On April 1, he lost a qualifying match for entry in the Chaotic Wrestling Heavyweight Championship Tournament to Fred Sampson.

Penmanship and Psycho qualified for a battle royal to determine the number one contender to the CW Heavyweight Championship, but the match was won by Luis Ortiz.

[27] On August 30, 2013, Ciampa made his debut for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), when he entered the 2013 Battle of Los Angeles, losing to Brian Cage in his first round match.

[28] At Honor Reclaims Boston he, Alex Payne and Ernie Osiris lost a dark match to Bobby Dempsey, Grizzly Redwood and Rhett Titus.

[31][32] The next day, at ROH Revolution: Canada, Ciampa was part of the first "Double Danger Scramble" match, which was won by Michael Elgin.

[36] On March 4 at the 10th Anniversary Show, Ciampa's match with Lethal for the ROH World Television Championship ended in a fifteen-minute time limit draw.

[37] Ciampa continued his feud with Lethal on March 31 at Showdown in the Sun, where he interfered in his match with Roderick Strong and cost him the title.

[38] On the April 7 episode of Ring of Honor Wrestling, Ciampa defeated Lethal, Adam Cole and Mike Bennett in a four-way final to win the 2012 March Mayhem tournament.

[41] Afterward, Ciampa turned on Nana, after it was revealed that he had struck a deal with Truth Martini to keep the Television Championship on Strong, broke away from The Embassy and adopted R.D.

[47] On August 3, Ciampa entered a tournament to determine the new ROH World Champion, defeating Silas Young in his first round match.

[50] At Final Battle 2013 on December 14, Ciampa began his first reign as ROH World Television Champion, when he defeated Matt Taven for the title.

[54] After an extended period of absence, Ciampa returned on July 19 with a new look, having increased his muscle mass and sporting an untrimmed full beard.

He promptly defeated Adam Page of The Decade, then followed it with a promo hinting at a heel turn stating that he felt under-appreciated and wanted a shot at the ROH World Championship before being interrupted by Silas Young.

[60] His final match was a failed effort to win the TV title from Jay Lethal who retained after delivering a low blow to Ciampa.

Ciampa then attacked referee Todd Sinclair with a low blow as payback for not calling a DQ for the illegal move.

[63] Although not re-signed to WWE, on September 2, 2015, Ciampa was announced as part of the NXT Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament.

[64] On September 9, he successfully advanced in the first round of the tournament alongside his new partner Johnny Gargano, defeating the also newly formed duo of Tyler Breeze and Bull Dempsey.

[71] The following month, Ciampa announced that his final independent booking was set for September as he was entering a new exclusive NXT contract.

On March 6, it was reported by Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer that Ciampa would have to undergo neck surgery, as well as forcing him to vacate the NXT Championship and the injury would put him out of action for at least six months.

[106] He would then compete in a losing effort in the fatal four-way 60 minute Iron Man match for the vacant NXT Championship, tying with Gargano at one fall a piece.

[109][110] They defeated Ariya Daivari and Tony Nese in the first round and The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole and Roderick Strong) in the quarter finals, before losing to the Grizzled Young Veterans in the semi-finals.

Thatcher was written off TV on August 24 due to a kayfabe throat injury from Ridge Holland, ending the team; this was his final appearance as he was eventually released from the company in January.

[117] On the April 11 episode of Raw, Ciampa was officially called up to the brand while also participating in a backstage segment with Ezekiel and Kevin Owens.

[118] On the April 25 episode of Raw, now under the shortened ring name "Ciampa", he attacked Mustafa Ali after his match against The Miz, turning heel for the first time since 2020.

Post-match, he would suffer a beatdown from Imperium until Johnny Gargano returned after a five-month hiatus and saved him, reforming DIY in the process.

On the March 18 episode of RAW, DIY defeated the Creed Brothers to qualify for the Six Pack Ladder Match for the Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania XL,[127] which they were unsuccessful.

On the November 15 episode of SmackDown, Ciampa interrupted a title match between The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) and defending champions Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin), attacking both teams, but Gargano restrained him.

[135] On the December 6 episode of SmackDown, DIY defeated Motor City Machine Guns to win the titles for the second time after Gargano hit Sabin with a low blow, and subsequently revealing all the recent arguments to be a ruse, turning both Gargano and Ciampa heel for the first time as a team, as well as marking Ciampa's first heel turn since 2022.

[137][138] Whitney married former professional wrestler Jessie Ward in September 2013,[139] having been introduced to her by their mutual friend Samoa Joe.

[141] Whitney held a part-time job managing a fitness studio until March 2014, when he left to focus on a full-time career in professional wrestling.