Ciampa Was Scheduled To Work As A Heel On WWE Main Event, What Changed

Ciampa's main event match against Apollo Crews puzzled many, and for good reason.

On April 25 Ciampa attacked Mustafa Ali on WWE Raw, signifying a heel run for the former NXT Champion. This week on the WWE Main Event tapings before Raw, he surprisingly worked as a babyface against Apollo Crews, picking up a win.

TNA Wrestling Programming Listed On Sportsnet 360 Schedule In 2025

Fightful Select learned that wasn't the original plan. Ciampa was actually originally scheduled to take on former Universal Champion Finn Balor according to internal rundowns. When we inquired, it was confirmed that they would have had him work in the heel role.

The two last competed against one another in November 2019, and teamed together in February

This article first appeared on our premium service, Fightful Select and was republished here on Fightful. If you complain about it being "old news," you have to rub our inner thighs. Subscribe to get exclusive news every day, and a half-dozen weekly podcasts.

To directly support us and our continuing breaking news, interviews, and the like, subscribe to FightfulSelect.com. You'll get exclusive news sent to you directly before anyone else, and dozens of podcasts monthly including Alex Pawlowski's Sour Graps, Sean Ross Sapp's Q&A, Retro Reviews and more

Get exclusive pro wrestling content on Fightful Select, our premium news service! Click here to learn more.