2021 has certainly been a remarkable year in the wrestling world, as the “Forbidden Door” era paved the way for plenty of collaboration between All Elite Wrestling, IMPACT Wrestling and NJPW, among other promotions. But former IMPACT Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo wishes more women got the chance to pop up in other promotions.
In an interview with Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful, “The Virtuosa” discussed her title loss to Mickie James and brought up the company’s relationship with AEW and NWA. The reigning AAA Reina de Reinas Champion noted that the Knockouts Division is full of many women who she wants to see get those same opportunities in the spotlight generated by the Forbidden Door.
“Mickie and I have been telling such a great story,” said Purrazzo. “This is like my real first feud so not being in that role I think is okay because I was in it for so long and I really pushed over the year to have other people do other things. We have this crossover with AEW and NWA, and I really pushed for like, well if it can’t be me, let it be someone else.
“We have so many talented women on our roster that deserve to be in the spot that I was or in a similar spot that I am, so it’s nice to see other people getting that opportunity as well.”
When asked whether she was disappointed in the lack of women wrestlers crossing over into other companies, Purrazzo stated that she was disappointed because she has plenty of dream matches on her list, but she’s trying to focus on the positives.
“Yeah I think I was a little disappointed because for me, there’s a ton of dream matches and people that I haven’t been in the ring with for years or have never been in the ring with prior,” said Purrazzo. “But you know what, I think IMPACT was kind of the hub of all the crossover, and we got to do a lot of stuff with NWA.
“Obviously my match with Melina was one of the headliners of EmPowerrr, so as disappointing as it was, I have tried to look at the positives now. Instead of harping on what could have been, let’s look at what was.”
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Moving forward, it’s clear that Purrazzo will somewhat get her wish after all; she made a surprising appearance at ROH Final Battle: End of an Era and challenged ROH Women’s World Champion Rok-C to a Winner Take All Match.
The full interview is available here.
