Deonna Purrazzo ruled over Impact Wrestling for much of 2021, and she started the year by main eventing Hard To Kill with Mickie James in a brutally epic match for the Knockouts Championship. That would be a huge deal on any occasion, but this was actually the first time a Knockouts Championship match has been the main event of an Impact pay-per-view, and Purrazzo and James delivered across the board. ComicBook.com had the chance to talk to Purrazzo ahead of tonight’s match against ROH Women’s World Champion ROK-C, and during our conversation, we talked about Purrazzo possibly going after the Knockouts Title, that long-awaited Britt Baker match, and more.
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First though we had to talk about the Texas Death Match main event, and Purrazzo couldn’t be more proud of what they did in the ring and that they created a main event level story.
“Yeah, absolutely. All last week when I found out we were going to be the main event, I was in tears all week every time I thought about it,” Purrazzo said. “Every time someone asked me last year, what else do you want to do, you’ve done so much? Was there anything else? It was to be the main event. And not the main event because we’re women, but because we told a story that warranted a main event spot. And I think that Mickie and I have been able to do that from Slammiversary until Saturday night at Hard to Kill. It’s been a long road and a long story that we’ve told. So, the gravity on what that means for our current Knockouts division, but also anyone who’s ever been a Knockout in the history of the Knockouts division, it’s been a reminder of the legacy that we have and what I get to carry on. And it is really awesome.”
While the match was excellent and Purrazzo was game for all of it, this style of match isn’t something you’d call her favorite. That said it was also the perfect type of match to close out the story between these two rivals.
“I think what was hard for me is because it’s not my style of wrestling, and I love the technical style, pretty and smooth, and you know what I mean? It’s hard for me to watch it back and be like, ‘Oh, I loved that.’ Because it’s just not what I love about wrestling. But I think that, again, the story that Mickie and I had told up until this point really wanted some kind of hardcore match, Texas Death Match or any other thing in that realm, I think we needed to go that route because that was the culmination of what we were telling. But I think that as hard as it was for me to wrap my head around it, I had to do a lot of studying to prepare for it, it was meant to be a war. It was meant to be pretty and a fight to the death.”
“And I think that’s something that might have been lost a little bit in translation is the story that the Virtuosa has defeated all of these legends up until now,” Purrazzo said. “And Mickie was the person that I finally met my match with. So, there was a lot of symbolism in the end of her throwing the table on me, the table pieces and the chairs, and I’m in all these thumbtacks, she’s sitting on top of me and standing on top of me, because she finally conquered this like evil queen who had her grasp on the Knockouts division for so long. So, I think the story that we had told definitely warranted the style of match, for sure.”
I also brought up how tacks are the devil and look utterly painful, and Purrazzo recalled one quite painful and unexpected tack encounter.
“There’s a moment where I don’t know what it was, but I dropped my knees, and I must have planted my hands in the mat, and I planted them directly in thumbtacks,” Purrazzo said. “And the camera angle is not my face, but you just see me immediately like pick up my hands and be like, ‘Oh, oh crap.’ Because literally, I had thumbtacks in the palms in my hands. That was, I mean, I don’t think I’ve ever experienced something more painful.”
Impact Wrestling will be returning to Fort Lauderdale for the first time in 10 years for a two-day event live at the Charles Dodge Center in Pembroke Pines, Florida. Purrazzo is looking forward to getting back in front of that Florida crowd, and who knows, maybe by that time she’ll have another title to add to her collection.
“I’m so excited. I’m excited by the fact that we’re just traveling again and being in a place like Florida. Obviously, it’s great when you don’t have to get on a flight, you can just drive, so I’m looking forward to that, but also Impact has such a long history here in Florida,” Purrazzo said. “So, to finally be able to come back and run the show in Fort Lauderdale, I’m very excited for it, and I don’t know who I’m going to get in the ring with. Hopefully, on Thursday’s Impact on AXS TV, I will become the Champ Champ again, after wrestling Rok-C, and I’ll be the Ring of Honor Women’s World Champion, as well. So, I’d love to defend that. I’d love to continue to defend my AAA Reina de Reinas Championship against anyone who’s willing to step up.”
Speaking of being the Champ Champ again, these days Chelsea Green is back in Impact, and while there were previous plans for Purrazzo and Green at one point to tag, that never materialized. So, since they are together once more, could we see a tag team form to go after those Knockouts Tag Team Championships?
“Absolutely. I think Chelsea Green is so phenomenal. And I’m so excited by the fact of everything she’s doing, whether it be at Impact Wrestling when she’s popped up in NWA, when she was doing some stuff with Ring of Honor, what her and Matt are doing in GCW is so fun and so awesome, and just such a different side of them that I would love to reignite the greatest tag team that never was and win some tag gold. Absolutely,” Purrazzo said. Also, that tag name is pretty much perfect.
Purrazzo also won Knockout of the Year and Knockouts Match of the Year, and pretty much owned Impact in 2021. Looking ahead to 2022, we wanted to know what else she hopes to check off her checklist.
“Oh gosh. Okay, so with talking about Tag gold, I think that the Knockouts Tag Team Championships have eluded me thus far. I haven’t quite found the partner that complements the Virtuosa the way one Chelsea Green might, so, I would love to find myself a Tag Team partner and compete for the Knockouts Tag Team Championships,” Purrazzo said.
“And then also too, we have the Digital Media Championship, and Jordynne Grace holds that right now. Jordynne Grace winning that became a Triple Crown Champion of Impact, and I would love to follow in her footsteps and again, collect all of the gold. So, I think that that’s my goal moving forward for 2022. I mean, we capped it off again with I wanted to be the main event and I got to do that, so I’m not quite sure how we’re going to top that, but the more championships the better, I think.”
Something fans would love to see in 2022 is the long-awaited match between Purrazzo and AEW’s Britt Baker. When we last spoke Purrazzo was all-in on that idea, and for her, it’s a matter of when.
“So, I think that with me and Britt, it’s only a matter of when, and not if. It’s something that she and I have both pushed tremendously hard for, and obviously, we’re best friends,” Purrazzo said. “So, it’s not a match we haven’t done before, but I think we’re both at the top of our game right now. It would be a dream come true to step in an Impact ring with her, or in an AEW ring with her, so I’m going to put it out there that’s it’s a matter of when, not if.”
Also, Purrazzo’s dog Ollie is adorable and a treasure, and I just felt like it should be said. “Oh, thank you. We wanted a mini dachshund, that was our dream dog, and when we saw Ollie online, it was like, ‘Oh my gosh, we need to go,’ and I made an appointment to go see him, and Steve’s like, ‘You know if we’re going to see him, we’re leaving with him, right? Like we’re not going there and leaving without the dog.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, I know.’ And he’s just, we’ve been so excited to have another little energetic pup around the house, and it’s made Honey and Fitz more lively and kept them on their toes the last week. So it’s been cute. He’s like the light of our life right now.”
You can catch Deonna in action tonight on Impact on AXS TV at 8/7 CST.
Do you want to see Purrazzo vs Baker in 2022? What about Purrazzo and Green as the Knockouts Tag Team Champions? Let us know in the comments and as always you can talk all things wrestling with me on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!
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