Deonna Purrazzo discusses her IMPACT/TNA departure.
Deonna Purrazzo officially became All Elite on the January 3 episode of AEW Dynamite when she confronted Mariah May. Purrazzo had been with TNA/IMPACT since 2020 and had been a three-time Knockouts Champion, a Knockouts Tag Team Champion, and main evented on pay-per-view.
Her contract expired at the end of 2023, paving the way for her to join AEW as a free agent.
Speaking to Chris Jericho on Talk is Jericho, Purrazzo said about leaving IMPACT, "I knew my contract was coming up with IMPACT, and I felt like, if it was time to leave, it would be now. If this was the territories, now would be the time to leave. Britt Baker actually connected me with Tony Khan and we got to talking. I knew the first Dynamite of the new year was going to be in Jersey, that's where I'm from, so I was like, 'that would be a dream scenario. Dream come true if we could do that,' and it all worked out.
"I was the champion for a very long time in IMPACT. I got to work with all of the women that were in the locker room, and it was like, 'what other stories are there to tell? Everyone has kind of put me over at that point, I've beaten everybody. They kind of figured maybe I was on my way out, so I got to do the favors and put everyone else over on my way out. It was like, what else is there to do? There was no one new coming in that I could work with, I don't know what else there is to tell here."
Purrazzo defeated Red Velvet on the January 13 episode of AEW Collision.
She is set to face Anna Jay on the January 17 episode of AEW Dynamite.
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