Deonna Purrazzo on Women of Honor, Learning From Rip Rogers and the Indie Boom

Fred: I have on the line the woman everybody is calling the Virtuosa. She’s taking the wrestling scene by storm. You may have seen her on WWE NXT, SmackDown, Impact Wrestling specials and of course Ring of Honor, where she’s part of the Women of Honor tournament. I’m talking to fellow New Jerseyan Deonna Purrazzo. Deonna, how’s it going?

Deonna Purrazzo: I’m good. How are you?

Fred: Doing great. Before we get into your career, as somebody who’s also from New Jersey, I want to personally thank you for not doing a stereotypical New Jersey gimmick.

Deonna Purrazzo: Seriously, no problem. That was my biggest fear when I started wrestling, that I was going to have to be Jersey Shore Italian, and I didn’t want to do that at all.

Fred: For the record, you are actually Italian and actually from New Jersey, so you’re not a poser.

Deonna Purrazzo: No, I am actually Italian and from New Jersey. Not from Staten Island.

Fred: When you broke in, I think another former TSC guest, Robbie E, was doing that gimmick and was pretty successful at it, and several other people were doing the whole Jersey Shore thing. Did anybody pitch that idea to you?

Deonna Purrazzo: Robbie was one of the people around me when I first started training, so I couldn’t do that. But people were very adamant: Just be you. Be Italian and be your character. It took me a really long time to embrace that and accept that that’s who I am and who I’m going to be.

Fred: You’ve had a lot of momentum these last few years, and you’ve busted your butt to get where you are. You’re still relatively young in the business, and you’ve been pretty much everywhere: NXT, SmackDown, Impact Wrestling, and you’ve been a cornerstone of the ROH women’s division. Now they’re finally set to crown the inaugural Women of Honor champion. What’s it like to beat that drum for so long, being outspoken about wanting opportunities, and finally get them?

Deonna Purrazzo: It’s really exciting, because I haven’t just worked for these opportunities in the last five years I’ve been wrestling. In a way, I was a little girl who wanted to do this, and at 9, 10 and 11 years old, I saw how women were treated in wrestling. I always had this picture in my head of women’s wrestling being the way it is today, with women getting opportunities and being seen as serious competitors and true athletes. To see this evolution, as they say, of how women have risen in the last few years is really incredible, because it didn’t start with me at 18 when I started wrestling. It started with that 9-year-old girl.

Fred: How much of a difference is there in how women are perceived between when you started and now? Even a few years ago, women were looked at and booked as eye candy or valets and didn’t get much time on the card. Now they’re the main attraction. Tenille Dashwood just joined ROH, and she’s headlining shows.

Deonna Purrazzo: Everyone’s go-to is to talk about WWE and its women’s revolution, but it’s really changed on the independent scene as well. You see so many all-women independent wrestling companies popping up all over the country, and if it’s not an all-women card, there are three or four women’s matches, or there are valets, managers or women referees. Across the board in professional wrestling, women have been given so many opportunities, from the independent level all the way up.

Fred: Would you attribute that to the early days of NXT, with Paige and Emma, or does it go back further? Was there a person, promotion or movement you noticed that helped drive the change?

Deonna Purrazzo: I don’t even know if it started in professional wrestling. I think strong women athletes all over the world, who have been working for women’s equality and for women to be more than a sideshow or an afterthought, really sparked this whole women’s movement in the last few years. It hasn’t just been professional wrestling. It’s been women in sports and women athletes all over the world.

Fred: Who drew you into professional wrestling?

Deonna Purrazzo: Don’t quote me on exactly who it was, but I think Stone Cold Steve Austin hit maybe Chris Jericho over the head with a chair, and that was the first moment I can remember thinking, “Holy crap, what is this?” It hooked me. I needed to know every single thing about this crazy thing I’d just seen. Once I got to see the women do it, Trish, Lita, Victoria and Jacqueline, strong, powerful women doing this intense thing, I knew that one day I could do it, too. Trish Stratus has always been my inspiration for being a woman wrestler, and she looked awesome in that women’s Royal Rumble match. She’s literally more beautiful today than she was the last time she was in a wrestling ring. I don’t know what she does or how she does it, but she keeps getting better.

Fred: She’s definitely on that reverse aging plan. Who got you started in professional wrestling? From what I understand, you trained under our mutual friend Rip Rogers.

Deonna Purrazzo: I started at a place called D2W, right out of Wharton, New Jersey, about 20 minutes from where I grew up. I drove past the VFW where they run shows every month and saw a big banner that said “Pro Wrestling Live Every Month.” For some reason, it stuck with me, and when I got home, I researched it and saw they had a wrestling school. A few weeks later, I signed up. Damian Adams is my trainer, and he still is today. He set me up to not only learn professional wrestling but be successful at it.

Fred: How did you go from New Jersey to Louisville, Kentucky, under Rip Rogers? For those who don’t know, he’s not only a well-respected pro wrestling veteran but a guy who mentored the likes of Brock Lesnar, John Cena, CM Punk and Randy Orton.

