Tommaso Ciampa detailed the meticulous planning behind his AEW debut and Psycho Killer return during an appearance on Close Up with Renee Paquette. The TNT Champion revealed he had been sitting on the concept for years and kept his contract end date private from everyone.
\"I\'ve honestly sat on it for years. When I left Ring of Honor in 2012, when I went to the Independent Scene after that, Psycho Killer, the track Talking Heads and all that became my entrance music and it genuinely took on a life of its own.\
The Vision He Never Got to Execute
Ciampa described himself as a \"vision board guy\" who plans 10 steps ahead. He had envisioned multiple chapters for the Psycho Killer persona that never came to fruition.
\"Forever there was just this part of me that went, I wonder how far I could have taken that. I had all these envisions of what the next chapters were. I\'m a very plan 10 steps ahead type of guy and I never got one of these through. I\'m a vision board guy.\
Preparation in the Dark
Ciampa said a lot of work was done before his debut was announced. He already had music, presentation, and logo concepts ready when conversations began.
\"A lot of work was being done in the dark. Like preparation. I don\'t think anything that went down the last week between Dynamite and Collision was full happenstance.
The preparation was there. The conversations, the second they start, it\'s, \'Hey I already have this music that I want, I already have this presentation that I want, this is what I envision my logo.\
Contract Secrecy and the Texas Trip
Ciampa kept his WWE contract end date a secret from everyone, including his tag partner.
\"I was very private about that. No one knew that date. I don\'t even know that my tag partner at the time knew the specific date. I just didn\'t tell anyone. Contract ends midnight the 26th.\
His wife suggested a family trip to a giraffe ranch in Texas, perfectly positioned between AEW Dynamite and Collision.
\"I gave the two locations to my wife. I said, \'Hey, they\'re in Texas on Wednesday and Saturday.\' Her light bulb went off. She\'s like, \'This is insane. It\'s right in the middle of the two of them.\' Best case scenario, this all lines up. Worst case scenario, we have this awesome family trip.\
Once free, Ciampa said AEW moved quickly.
\"Tuesday happened, it was hey let\'s connect you with Mikey Ruckus for music, let\'s connect you with Mike for Tron. Let\'s just get this ball rolling.\
Ciampa made his AEW debut by answering Mark Briscoe\'s TNT Championship open challenge, and won the title in his first AEW match.
