"Naturally a vast direction" - Ciampa breaks character to praise female WWE star’s perseverance in the company

RAW Superstar Ciampa has gone out of his way to heap praise upon his WWE colleague Sonya Deville.

Ciampa and Deville both came into NXT in late 2015. Deville moved up to the main roster two years later while Ciampa remained in the developmental brand for the majority of his WWE tenure so far. While their careers have rarely intersected, the two still share a bond from their days in the black and gold brand.

Speaking on the latest edition of WWE's The Bump, the former NXT Champion spoke highly of Deville and claimed that he loves her perseverance. The 37-year-old also stated that Deville's fighting background has helped her develop a lot:

"I love the perseverance, I genuinely do. Just in rolling with the punches too, because you came in and you had a fight background, so naturally, that's the direction I'm gonna go in. And then just watch your development and broadening that and saying, 'I could be so much more. I don't have to do tunnel vision on this. I can be entertaining, I can have fun with this. So to me that's been the coolest part." [48:53-49:15]

Watch the latest edition of The Bump below:

Ciampa also explained why he attacked Riddle on this week's edition of WWE RAW

Ciampa set his sights on former RAW Tag Team Champion Riddle this past Monday night.

Speaking on WWE's The Bump, The former NXT Champion explained his actions. He claimed that Riddle should've been expecting the blindside attack. The RAW star also mentioned that The King of Bros should've had 'eyes in the back of his head':

"He should be expecting it, right? I mean, 'you gotta have eyes in the back of your head', isn't that the thing? He should have eyes in the back of his head."

The former DIY member further claimed that Riddle has been on fire as of late, hence he was a good target to set his sights on:

"You know, I've been doing the RAW thing for a bit, and it's sort of one of those things where you kind of HAVE to make a name for yourself," Ciampa You can't just wait for opportunities. Riddle is on fire right now. So he seemed like a good target."

Following this week's turn of events on RAW, creative could build up towards a potential match between Ciampa and Riddle in the coming weeks.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit WWE's The Bump and add a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.