Ciampa officially moved to WWE RAW in April, and he has had a slow start to his time on the red brand. Aside from randomly attacking Mustafa Ali and losing to the fan-favorite in a singles match, he hasn’t been featured much since his call-up. He appeared on this week’s episode of RAW and briefly laid out Riddle, but his motive was unclear.
On this week’s episode of WWE’s The Bump, “The Blackheart” explained that he wants to make a name for himself, and targeting Riddle seemed like a good way to do so.
“It’s kind of one of those things where you kinda just have to make a name for yourself,” said Ciampa. “You can’t just wait for an opportunity. Riddle’s on fire right now, so he seemed like a good target. Kinda like why not?”
The former NXT Champion went on to say that his transition to RAW has been a “slow burn”, as he expected, and he doesn’t mind waiting for his opportunity. He’s confident that once he gets a chance, he’ll be prepared.
“It’s exactly what I expected,” Ciampa continued. “It’s kinda like a slow burn and it’s, for me, very similar to how I started in NXT. In the beginning of my time there, Johnny and I were kinda two unknown guys tagging together, trying to make a name for ourselves. And now kinda doing the same thing with Monday Night RAW. And I just feel like sometimes you just gotta be patient in this game. You gotta wait, take the opportunity when it comes and make the most of it. And it’s the same approach I had back then.
“I have no problem waiting my turn per se. But I just know when my turn comes, I’ll be prepared for it.”
.@NXTCiampa knows that when his time comes, he's going to make the most of it. #WWETheBump pic.twitter.com/qBcQB0WQYA
— WWE (@WWE) June 8, 2022
RELATED: Tommaso Ciampa: ‘Creatively, I’m Not Very Hard To Please’, I’ll Do My Best With Whatever I’m Given
