Deonna Purrazzo fought hard both inside and outside of the ring for ROH Women's World Championship.
Prior to signing with WWE in May 2018, Purrazzo spent three years working for Ring of Honor during which time she helped revive ROH's Women's Division. Now a member of the IMPACT Wrestling Knockouts Division, Purrazzo was able to capture the ROH Women's Title for the first time on January 10, defeating Rok-C in a Winner Takes All Match that made her the Champ-Champ (also holding the AAA Reina de Reinas Championship).
Speaking with SP3 of Tru Heel Heat Wrestling and TalkSPORT, Deonna explained what it meant to win the Ring of Honor Women's Championship after being one of the pillars of the Women of Honor division
"Um, everything (laughs). It was really special to me because I fought for that championship to be just like a figment of someone's imagination. And for someone to see the vision that myself and other women that helped create the Women of Honor division back then. We saw a championship, we saw a division, we saw this vision for what Women of Honor could be that no one else saw. And it was for years until I left Ring of Honor before I went to NXT, for three years I fought. I could not tell you the amount of emails that I sent to Joe Koff with like data from our YouTube and from our Twitter and from Instagram being like people really want to pay attention to this. You need women, we are the best wrestling on the planet, women are included in that and here's why and here's the statistics.
I fought way beyond just fighting in the ring for Women of Honor to be something that someone to believe way beyond myself and Mandy and a few other people. For better or for worse, I got what I wanted so it was a very long journey, but I believe everything happens for a reason. And you know the place that Ring of Honor was in when I won the Ring of Honor Women's Championship was a bit uneasy. We didn't know what's to come and if I can say this about myself, I was the best fit to carry the division in such an unknown time period. And now, I'm carrying the championship onto AEW Dynamite on Wednesday. So this seven years journey has come full circle to me. Wrestling is the only thing that makes me really emotional and I already had to cry about it," she said.
On April 1 at ROH Supercard of Honor, Mercedes Martinez defeated Willow Nightingale to become the Interim ROH Women's Champion. Purrazzo couldn't attend the event due to commitments with IMPACT Wrestling that same night. Commenting on how she felt about Mercedes being crowned Interim Champion, Purrazzo believes it was important for a Champion to be crowned.
"I think that it was important for a champion to be crowned especially because we are going into a new era of Ring of Honor. Whether it's me or Mercedes, someone is gonna come out on top. So I think showcasing women on Supercard of Honor was the right thing to do 100 percent. I would have been upset had I not done it and there was no women's match so if that means having to prove to Mercedes Martinez and the world that I'm the real Ring of Honor Women's World Champion, then I'm more than happy to do that. That's exactly what I plan to do on Wednesday is to carry a piece of the old Women of Honor what it was into this new Ring of Honor and new women's division," she said.
This past Wednesday on AEW Dynamite, Purrazzo made her AEW debut, facing Martinez in the main event to crown an Undisputed ROH Women's Champion. Though she lost the bout, Deonna was emotional about the full-circle nature of her journey and having the biggest ROH Women's Championship Match on national television in Baltimore, one of the long-time home bases of Ring of Honor.
"It wasn't until you just said it to me and I've talked about it's Baltimore, it's Baltimore all day, but for some reason, I just realized that the first Women of Honor match was me and Mandy Leon July 25, 2015 in Baltimore so it's real full circle. It actually gave me chills when I just thought about it. I can cry talking about it honestly, it's so full circle. What's crazy too is I was supposed to be a part of All In, which was the precursor to what became AEW. It's been a really long journey for me to get to this point and that's why I keep saying my long-awaited AEW debut. I'm excited and I'm even more excited because AEW and IMPACT have had this off-and-on relationship that we didn't really get to see women be a part of. And I was very vocal to be a part of that and wanting to be that first woman who stepped through the forbidden door to AEW. So it's full circle in so many different ways and the fact I get to represent that old Ring of Honor, that old Women of Honor in this new Ring of Honor and then also get to wave that IMPACT Wrestling banner in one more place around the world. If you could be proud of yourself, I'm very proud of myself for the last few years and the way it's gone and what's to come," Purrazzo said.
Deonna is looking to regain one of her titles this weekend when she faces off with Taya Valkyrie for the AAA Reina de Reinas Championship at IMPACT Under Siege. You can view the full card for the event by clicking here.
Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp recently spoke with The Virtuosa ahead of IMPACT Under Siege. You can find that interview here.
