Tommaso Ciampa has found another — albeit unlikely — ally in his fight against The Undisputed ERA.
The impromptu match between Keith Lee and Roderick Strong served as the stage for the latest chapter on the road to TakeOver: WarGames. The Messiah of The Backbreaker punched well above his weight to keep up with Lee — at one point rattling the ring and seemingly all of Full Sail with a spectacular superplex of the 320-pounder.
Ciampa showed up to play equalizer when the rest of The Undisputed ERA came to ringside in a bid to play the numbers game. Though Adam Cole took out The Blackheart with a super kick, Matt Riddle joined the fray to send the scene into complete chaos.
Finn Bálor also joined the melee to avenge the attack he suffered at the hands of The Original Bro just moments earlier. Connecting with a Sling Blade, standing Coup de Grace and finally a flying dropkick that sent Riddle crashing into the steps, Bálor's rebuttal was delivered with an exclamation mark.
Meanwhile in the ring, Lee finished off Strong with a Jackhammer, but The Undisputed ERA had recovered to make mincemeat of Lee and Ciampa thanks to the 4-on-2 advantage.
A surprising sympathizer arrived in the form of Dominik Dijakovic, who cleared house with a double chokeslam of Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly before leveling Cole with the Feast Your Eyes.
"You're going to war? I'm in," were all the words Ciampa needed to hear from The Rare Breed to share a handshake. It took a bit longer for Lee and Dijakovic to reach an understanding given their storied rivalry, but they eventually found common ground and a handshake of their own.
And just like that, Ciampa's army added another extremely dangerous soldier.