Deonna Purrazzo is almost a year into a remarkable run as the IMPACT Knockouts Champion, and she’ll defend the title against Mickie James, one of the most renowned women’s wrestlers in recent history, at IMPACT Bound For Glory on Saturday night.
During an interview with Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful, Purrazzo looked back on the numerous successes she’s enjoyed in the past year, and she noted that seeing how far she’s come is “really, really special” to her. “The Virtuosa” described how, shortly before she signed with IMPACT, she was uncertain about her future in wrestling following her release from WWE in 2020.
“It’s crazy,” said Purrazzo. “I think that, I didn’t really like have any goals when I started at IMPACT, or I didn’t really know where I was gonna end up, or if I was going to wrestle or if I was just gonna go back to teaching or what I was going to do. But to kind of have been in that space and now, almost two years later, be a dream match for someone, you know, have all these incredible matches with legends from all over the world, and you know, be a champ-champ, is really, really special to me, and just really cool.”
“The Virtuosa” also explained how she’s appreciative of the way that IMPACT has given her numerous opportunities because this journey has helped her rebuild her confidence.
“I think it’s a testament to what IMPACT is capable of doing with talent and when people have talent, and then giving them the ball and just saying try things out and don’t be afraid to make mistakes and let’s see who you are,” said Purrazzo. “Because the amount of in-ring promos and in-ring time that I’ve gotten over the last couple of months is something that, two years ago, I was terrified of doing.
“So I think that IMPACT really just having the confidence in me and working to restore that confidence in myself has made all the difference. So I couldn’t be in this position without them saying, ‘Just go for it and let’s see what happens.'”
Recently, Purrazzo has been starring in her rivalry with James; this storyline delivered a memorable “Farm Fight”, and “The Virtuosa” stated that she’s having fun with this feud because it’s the first time she’s been able to have a long-term storyline.
“It’s just fun because I feel like this story with Mickie is something that I haven’t really gotten prior to this, and I haven’t necessarily had a long, drawn-out storyline that I can really sink my teeth into and show a lot of character development, show a lot of range in,” said Purrazzo. “…I’m really, really thrilled with the reaction it got, how it’s turned out, the story we’re telling, and then the ultimate match we’re gonna have at Bound For Glory.”
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The full interview is available here:
