Deonna Purrazzo was interviewed by WrestlingINC, where she spoke about her run with WWE and how being with the company hurt her career more than it helped, among other topics that were discussed.
Her release from WWE and how she found out:
“I did get a phone call before anything was released on the internet. What’s interesting is that a lot of the NXT releases weren’t released as WWE didn’t announce any of the NXT people. So, I got a phone call from Canyon Ceman and then took it upon myself to tweet that I had been released. There were a lot of people that heard rumors and weren’t really sure. They were kinda given a heads-up and then it was a waiting game. I think it happened different for everyone and I’m grateful that I got that phone call and didn’t find out on the internet because that must be terrible.”
Her thoughts on her release from WWE:
“I think there was definitely a relief to it. When the company said earlier in that day that they would be making cuts with furloughs and releases, I kinda felt this was it. I was really nervous all day because I was waiting to find out if it was gonna be me or not. Although it is a weird time, it didn’t really hit me that I didn’t have a job until my dad was like, ‘Ok, you get 30 days pay. What happens after the 30 days?’ I was like well I can’t just go get a job [laughs]. That made it real when my parents asked what I’m doing moving forward. There isn’t a lot of real options. So, that was the scary part when it hit and I got emotional about it. But, getting the phone call, the people I talked to, it was very much, ‘I think this is what’s gonna make you happy and I wish you happiness moving forward…I saw it through rose-colored glasses and [my dad] was like, ‘You need to be realistic here, Deonna.’”
How her expectations with WWE hurt her wrestling career:
“I’ve said it in tons of interviews that I don’t know if I maybe shot myself in the foot thinking I was coming in in a better position. I was the first of my kind in women that had done so much as enhancement talent before and now had a job. I just thought that all of the struggles and hardships I went through as enhancement talent, doing tryouts, being told no, being told not right now – that the tide had changed now that I had earned a contract. I thought that I was ready to be a Superstar and they had finally seen that in me through everything I did in ROH, Japan, traveling the world and reinventing myself to earn that opportunity. But ultimately, I didn’t.”
Pitching ideas to WWE creative:
“It seemed like everything I did was looked upon negatively or I didn’t get answers to and they just didn’t want to deal with me.”
Thoughts on Tessa Blanchard as Impact Wrestling World Heavyweight Champion:
“I think it’s really eye-opening to the rest of the wrestling world. Impact has always – since the beginning of TNA – been so open minded with the way they treat their women’s division. So, to do such a historic decision only breaks down those barriers more. Women can only continue to grow from here on out.”
