NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa sidelined with neck injury

An injury to current NXT Champion Tomasso Ciampa has altered the plans of the WWE going forward, but it’s not the injury you think.

Last week during SmackDown Live the entire WWE Universe held their collective breath as a nasty landing occurred between Sheamus and NXT Champion Tomasso Ciampa during their tag match. It looked like Ciampa seriously injured his knee and the referee signaled the dreaded “X” arm motion, letting everyone know that a real injury has taken place. Ciampa was able to finish the match, even going as far as to score the pinfall picking up the win for DIY that night on SmackDown and everyone at that point just hoped for the best.

The next night Ciampa wrestled several matches at the NXT TV tapings in Orlando, lessening everyone’s worry and leading to the belief that the champ was going to be okay. Alas, that is not the case.

When Ciampa and Gargano were absent from both Raw and SmackDown this week, some assumed it was due to creative in NXT changing the plans on the main roster but that wasn’t the reason. Mike Johnson of PWInsider is reporting that Ciampa is currently suffering from a neck injury, an injury that has been bothering him for at least the last four to five weeks.

This caused creative plans to change on not only Raw but SmackDown as well, as Ciampa is not currently cleared to compete. Ciampa will not be on the road this weekend for the company in any capacity.

With several weeks of television already in the can for NXT there is time to survey the situation and evaluate things going forward on the road to NXT TakeOver: New York. According to Johnson’s report, for now, all options are still on the table for the current NXT Champion going forward. One can only hope that this isn’t a serious injury but issues with the neck have derailed and even ended several Superstars’ careers well before their time was supposed to be up.

If Ciampa is unable to compete during WrestleMania weekend, the biggest question will immediately become what the fate of the NXT Championship is. Will Ciampa be stripped of his title? If so, who will compete for it in Brooklyn? And what becomes of the newly-reunited #DIY, slated to compete in the NXT Dusty Rhodes Classic tag team tournament? There are many questions right now, and very few answers.