25 Most Important Wrestlers In NXT History
6. Tommaso Ciampa
The story of Tommaso Ciampa in NXT is one of triumph and tragedy, but always excellence.
Ciampa wasn't even officially signed with NXT when he debuted, appearing in the first Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic back in 2015. It wasn't until April 2016 that Ciampa officially signed with the brand.
Ciampa originally found success as part of one of the most beloved tag teams in the history of NXT - #DIY. Alongside his partner, Ciampa put on a series of amazing matches against The Revival over the summer of 2016, which culminated with them winning the Tag Team Championships in Toronto in one of the best tag matches WWE has ever produced.
What followed was one of the best told stories in the history of modern wrestling. Ciampa and his partner lost the titles to the Authors of Pain and failed to win them back. This led Ciampa to snap, brutally beating down his partner and breaking the hearts of every single NXT viewer.
After sitting out with an injury for almost a year, Ciampa returned in 2018 as NXT's greatest ever villain. He would also capture the NXT Championship, cementing himself as a top star.
Ciampa's story in NXT is far too long and elaborate to sum up in just one list entry. Luckily for us, we can spread it out over two...