Deonna Purrazzo: Damian is actually an OVW alumnus, so we’d take trips with other students, or just him and me, to go down to OVW and take extra sessions with Rip. We’d use it as a vacation, but we’d also do OVW house shows and OVW TV and get that whole experience.

Fred: When you first told your family and friends you were really going to try professional wrestling, what was their reaction?

Deonna Purrazzo: Everyone knew I wanted to be a professional wrestler, but it was a weird thing. I was a cheerleader and a gymnast, and it was kind of, “No, you’re going to go to college and do the college thing.” I tried that, but I think people thought it was a phase I’d grow out of, and I just never did. When I signed up for wrestling school, I didn’t tell anyone. I just went and did it, came home and said, “Yeah, I’m going to be a wrestler. I told you.” I think my mom was more mad that I’d signed a contract to pay all this money without her seeing it or knowing what I did, but now they’re really supportive.

Fred: They say timing is everything in wrestling, and you picked a pretty damn good time to get into the business, with the women’s evolution and the indies being so hot. It’s a great time to be a talented pro wrestler outside of WWE. Can you attest to how hot the indies are right now?

Deonna Purrazzo: If you turn on WWE right now and look at the audience at the hard cam, you’ll see Bullet Club shirts, Villain Club shirts and Joey Ryan shirts. There are pro wrestling T-shirts in Hot Topic stores. In the last year or two, independent wrestling has found the ability to become mainstream and identify not just with casual wrestling fans but with casual people, and that’s super important. That’s how the Young Bucks and Marty Scurll make their money, through merchandise sales, and it’s through the roof right now. It’s incredible that people can make a living in independent wrestling and travel the world on the schedule a lot of these people keep. I know from personal experience with Marty that he’s never home. He’s sleeping, and then he’s on an airplane again. For people to keep a schedule that some would say is harder than a WWE schedule just for independent wrestling is crazy.

Fred: Marty, the Bullet Club guys and a lot of guys and girls on the independent scene are really taking advantage of the internet and streaming, like ROH with the Honor Club streaming service it just launched. Before that, ROH was known for its DVDs, building word-of-mouth and buzz for guys.

Deonna Purrazzo: That’s evolution and a byproduct of the time we live in. Damian has been wrestling for 16 years, and he says social media has changed the way people get booked on independent shows and contact promoters. If someone hears my name, they can just YouTube me. That wasn’t a thing 10 or 12 years ago, when you had to put your video on a VHS tape, send it in a manila envelope and hope someone looked at it. There’s so much access to wrestling today through Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. It’s at our fingertips, and people like the Young Bucks, Marty, Cody Rhodes and Joey Ryan, who are super successful in independent wrestling, have found a niche using social media to reach more people than just wrestling fans.

Fred: It’s almost a reality era in a sense. Fans connect with you on a personal level and can emotionally invest in you in and out of the ring, and that lends to more support wherever you go.

Deonna Purrazzo: Everyone wants to feel like they know someone personally. That’s human instinct. Being able to use social media to get to know fans by name or recognize their faces makes people feel special, and it’s been really useful for independent wrestlers, because you don’t always have TV to get across who you are. For me, in New Jersey, to be able to talk to fans I met in Japan last year and still have that connection means more when I go back and get to see them again. These tools really help you grow your own brand.

Fred: We know Rip Rogers is very big on the fundamentals. What’s the most important lesson the Hustler taught you?

Deonna Purrazzo: Everyone likes to talk about American psychology, and he’s so big on that, but more so, he’s taught me to go with the flow and do what I’m supposed to do, to realize this is a job and it’s not always about me, to do what I’m asked and to be overprepared in any situation.

Fred: A lot of people are surprised you didn’t end up in WWE or Impact. Was that by choice, to get more experience, or was it just not meant to be at the time?

Deonna Purrazzo: Like we said, timing is everything. When I was in NXT and when I did stuff with Impact, it just wasn’t the right time for me, and I wasn’t offered a contract. Through all that work, I was extra talent and enhancement talent. Looking back, I’m OK with that, because it wasn’t my time, and I was able to learn and grow from those experiences and become a better professional wrestler. Now I’m at a place I’ve always considered my home. Ring of Honor allows me to be the wrestler I see myself as, put myself in the forefront and do the job the way I see fit, whereas in those other companies, as enhancement talent, I had to do the job how they saw fit.

Fred: That helps you get a better grasp of who you are in the ring, so whether you stay in Ring of Honor and rise up the ranks or eventually go to WWE, you’ll be more polished and well-rounded.

Deonna Purrazzo: I’m a big proponent of never stopping learning. I want to know everything about this I could ever possibly know. Being able to listen to Triple H speak on professional wrestling, get William Regal’s opinion, pick Johnny Saint’s mind backstage, talk to Gail Kim, Madison Rayne and Pat Kenny at Impact and then talk to Delirious at Ring of Honor, who’s completely different from all those people, you pick up things from each person you meet. I’ve been lucky enough to be surrounded by some of the best in the business, and I’ve experienced a lot in just a few years.

