying, it's like this took place in "Bizarro World".

On the 14 July '05 episode of the blue brand show, Ciampa appeared as "Thomas Whitney" and represented Muhammad Hassan's legal council against The Undertaker. It was a one-time deal for the then-indy wrestler, but the spot was likely a bigger platform than Tommaso expected just seven short months into his career.

Later, Ciampa would go on to make several sneaky appearances on lower-tier programming like Velocity (as Demarso Whitney) and Heat. He'd briefly sign for WWE in 2007 before leaving and becoming a sensation elsewhere in ROH.

Advertisement
Contributor

Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.