This was a fitting end for Tomato Camper in AAW as his time on the indies came to an end. Ciampa bet on himself, left ROH, found the wrestling spirit in himself that made him connect with the crowd and allowed him to get over to a level where he truly came off like a commodity in professional wrestling.

I’ll be perfectly honest when I say I never saw it coming. In five years with Ring of Butt Honor and a handful of matches in PWG, Ciampa never really stood out to me. I honestly thought the greatest thing to ever come from him was the story Kevin Steen told on PWG commentary about Super Dragon saying, “Stop trying to get me to book Tomato Camper.” It perfectly encapsulated his lack of value in my eyes.

Cut to 2015 and hearing Ciampa had voluntarily left ROH. To me, it was just a sign that a rather listless performer was going to go nowhere quickly. From what I was told, he had moved to Wisconsin or something. There was no way he seemed like he would be worth flying in for anyone. What did he have to offer?

Ciampa, simply put, maximized his opportunities from there onward. Whenever he got a chance, he seemingly put his best foot forward to make a strong impression on every indie crowd he came in contact with. He had what I would consider his first genuinely great singles match (with Zack in PROGRESS). AAW showcased him with high-profile outside talent. He then got the break of his career and became a midcard job guy for NXT.

Ciampa and Johnny Gargano became regular on-screen characters on WWE programming without seemingly being under contract or with the promise of something more. They also appeared to be able to work anywhere in the US that did not have national television. This not only led to fun matches on television and on house shows while working for Paul’s vanity promotion, but it also made Ciampa even more over on the independent scene. If there is one thing independent wrestling fans historically like, it’s having major institutions like the WWE validate their opinions (and seeing indie guys make money of course).

Oddly enough, this seemingly led to a distinct drop-off in Ciampa’s actual in-ring work on the indie scene from that time period forward. As all successful independent wrestlers eventually learn, it’s much easier to come to the ring and dance around instead of actually putting together compelling pro wrestling matches. It’s hard to blame them, but it can absolutely lead to some brutally awful matches. Then there was also the fun that comes with thinking that going a long time and doing nothing of note somehow makes for good wrestling (it doesn’t).

That no longer mattered though. Ciampa was no longer a pro wrestler who needed to be judged match to match (and yes, he still had good ones). He was no longer Tomato Camper. He was truly bigger than whatever he did in the ring.

The fact that his final match in AAW with Pentagon Jr. largely fell flat and produced nothing of true note in the ring did not matter. What mattered was that Ciampa made the fans of AAW love him. What mattered was that Ciampa gave his Chikarra mask to a child fan who looked up to him. What mattered was that Tommaso Ciampa left Ring of Honor a midcard geek and turned himself into someone worth remembering and appreciating. That was a major accomplishment.

Pentagon Jr. won with a Project Ciampa. (**1/4)