Fred: We asked some fans for questions, and evidently a lot of them are fluent in Purrazzo. Scott Anderson asks, “Who is your dream opponent, and have you faced her yet?”

Deonna Purrazzo: I have not. My dream opponent would be Serena Deeb, but she just signed a contract to start at the Performance Center, so I don’t think that’s ever going to happen. I also think she’s criminally underrated. When I first started training, she’s who Rip compared me to and who he always said I reminded him of, so I studied her. I’ve gotten to meet her, and she’s an even more amazing person than she is a wrestler. If not her, I don’t know. Is Trish Stratus willing to wrestle? Maybe.

Fred: Maybe you can run into her at WrestleCon and convince her.

Deonna Purrazzo: I hope so, because if I get to meet her, I think I will die.

Fred: This one’s from Allen Woo: When did you realize wrestling was tougher than you thought?

Deonna Purrazzo: I thought it would be tough, but I didn’t realize how tough until my very first day of training. I learned how to take a bump, falling backward, and I had to do it about 150 times. When I left, my trainer said, “We have practice on Sunday,” and I said, “Totally, I’ll be here, no problem.” I didn’t get out of bed for about a week, because I physically could not muster the strength. I was in so much pain, and in that moment I wondered if this was really what I wanted to do. But you adapt.

Fred: Another fan says they really enjoyed your stuff in Impact Wrestling and asks if we could see you back there. Are you exclusive to Ring of Honor right now?

Deonna Purrazzo: I can’t work for any other promotions that have television, so no WWE, no NXT, no Impact, no Lucha Underground, stuff like that. But I’m free to do independent wrestling all over the world, so you can definitely see me at indie shows, but unfortunately not Impact.

Fred: Jeremy asks, “Who’s your favorite opponent?”

Deonna Purrazzo: If I had to pick a favorite, because I just like to beat them all, Karen Q, by far. We trained together, and I think she’s a fantastic wrestler who’s just getting started. Outside of wrestling, she’s one of my best friends. We just click, and in the ring, we’re on the same page. It’s fun to wrestle someone who sees wrestling the same way you do but can match you toe-to-toe in anything you do. She always gives me a run for my money.

Fred: Ashley asks, and this might be a bit controversial, “What’s your biggest pet peeve in professional wrestling?”

Deonna Purrazzo: That’s easy. I hate when wrestlers are in the ring pulling at their gear. Get something that fits. When you get your gear made, send correct measurements, or have someone take them for you. Instead of watching the move, how you sell it or the transition to what’s next, I’m watching you pick your wedgie, and I don’t want to see that.

Fred: That’s good advice. You’ve got some pretty badass gear. Who makes it?

Deonna Purrazzo: I have a guy in California who makes all my gear, and he’s fantastic. He does anything I ask. I send him replicas of my clothes and say, “This is what fits me well. Make this,” and it always fits well. If it doesn’t, I send it back, because I think it’s distracting and takes away from what we’re doing. We’re putting our bodies at risk every time we get in the ring, so I want fans to get the most out of the damage I’m doing to myself instead of watching me pull my bra strap. It takes away from the art of what we do.

Fred: What do you think is your best performance so far? Was there a match where you said to yourself backstage, “I’m really starting to get this”?

Deonna Purrazzo: It wasn’t even a match on a show. Rip Rogers came up in the summer of 2014, I believe, for an NYWC seminar with Mike Mondo, who I’d met five minutes before. Rip said, “OK, Mike, Deonna, in the ring. You’re going to do an hour Broadway. Go ahead, ring the bell.” The whole time, I had no idea what I was doing. I was just listening to Mike, all on the fly with no planning. I didn’t even know how to do half the things he was telling me to do. About 20 minutes in, I thought, “If I just die right now, the match is over, and I don’t have to do it.” But you get a second wind, and afterward, I could start to pick things apart and understand why we did what we did, in the order we did it, with the old-school American psychology behind it. That match put everything into perspective for me.

Fred: Scott also asks: What are your biggest pro wrestling dos and don’ts?

Deonna Purrazzo: This is super cliché in wrestling, but the biggest do, which is also the biggest don’t, is that when you’re new in a place, you need to go up, introduce yourself, shake everyone’s hand and be respectful. A lot of people don’t always do that in situations where they should. At places like Ring of Honor, WWE or Impact, it’s expected of you. You’re a guest in those people’s homes, and you have to respect that. So do that, and don’t not do that.

Fred: Where can fans find you online to keep up with everything?

Deonna Purrazzo: Everyone can follow me on Twitter at @DeonnaPurrazzo. That’s the best way to get in contact with me.

Fred: Deonna, it was fun chatting with you. It’s great to see your progress these last few years, and I wish you the very best.

Deonna Purrazzo: Thank you so much.