Deonna Purrazzo is incredibly proud of Steve Maclin and everything he's done since his WWE release.
After seven years with WWE, Steve Maclin (Cutler) was released by WWE in February 2021. He had been teaming with Wesley Blake, both of whom, along with Jaxson Ryker, made up the Forgotten Sons. In June, Maclin made his debut in IMPACT Wrestling and has since been a staple of the X Division.
During a recent interview with Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp, Purrazzo, who is in a relationship with Maclin, commented on how they didn't know each other prior to WWE and how she had never really seen him as a singles competitor. Now, both in IMPACT, Deonna sees Maclin as a Samoa Joe-esque throwback for the X Division.
"Yeah. I would even go as far as to say I wasn’t well aware of that because when I had met him because he was in a tag team with Weston Blake—Corey—his best friend. I had never seen what he could do as a singles competitor. Because, although we grew up an hour from each other, we know all the same people from Jersey, we had never met. We had never been around each other before WWE or until I came to NXT. So to see him break out, and I said to him Bound for Glory was his breakout moment. Everyone saw,‘Oh shit, this is different from flipping and what the X-Division was known for.’ Like a throwback to Samoa Joe in the X-Division a little bit. I couldn’t even tell you how proud of him I am. He’s taken this with stride. He went out there with a purpose to say, ‘I’m gonna prove you wrong and I’m going to show everyone what I can do on my own,’ because he never got the chance to do it," Purrazzo said.
Maclin has been aiming to capture the X Division Title but has yet to receive a one-on-one opportunity. Trey Miguel pinned El Phantasmo at Bound For Glory to win the belt while Maclin was laid out on the outside of the ring.
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