Mickie James and Deonna Purrazzo are making a lot of history this weekend, between Mickie being announced as a Royal Rumble entrant while Knockout's Champion, and Purrazzo competing for the ROH Title, which she is expected to win. However, they made history in main eventing the Hard to Kill PPV.
We're told that this was not a reactionary move from the company based on the Royal Rumble announcement for Mickie James. At least since last week, the plan was for James and Purrazzo to main event the show. The company wanted it to serve as a surprise, with one source comparing it to the X Division main eventing Unbreakable 2005 as the most buzzworthy match on the show.
Those that we spoke to within IMPACT say that Mickie James does not have an exclusive deal with the company, and there are several others who have similar agreements.
This article first appeared on our premium service, Fightful Select and has since been published publicly with ample time for our subscribers. Subscribe to get exclusive news every day, and a half-dozen weekly podcasts.
To directly support us and our continuing breaking news, interviews, and the like, subscribe to FightfulSelect.com. You'll get exclusive news sent to you directly before anyone else, and dozens of podcasts monthly including Alex Pawlowski's Sour Graps, Sean Ross Sapp's Q&A, Retro Reviews and more
