Tommaso Ciampa has finally reclaimed his beloved Goldie! Ciampa became NXT Champion for a second time when he fought off four of his NXT colleagues in a Fatal Four-Way match on the debut episode of NXT 2.0 to win the title.
As reported, the previous NXT Champion, Samoa Joe, relinquished the title on Sunday evening due to injury. "We are on the brink of a new era in our history. I realize that that era deserves a fighting champion. That’s why it makes this very difficult decision very easy to make. Effective immediately, I relinquish the NXT Championship," Joe said in an announcement video.
Shortly after, it was decided that Kyle O'Reilly, LA Knight, Pete Dunne, and Ciampa would compete in a Fatal Four-Way match to determine the new champion.
Before the match began, Pete Dunne and his crony Ridge Holland ambushed O'Reilly in the locker room. They beat O'Reilly up until they were chased away by up-and-comer Von Wagner. As a result of the ambush, O'Reilly had to withdraw from the title match. NXT General Manager then announced that Wagner would take O'Reilly's place in the match. Ciampa got the win when he pinned LA Knight following a Fairytale Ending in a match that lasted a little over 10 minutes.
Ciampa's first reign as NXT Champion began on the July 25, 2018, episode of NXT on which Ciampa defeated Aleister Black. Due to a serious neck injury that required surgery, Ciampa was forced to relinquish the NXT Championship on the March 20, 2019, edition of NXT, ending his reign at 237 days.
Ciampa's long-awaited second reign coincides with a new era for NXT, which the man himself was excited by. “It’s exciting, man,” Ciampa said during an interview with Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp. “Change sometimes is for the best, and I don’t know, everyone’s been kind of keeping a tight lid on it, so I really just don’t know what to expect,"