In our last interview, Deonna Purrazzo joked to us about being 0-20 on WWE TV. Times sure have changed in under six months.
Purrazzo has had new opportunities that led to her becoming IMPACT Knockouts Champion just a few months after that interview. Now, she defends that title against Kylie Rae at IMPACT Bound For Glory on October 24. She told Fightful in an exclusive interview just how she landed there.
"Madison Rayne is one of my biggest supporters, one of my greatest friends, and through my whole WWE stuff, she just kinda knew where my head was at. She was one of the first people I told, when I was release that it had happened. She was like, ‘You’re gonna be fine. Don’t worry about it.’ She was a really big advocate for me coming to IMPACT!. So, she just always knew how I felt and what I was going through and how I was feeling about it. Just always was like, ‘Hey, you don’t ever have to worry about having an opportunity here. if you want it. When the time is right I will do what I can to help you come here.’ So, through her, then I talked to Scott D’Amore and things just fell into place after my 30 day non-compete. I was able to, after those 30 days, the first episode of IMPACT! right after. It was like two days after and I was able to make that immediate impact," Purrazzo said.
Many expected Purrazzo and other recently released NXT talent to be subject to a 90-day no compete clause. However, Purrazzo was ready to go after that month, and she said she thought that it benefited her big time.
"Every contract is kind of standard with what that would be. I wasn’t really sure what it would be, I had to ask when I was on the phone. But, I was happy it was only 30 days because it gave me those opportunities to make those impacts and make those impressions right away, and then get my feet grounded in what I would be doing next. I didn’t have to dwell for very long," Purrazzo told us.
First Madison Rayne, then Co-Executive Vice President of IMPACT Scott D'Amore got in touch and brought Deonna in. Years of creative frustration was alleviated in pretty short order. Immediately, Purrazzo was finally given input on her character and immediately pitched it to IMPACT.
"That first conversation I had with Scott, I was like, ‘I have an entire character synopsis. This is who I think I am. I have vignettes I’ll send you.’ I really had a good basis of who I had become from those prior experiences, and if that’s what you’re looking for, I have that now. So, this time I gave them no opportunity to say, ‘You don’t have this or you don’t have this or you’re not ready for this.’ It was, ‘This is the Virtuosa. Here’s her character, here’s her real life, this is the back story. You can’t say no now.’ I had an entire thing written up of like, ‘Here’s the Virtuosa, and this is the literal definition, and here’s promo ideas. Here’s how I’d like her to speak.’ That kind of fell on deaf ears before, but it was so welcomed at IMPACT! and they just took it and were like, ‘You know everything about this character, roll with it.’ So, I came off as like, ‘I had such bad experiences and I’m flustered and I need to vent all my grievances.” But, I really, from my time before IMPACT!, really got to broaden my character development. It’s made this transition into IMPACT! ten times easier because I was able to give them a format of who I though I was. Every week I’m able to explore different scenarios that the Virtuosa is and how she would react in certain situations and to different characters. It’s just something I’ve never gotten the chance to do before, so I’m learning more and more about myself every single week as we go on to Bound for Glory," Purrazzo closed.
You can see our full interview with Deonna Purrazzo at the top of the page, and check her out on Twitter at this link. She'll be defending her IMPACT Knockouts championship against Kylie Rae at IMPACT Wrestling Bound For Glory on October 24.
