Deonna Purrazzo is having fun telling a prolonged story with Mickie James.
The feud between Purrazzo and James dates back to Slammiversary 2021 and a post-match interaction that saw Mickie make a surprise appearance and invite The Virtuosa to EmPowerrr. Deonna, however, fresh off of a victory over Thunder Rosa perceived it as Mickie trying to steal her spotlight. A few cruel words later and James hit Purrazzo with a Mick Kick.
In the months since then, both women have continued attacking one another, whether it be at NWA 73 or during an episode of IMPACT. Arguably the most memorable of all of their encounters came two weeks ago when Deonna paid a visit to Mickie's home and attacked her while she was cleaning a barn.
Speaking with Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp (full interview above), Deonna revealed how she convinced the camera operator to follow her and be an accessory to a crime.
"You can pay someone enough to do most things," she said.
Purrazzo continued on to explain how the segment came about, saying that it was actually meant to happen two months ago but the timing didn't work out. Additionally, she admits that even though she was nervous to film a cinematic skit, she has enjoyed being part of a longer story that provides more opportunities to do character work.
"Actually, this was something that we were going to do the tapings before the last tapings and it just didn’t work out. There wasn’t enough time to do it. There’s only so much crew and you need to do it while there’s a million other things taping and going on. So it didn’t work out two months ago. But we were able to get it done last month at the tapings.
"It’s just fun because I feel like this story with Mickie is something I haven’t really gotten prior to this," Purrazzo said. "I haven’t necessarily had a long-drawn-out storyline that I can really sink my teeth into and character development, show a lot of range in. At first, it was just going to be a brawl in her house ‘cause it was going to be later at night. I just didn’t want to be awake until two in the morning during tapings. So I was like, ‘There’s this block in between and could we try to do it during that?’ Then it just worked out that it was going to be during the day. We were like, ‘It should be on the farm.’ Yeah, it’s a one-take ‘pray all goes well.’
"There was a lot of different ideas we had and there was so much space we could have used, but I think we were able to put the best product out there. I’ve said this a ton, too, these cinematic-type things are really hit or miss. People either really love them or they really hate them. I was really nervous, as I am with most things, going out and seeing the reaction that people were going to have. The fact that everyone really loved it and was like, ‘Oh, hell yeah! This is awesome! These ladies are gonna kill each other!’ That was the vibe I really wanted."
The murder vibe Deonna wanted was more than achieved. During their brawl, she swung a pitchfork at Mickie's head and later attempted to drown her. The Virtuosa told Fightful that she's thrilled with how it turned out and the reception she's seen it get online. Here are her full remarks:
"I said before we started filming, ‘This is my Sopranos moment. This is my breakout actress moment. I’m going to be in the revival of Many Saints of Newark.’ I really wanted that feeling of ‘she’s going to kill her’ because that was only going to help build the pay-per-view match at Bound for Glory even more. So I’m really, really thrilled with the reaction it got, how it's turned out, the story we’re telling, and then the ultimate match we’re going to have at Bound for Glory."
Dressed in a white shirt and white shoes for a fight that got rather messy, Deonna didn't let anything get ruined or go to waste, admitting that she washed everything as soon as she got home.
"I did. Actually I threw the body suit I had on, my jeans and my white sneakers into just a plastic bag in my suitcase and I washed them immediately when I got home. I’ve worn the sneakers since," she said
The Knockouts Champion concluded by sharing that filming only took a couple of hours and that there were only a handful of people involved.
"Maybe we were there for two and a half hours," Deonna began by saying. "It was a camera guy, a sound guy and Jimmy Jacobs from creative at IMPACT!, and me and Mickie. Steve was there with us. We just brainstormed, plotted out where we would be, what the end of each room would be, how we’d make our way through the whole thing. It was an in and out, get it done and hope for the best."
Mickie James will challenge Deonna Purrazzo for the Knockouts Title on Saturday, October 23 at IMPACT Bound For Glory.
Fightful will have live coverage of IMPACT Bound For Glory this Saturday beginning at 10 p.m. EST with a post-show review immediately following its conclusion.
