Purrazzo began training in December 2012, and then started wrestling in various
independent promotions the following year, eventually appearing in national companies TNA and ROH. She also worked for the Japanese promotion
World Wonder Ring Stardom from 2017 to 2018. After making various appearances for
WWE beginning in 2014, she signed with the company in 2018 and was appointed to its
developmental brandNXT, but was released in 2020. Purrazzo then re-signed with TNA, which had been renamed to Impact Wrestling in 2017, and quickly rose through the ranks in the
women's division, and also appeared in AAA through a partnership with Impact. After leaving Impact at the end of 2023, which reverted to its TNA name in January 2024, Purrazzo signed with AEW that same month.
Purrazzo started training at the now defunct D2W Pro Wrestling Academy in December 2012 after she spotted an advertisement for it.[6] She made her in-ring debut in 2013.[11] Purrazzo left D2W in 2014, alongside trainer
Damian Adams. Both continued training at Team Adams Training facility in Northern New Jersey. She has attended extra training sessions alongside
Rip Rogers at
Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) in Louisville, Kentucky.
On October 17, 2015, at the
East Coast Wrestling Association (ECWA)'s second annual
Super 8 ChickFight Tournament, Purrazzo won the tournament and the
ECWA Women's Championship after defeating
Tessa Blanchard in the finals, marking Purrazzo's first title win in her wrestling career.[12] On October 22, 2016, Purazzo, still being the ECWA Women's Champion, won the
third Super 8 ChickFight Tournament after defeating
Karen Q in the finals, being the first wrestler in ECWA's history to win the tournament back-to-back.[13][14] On June 17, 2017, Purrazzo vacated the championship after defeating Karen. On October 21, at the
fourth Super 8 ChickFight Tournament, Purrazzo advanced to the finals, where she faced against Karen and
Santana Garrett in a
three-way match, which was won by Karen.[15]
Ring of Honor (2015–2018)
Purrazzo is co-credited with starting the "rebirth" of
Ring of Honor (ROH)'s women's division (officially called
Women of Honor), as her ROH debut match against
Mandy Leon (in Baltimore, Maryland on July 25, 2015) was ROH's first women's match in roughly a decade. Although losing the contest, this match set the tone for what was to come in WOH. In December 2015 at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Purrazzo teamed with Hania "The Howling Huntress" in another losing effort against
Mandy Leon and
Sumie Sakai. Purrazzo made an appearance at the
Ring of HonorSupercard of Honor X in April 2016 where she teamed with
Amber Gallows in a tag team match against
Solo Darling and
Mandy Leon, but lost via submission.[16][17][18] On the December 14 episode of ROH's Women of Honor Wednesday webseries, Purrazzo returned to face off against
Sumie Sakai in a winning effort. Purrazzo made her first appearance on ROH TV episode that aired on December 10, 2016. Purrazzo defeated
Candice LeRae.[19]
On June 23, 2017, at
Best in the World, Purrazzo teamed with Mandy Leon in a losing effort against
Kris Wolf and Sumie Sakai.[20] During the following night's TV tapings, Purrazzo wrestled a three-way match against
Karen Q and
Kelly Klein, and was pinned by Karen Q. On the July 29 tapings (uploaded on YouTube on September 6), Purrazzo lost a singles match to Klein, following interference from Karen Q, who attacked Purrazzo during and after the match. On October 13, at
Global Wars: Pittsburgh, Purrazzo teamed with Leon and Jenny Rose in a winning effort, against
Britt Baker, Faye Jackson and Sumie Sakai.[21]
On January 11, 2018, Purrazzo signed a contract with ROH.[22]
Purrazzo left ROH on July 1, 2018, her final match came in a loss against Kelly Klein.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2014–2017)
Purrazzo made her TNA wrestling debut during the May 10, 2014, taping of
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, losing a singles match against
Brooke at
Knockouts Knockdown II.[26] Deonna returned to TNA on January 8, 2016, at the
One Night Only: Live PPV and participated in a number one contender's gauntlet match, where she was eliminated by
Awesome Kong. She made a third appearance on March 17, 2016, at
Knockouts Knockdown IV where she lost to
