Steph De Lander Talks Death Before Dishonor, Says She ‘Knew Everything Would Work Out’ After Deonna Purrazzo Injury
Steph De Lander discusses her upcoming ROH title match.
ROH will bring the Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view to the 2300 Arena on Friday, August 21. The show is set to feature a big bout for the ROH Pure Women’s Championship, as Deonna Purrazzo will defend her belt against Steph De Lander.
Speaking with Fightful for a new interview, De Lander talked about the match coming out of nowhere.
“I never do anything slowly. I’m always making moves. Before I’ve even made a move, I know what the
next move is. So I’m not surprised that I’ve risen through the ranks so quickly in Ring of Honor. Now I’m
on the pay-per-view. it seems out of nowhere. Of course it does, but if you think about it, it was a very
natural progression for the next step in my career. I knew as soon as I was back in the ring that I was
going to land big opportunities, so I’m not surprised by any of it. I’m excited to show the world what Pure
Rules wrestling really is.”
Purrazzo and De Lander previously faced off in a dark match at a taping for ROH. The bout ended in a no contest after Purrazzo suffered an ankle injury. Even if you take away the injury, Steph De Lander thinks that this pay-per-view match would still be happening.
“I think it would have, but I think it would have been slightly different. If that match continued the way that it was going to, it wasn’t necessarily going to be a one and done and over, one off situation anyways. So I think we still would have gotten to this pay per view match. It just might have been a stipulation or the second match that we have or something slightly different. Everything happens for a reason. Obviously that was very disappointing at the time. But even in that moment, I had the faith of like, ‘Okay, that was the way that was supposed to go and that will lead to whatever is in my future.’ Yeah, it sucked, and it sucks to see anyone get hurt, but I knew that everything would work out and it has.”
When asked about her strategy against Deonna, De Lander threatened to “big boot her head off”.
“It’s so interesting because we have such different styles of wrestling even though we’re both Pure Rules
legends. We both bring something different to the table and we show that in different ways. So I
remember the first time I wrestled Deonna, I was like, ‘If she tries to do all these crazy dibidi-doo spots,’
like I got no idea what even any of this shit is, but I quickly realized that she can do whatever she wants
around me. I just have to big boot her head off and then I’m in control. So that’s how I’ve played it both
times I’ve wrestled her so far and that’s how I’m gonna play at this time too.”
Elsewhere in the interview, De Lander commented on her free agent status. Check out her full comments here.
Fans can check out Fightful’s full interview with Deonna Purrazzo in the video linked at the top of this article.
Also, the current lineup for ROH Death Before Dishonor can be viewed by clicking here. Fightful will have full coverage of the pay-per-view as it airs.
