The interview was released on June 2nd, 2025, but recorded in September 2024.
From 2020-2023, Deonna Purrazzo was a full-time member of the IMPACT/TNA Wrestling roster. Present day, she's signed to All Elite Wrestling.
While guest appearing on the Lightweights Podcast with Joe Vulpis, Purrazzo spoke candidly about the contract negotiations she had with IMPACT/TNA. She stated that while she was under contract, now-former company President Scott D'Amore gave her permission to speak to AEW and WWE. Purrazzo said at that point, IMPACT/TNA had not presented her with a new deal.
“It’s funny because I’ve seen a lot of misconception about this (how Purrazzo got AEW offer), and I’ve talked openly about talking to AEW while I was ending my IMPACT contract and I got permission from Scott D’Amore like 90 days out. So the beginning of October, I was like, ‘Hey, you have not spoke to me about renewing my contract. Is it okay?... I don’t know anything about contract tampering. I don’t want to contract tamper. I don’t want to do anything the wrong way. I respect you, I respect this company so much. Tell me the right way to go about this. You have not spoke to me about re-signing. Is it okay for me to go try to talk to AEW? Or WWE?’ And he was like, ‘Absolutely,’ and he was like, ‘I think that you’re not talking about doing things now... You’re talking about starting January 1st when you would technically be free so, go talk to whoever you wanna talk to.’”
She would go on to share that she had mixed feelings about D'Amore not trying to retain her during contract season.
The final year of her contract was an option clause. She remembers asking them not to pick it up but they did. Purrazzo was not upset about it because she felt everything worked out. By the time she began speaking to different suitors, IMPACT/TNA reached out to retain her. She admitted she was 'bummed' by that.
“Yes. Like I -- yes and no (Purrazzo responded when asked if she was hurt by IMPACT/TNA not making the effort to re-sign her). So, earlier, my contract at IMPACT was originally two years and it had a third-year option that was their option. So at the end of that two-year mark, I had said, ‘I don’t know if this place is for me. Maybe I wanna explore other things. I know it’s your choice but respectfully, could you not take that third-year option?’ And at first, they were like, ‘You can go talk and explore and whatever but we’ll let you know’ and then they picked up the third-year option, which honestly, I’m very thankful for. I think it all worked out the way it should have and I wasn’t upset by that. But when it came to renewing my contract and getting a completely new one, yeah, I was bummed because I just felt like I gave so much heart and soul and 100 percent of me to this company to be -- you know, I was Ms. IMPACT Wrestling for three and a half years so, why wouldn’t you wanna keep me? And it wasn’t until last minute… like the end of November that they were like, ‘No! We do wanna keep you’ and I was kind of already like, hmm, but now I don’t think I want to stay. It was just a very weird -- I felt like why wouldn’t you wanna keep me? But also, do you not wanna keep me because you thought I wanted to leave? It was a weird communication, honestly. But yeah, I was upset."
Purrazzo's name came up in an interview that Jordynne Grace did, during which she opened up about dropping the Knockouts Title to Purrazzo in 2020. To read more, click here.
If the quotes in this article are used, please credit Lightweights Podcast with Joe Vulpis with an H/T to Fightful for the transcriptions.
