AEW TNT Champion Tommaso Ciampa announced for indie appearance

New AEW signee Tommaso Ciampa is coming to the Chicago area next month for an indie appearance.

Indie promotion AAW has announced that Ciampa will be in the building for its 22nd Anniversary Event on Friday, March 20. It’s billed as a “special appearance,” with no further details having been announced about what Ciampa’s role will be.

Ciampa previously wrestled for AAW from 2014-2016. Based in Chicago, the promotion is among the top indies in the Midwest. The upcoming 22nd Anniversary Event — titled “Epic” — is being held at the Eagles Club in Berwyn, Illinois.

The start of 2026 saw Ciampa make a big career change as he opted not to renew his WWE contract when it expired. He officially departed WWE last week and immediately debuted for AEW, arriving on Dynamite before then winning the TNT Championship from Mark Briscoe on Collision a few days later.

Ciampa has no bad words to say about WWE or his time there, but he’s determined to maximize his potential as a wrestler and show that, right now, he is the best version of himself that he’s ever been. Making the decision to leave WWE and bet on himself was something that Ciampa had been considering long before making the final decision not to renew his contract.

“My interest in doing this has been for at least two or three years. For the last six months, I’ve had a foot out the door,” Ciampa recently told CBS Sports. “It was one of those things: do you bet on yourself, see this through and see if you were right, or do you stay put and take the safe bet? 

“I have a seven-year-old. I want her to know that you get one life. You get one career, you get one chance at this. You don’t want to leave it with ‘What if?’ That was the final determining factor.”

When Ciampa announced his departure from WWE, he noted that he was taking bookings for appearances, signings, photo ops, seminars, movies, TV appearances, fitness collaborations, sponsorships, and more.

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Joseph Currier
Joseph Currier

Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.

In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.