Debuts in professional wrestling come in all shapes and sizes, and often we never realize when a first appearance for a company will lead to This Day in Wrestling History moment.
For Tommaso Ciampa, it came on July 12, 2005 as Muhammad Hassan’s lawyer, Thomas Whitney on Smackdown.
The Undertaker quickly dispatched him with a chokeslam and Tombstone piledriver, and this cool little nugget seemed to pass into obscurity for many.
Surfacing moments
Thankfully, there are numerous people out there that find these moments and share them, and we’d like to give @awrestlinghistorian special thanks for this and the quote below.
“So three of us showed up with the promoter, and I was the youngest of the three, but the decision maker said, ‘Oh, you look the oldest.’ And it was what it was because they had to cast me as a lawyer. Not super believable now, I was only 20 at the time, I don’t know if it was believable then. But that was a whirlwind of a day because luckily for me, I’ve always been very comfortable on the microphone so that part I really didn’t have nerves, specifically because I had a script I was going to be reading off a piece of paper because I was acting as a lawyer that day. I didn’t even have to memorize the lines.
“But the day itself was crazy. Once I got picked, it was probably 4 p.m. at the time, and it was a pretty important angle for WWE because maybe a week prior, #MuhammadHassan and Davari did some stuff that upset executives at Fox…maybe it was UPN at the time. Whatever it was, it was something to do with the terrorists and it didn’t sit right with people so this lawyer thing had to be an apology that came off sincere, but also in the wrestling world made sense where Undertaker could come out.
“So, I rehearsed that script in front of everybody. I did solo in front of Vince (McMahon) in his office, I did in-ring with Undertaker, Vince and Hunter was there. Looking back now, I see how big of a deal it was and just how crazy it was to have that one-on-one time with everybody as a kid on the independents. It was wild, everybody treated me incredibly well. I remember they didn’t like the suit that I had on so they went and bought me a suit and let me keep it.” – Tommaso Ciampa, State Of Combat interview November 12, 2019.
If there’s one thing we’ve learned, it’s that any moment cane become a This Day in Wrestling History moment and it just makes it all the more entertaining.
SUBSCRIBE NOW: Get The Overtimer’s Hottest Stories, Breaking News and Special Features in your email, CLICK HERE!
Remember to stay up to date with the latest news on TheOvertimer. Don’t forget to visit Gamestingr for great videos, news, and gameplay!