Madison Rayne.[27] On January 19, 2017, episode of Impact Wrestling, Purrazzo faced Brooke in a losing effort.[28] Purrazzo was also featured in an Xplosion match, losing to
Laurel Van Ness.[29]
Purrazzo returned to Stardom on June 3, 2018, where she teamed with Lucas and Storm in a losing effort against Io Shirai,
Konami and
Momo Watanabe.[36] On June 23, Purrazzo unsuccessfully challenged Watanabe for the
Wonder of Stardom Championship.[37]
WWE (2014–2020)
Early appearances (2014–2017)
In 2014, Purrazzo started working as extra talent for
WWE appearing in several skits with
Adam Rose as a "Rosebud".[38]
She appeared on the November 11, 2015, episode of NXT where she was defeated by
Nia Jax. On the November 19 episode of NXT, Purrazzo lost to
Asuka.[39] On the January 13, 2016, episode of NXT, she participated in a battle royal to determine the number one contender for the
NXT Women's Championship. She kept appearing throughout 2016, losing to the likes of Asuka,
Emma, Nia Jax,[40] and
Bayley.[41]
In early April 2018 during the “WrestleMania Weekendâ€, WWE offered Purrazzo a contract backstage at a
Shimmer Women Athletes show. Though Purrazzo was still under contract to Ring of Honor, she accepted and pulled out of her match at that summer's
All In pay per view (a record-setting independent wrestling event produced by what would become
AEW).[44] Purrazzo's WWE signing was reported on May 31; that same week, WWE announced she would appear in the second
Mae Young Classic. On August 22, Purrazzo fought Bianca Belair in a losing effort. During the Mae Young Classic, Purrazzo advanced to the tournament's quarterfinals, defeating
Priscilla Kelly and
Xia Li before losing to
Io Shirai.[45] On December 26, Purrazzo made her NXT UK debut, where she unsuccessfully challenged Rhea Ripley for the NXT UK Women's Championship, after the match, Ripley attacked Purrazzo until she was rescued by Toni Storm. The following week, Purrazzo fought Storm, where, Storm managed to defeat her. On December 16, 2019, Purrazzo appeared on Raw in a singles match against Asuka, where she was defeated.[46] On the January 15, 2020 episode of NXT, Purrazzo attacked Shotzi Blackheart upon being eliminated from a battle royal by her, also turning heel for the first time.[47] Purrazzo had an unsuccessful match with Blackheart on January 29.[48] Purrazzo also fought Tegan Nox for the chance to qualify in a number one Contender's Ladder Match, but Nox defeated her.[49] Purrazzo appeared on the April 6 episode of Raw in a
squash match against the returning
Nia Jax, where she was defeated.[50] On April 15, WWE released Purrazzo and nearly two dozen other wrestlers and producers.[51] During Purrazzo's 2-year WWE run, she had only 16 televised matches.[52] According to Purrazzo, WWE's creative team believed she was not yet ready for television.
Return to Impact Wrestling (2020–2023)
Knockouts World Champion (2020–2022)
After Purrazzo's WWE release,
Impact Wrestling wrestler/producer
Madison Rayne contacted her.[53] One month after, Purrazzo appeared on the May 26 episode of Impact! in a taped promo introducing herself as "The Virtuosa", a wrestler possessing immense technical skill and certainty of her future success. Purrazzo's in-ring debut was on the June 9 episode of Impact!, attacking
Knockouts ChampionJordynne Grace and by placing her in the
Fujiwara armbar to establish herself as a heel. On July 18 at
Slammiversary, Purrazzo defeated Grace by submission to win the championship for the first time.[54] On August 24, during the second night of the
Emergence special, Purrazzo made her first successful title defense against Grace in the first
Knockouts 30-minute
Iron Man match in Impact history, winning two falls to one.[55] At
Victory Road, she had another successful title defense against
Susie.[56] On October 21, it was confirmed that Purrazzo had signed a long-term deal with Impact Wrestling.[57]
On the July 21 episode of Impact!, Purrazzo alongside Chelsea Green, now collectively known as VXT, faced the Knockouts World Champion Jordynne Grace and
Mia Yim, which they were victorious.[86] Ten days later, at
Ric Flair's Last Match event, she competed in a three-way match for the title, which was won by Grace after she made
Rachael Ellering submit.[87] On August 12, at the
Countdown to Emergence pre-show, VXT defeated Rosemary and Taya Valkyrie to win the
