It appears that “The Virtuosa” Deonna Purrazzo’s time with IMPACT/TNA Wrestling is coming to an end. Purrazzo has been an IMPACT Wrestling mainstay since her signing in 2020 but Fightful Select has reported that Purrazzo will enter free agency starting January 1 as she has opted to not sign a new contract or an extension with the company. The report also states Purrazzo is finishing up her dates with IMPACT Wrestling this weekend at the Final Resolution tapings in Canada.
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Purrazzo joined IMPACT during the COVID-19 pandemic after being one of two dozen people let off at WWE following a two-year run with the company’s NXT brand. Upon her arrival in IMPACT, she almost immediately faced Jordynne Grace for the World Knockouts Championship at IMPACT Wrestling Slammiversary which she won, thus starting her “belt collector” era. In her initial few months with the company, she worked without an official contract before eventually signing a multi-year contract. Purrazzo held the Knockouts Championship for 343 days in her second reign, the second longest champion behind Taya Valkyrie and the second longest combined champion over three reigns after Gail Kim. Purrazzo also held the IMPACT Knockouts Tag Team Championships with Chelsea Green, the ROH Women’s World Championship and the AAA Reina de Reinas Championship.
Purrazzo will enter 2024 as one of the biggest professional wrestling free agents on the market alongside NJPW’s Okada. Since leaving WWE, Purrazzo has appeared in every major wrestling promotion, cementing herself as one of the biggest names in wrestling. Fightful Select also says things remain amicable between both IMPACT and Purrazzo, so the door is open if she wants to return in the future. Before signing her contract with IMPACT, Purrazzo had confirmed at the time she spoke to a few companies and that could very likely be the case once again, especially with both WWE and AEW now making a greater effort to sign more women and feature more stories for them outside of the title picture. Purrazzo briefly appeared in AEW where she wrestled Mercedes Martinez on AEW Dynamite in May of 2022.
For years, a match that fans have been clamoring for is AEW’s Britt Baker vs. Purrazzo who are best friends in real life that have wrestled each other in various capacities over the years. Last year, ComicBook.com spoke to Purrazzo who noted it’s something that they’ve both pushed for. “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.”
Stay tuned to ComicBook.com for future updates on Purrazzo’s wrestling status.
