5 Superstars who worked in WWE without a contract

#3 Tommaso Ciampa

I'm definitely a huge fan of Tommaso Ciampa #WWENXT pic.twitter.com/DZ36r4gz2S

— Monique 👑💖 (@queenmonique_26) September 2, 2020

Along with his tag-team partner, Tommaso Ciampa also followed a similar path during his initial days with WWE. He initially came to NXT on a "handshake agreement" and later signed with WWE in April 2016 for a "Tier 2" contract, working independent dates as well. During an interview in 2015, Ciampa spoke about wanting to be part of NXT in the long term.

"The thing Johnny and I have on our side is that we both have over 10 years of experience, but neither one of us is in a rush to show our hand the first time out"

In September 2016, he wrestled his final independent wrestling match before signing exclusively with WWE NXT and has since become one of the greatest Superstars the brand has witnessed.

Tommaso Ciampa in WWE NXT

Tommaso Ciampa is well-known to be part of the tag-team "DIY" with Johnny Gargano. The two went on to have a great run together, even becoming the NXT Tag Team Champions, before Ciampa turned on Gargano, thus starting their epic rivalry.

it's almost that time for tommaso ciampa and adam cole to go at it fight over a NXT title cannot wait for my boys to kill it tonight pic.twitter.com/f0j0sGR3Tl

— dakota kai and tegan knox main bitch (@ciampascole) September 1, 2020

In his over four-year-long WWE NXT career, Tommaso Ciampa has been one of the prominent stars of the brand, having held the NXT Championship for over 200 days.