Various: Deonna Purrazzo on Her WWE Release, Updated AEW Rankings, New Trademarks

WWE

Apr 26, 2020

Deonna Purrazzo Comments on Her WWE Release

A recent episode of the Les anti-pods de la lutte podcast had Deonna Purrazzo as the guest and some of the topics discussed included her release from WWE and being unhappy with her career in NXT.

On the topic of her release from WWE, Purrazzo stated:

“I didn’t know that it was coming, and last Wednesday we had a company-wide app that Vince McMahon had put a video on for us all to watch and it talks about people being furloughed and people being fired and pay cuts so it kind of all happened fast. No one really expected it, and then as soon as we all watched the video, we clicked over to Twitter and it was name after name being released, but I kind of just didn’t know but I had a gut feeling like, ‘I’m gonna get a call today,’ and probably for the last six months, I’ve talked to so many people in the office in NXT about not being happy, not being utilized properly, wanting to be booked more and do more, and I just had a lot of push back from it and speaking up for myself was looked upon negatively and it was about a month ago that I had a conversation with Canyon Cemen and I said, ‘If I’m not gonna get ahead of this and I’m not gonna change people’s minds about me, then I don’t wanna be here anymore.’ So, when he called me last Wednesday, it was kind of like, he had said to me on the phone, ‘You know, your name was on the list. I think this is something you’ll be happy about and you wanted’ and I said, ‘100 percent, absolutely.’ So, with that said, as unexpected as it was, I kind of just in my heart knew that-that would happen and I’m looking forward to being back on the indies and actually wrestling the way I wanna wrestle.”

On the topic of her unhappiness in NXT and feeling WWE only signed her so she wouldn’t work for AEW, Purrazzo stated:

“I feel like I didn’t get a proper shot in NXT and I wasn’t featured regularly on NXT TV. I wasn’t in the women’s championship title picture. I feel like my opportunities there were squandered really fast, and to be honest about it, I wasn’t the chosen one. I had worked for WWE since 2014 in so many roles. [I had] been on NXT TV more as an extra talent without signing a contract than I was when I was under contract. So, all of these reasons were reasons I was unhappy and I was vocal about it and I know what I was worth, I knew what I could do and I thought coming in, July of 2018 like I had proved myself. Like I had proved I was ready to be a superstar and it ended up being that I was hired to keep me from AEW, and keep me from doing ALL IN and I continued to be enhancement talent for two years. So, I really would like to now focus on the indies and getting back to where I was and getting back to the in-ring competitor that I was prior to NXT, and more than hoping I go back one day, I just kinda want to say, ‘Screw you guys. That’s what I feel right now.’ I feel like I wanna prove them wrong and if I earn an opportunity again, then I’m not gonna sit on the sidelines like I did for two years.”

Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com