Deonna Purrazzo has nothing but great things to say about Masha Slamovich.
The feud between Deonna Purrazzo and Mickie James began at Slammiversary 2021 but reached new levels of intensity when, three weeks ago, The Virtuosa attacked James at her farm. Scott D'Amore met with both women the following week, booking a Knockouts Championship Match for Bound For Flory and also booking two 'Pick Your Poison matches.
As Deonna's opponent, Mickie James picked Masha Slamovich. They faced off at Knockouts Knockdown, having a tremendous bout that ended with Purrazzo picking up the victory.
Speaking with Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp (full interview above), Deonna said that she went into the match knowing that it had the potential to be really good, but once the bell rang, it became clear that it was going to surpass even her own expectations.
"Masha and I had wrestled at Beyond a couple months prior to that. Different dynamic. I was the babyface, she was the bad guy. So it was a little bit of a different match. So going into this knowing I would be wrestling Masha, I was already kind of, ‘Okay, this could be really, really good.’ Then in the ring, I was like, ‘Holy crap, this is great,’ while I was in there. Loved it. It was just kind of easy, it flowed," she said.
Gail Kim offered Masha Slamovich a contract following her performance at Knockouts Knockdown. In a video posted online by the promotion, Slamovich nods her head "yes," seemingly agreeing to the contract.
On September 18, Fightful Select reported on Gail Kim offering Masha a contract at the event. On Wednesday October 13, Fightful Select reported that the contract offer didn't air on the PPV because the deal had not yet been finalized.
One of the things Deonna appreciates most about working with Masha is her technical ability and how it allows her to have a different style of a match than the ones she typically has with the other Knockouts. She also revealed that she didn't know about the contract offer until Gail Kim came out and spoke to Masha.
"There’s not a lot of people that I can be super technical with or do something like what we got to do," Purrazzo began by saying. "So when we started with the test of strength and we held onto each other, things like that, I haven’t gotten to do with a lot of people in a long time. It was really fun for me to really get into that technical aspect of wrestling that maybe doesn’t always work with other opponents that I’ve had at IMPACT!. So I knew it was going to be different and hopefully stand out on the card. I had no idea that it would get the reception it did or that she was going to be offered a contract. That was 100% Gail being the agent in the back being like, ‘We need her! We need her!’ Then going out there and offering her."
The Knockouts Champion concluded by saying that Masha didn't need her to get that opportunity, but she's thrilled she got to be a part of it and chalks it up as one of the coolest moments of her career thus far. Here are her full remarks:
"So it felt really good. She’s phenomenal. She didn’t need me to get that opportunity for them to see that in her, but for me to be a part of that is really special for me. Especially being the girl who was the independent girl coming into two different Knockouts tryouts. Like you said, it was my first TV match when I came in to wrestle Brooke Tessmacher. It was my eighth professional wrestling match. I was so in over my head, so to see these girls live that but then really come out on top and really show their talent, and that they’re a star and deserve to be a Knockout, was really special and one of the coolest moments of my career thus far."
Deonna Purrazzo recruited Savannah Evans to be Mickie James' opponent in her 'Pick Your Poison' match. They faced off on the October 21 edition of IMPACT Wrestling.
Mickie James will challenge Deonna Purrazzo for the Knockouts Title on Saturday, October 23 at IMPACT Bound For Glory.
Fightful will have live coverage of IMPACT Bound For Glory this Saturday beginning at 10 p.m. EST with a post-show review immediately following its conclusion.