Impact Knockouts World Tag Team Championship.[88] They lost the titles on October 7 at
Bound for Glory to The Death Dollz (
Jessicka, Rosemary and Valkyrie), ending their reign at 56 days.[89]
On the January 9, 2023 episode of Impact!, Purrazzo confronted
Gisele Shaw for mentioning Chelsea Green. Shaw got a bowl of food and was about to throw it at Purrazzo but she saw it coming and threw it all over Shaw's face. Purrazzo thought it was hilarious, turning face in the process, so
Santino Marella stepped in and said that they could settle their differences at
No Surrender.[90] On February 24, 2023, at the event, Purrazzo was defeated by Shaw.[91] In March 2023, the rematch between Purrazzo and Shaw was set to take place at
Sacrifice.[92] On March 24, Purrazzo defeated Shaw in a rematch at Sacrifice.[93] Six days later at
Multiverse United, Purrazzo defeated
Masha Slamovich,
Miyu Yamashita and Shaw, who Purrazzo pinned, in a four-way match to be added to Impact Knockouts World Championship match at
Rebellion.[94]
Purrazzo would go on to beat
Jordynne Grace at Rebellion to win the title for the third time (defending champion Mickie James has vacated the title due to injury, with Purrazzo and Grace competing to become the new champion).[95] On the April 27 episode of Impact!, during the main event, Purrazzo had her first successful title defense after submitting
Taylor Wilde.[96] Post-match, Purrazzo was attacked by Wilde and her accomplice
KiLynn King before being saved by Grace.[96] On the May 11, 2023, episode of Impact!, Purrazzo and Grace challenged The Coven for their title, but were unsuccessful. Post-match, Purrazzo and Grace was attacked by The Coven until
Trinity runs down to the ring and makes the save.[97] On May 26 at
Under Siege, Purrazzo successfully retained the title against Grace. Since Grace lost, she can no longer challenge for the title as long as Purrazzo is champion.[98]
On the June 1 episode of Impact!, Trinity challenged Purrazzo for her title at
Slammiversary which Purrazzo accepted, however, both were attacked by Gisele Shaw and
Savannah Evans afterwards.[99] On June 9, at
Against All Odds, Purrazzo teamed with Trinity defeating Evans and Shaw.[100] On July 15 at Slammiversary, Purrazzo lost her title to Trinity via submission, ending her reign at 90 days, and losing via submission for the first time in IMPACT Wrestling.[101] Four days later, on the subsequent episode of Impact!, Purrazzo, furious that Grace's return announcement came after she lost the Knockouts World Championship, would challenge Grace to a match at
Victory Road.[102] At the event, Purrazzo lost to Grace. at
Turning Point, Purrazzo lost to Trinity in a
Last Chance match failing to win the championship. After the match, she attacked Trinity from behind only to be laid out by special guest referee Gail Kim, turning heel for the first time in three years.
At
Final Resolution on December 9, Purrazzo teamed with Gisele Shaw losing to Trinity and Jordynne Grace. After the match, she offered Shaw a handshake which was accepted by Shaw, but was laid out afterwards.[103] This marked Purrazzo's final appearance with the company as her contract was set to expire by the end of the year.
On the January 3, 2024 episode of Dynamite, Purrazzo made her official company debut by confronting
Mariah May and officially announced that she was signed to AEW, establishing herself as a face in the process.[111] On the January 13 episode of
AEW Collision, Purrazzo made her official AEW in-ring debut by defeating
Red Velvet. On March 3 at
Revolution, Purrazzo unsuccesfully challenged
"Timeless" Toni Storm for the
AEW Women's World Championship.
Professional wrestling style and persona
Purrazzo describes her style as "very meticulous and very methodical", looking for her
Fujiwara armbar submission hold,[112] being called "The Fujiwara Armbar Specialist".[113] She is also nicknamed "The Virtuosa", a nickname she chose since she was looking for a moniker that would not only reflect her technical abilities in the ring, but also gave femininity, elegance, and grace to her persona.[114]
Personal life
In 2020, Purrazzo started dating fellow Impact wrestler and
New Jersey native
Steve Maclin.[115] On February 12, 2022, Purrazzo announced that she and Maclin were engaged. They were married on November 10, 2022.[116]
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