I remember seeing Deonna for the first time on WWE NXT jobbing for Asuka. She looked really different back there in her yellow top and bottom simple attire, nothing close to her Virtuosa gimmick, today. Of course, The Empress of Tomorrow finished her quick with a merciful kick in the head! Nothing to be remembered for.
But I can smell/sense talent!
Then there was that Battle Royal and she enter it after a statement, that impressed me at the time. Something like: " I don't want to be remembered as the girl who Asuka kicked unconscious on the ring!". And I start to follow her. I learned her nickname at the time "The busiest girl in the business" - and that is what she was (and still is). She participated in Imapct's KO Knockdown event at the time. Jobbed some more for WWE NXT and then something really important happened.
Some really big indie names like Mia Yim had gone through ROH's ring. Maria Kanellis is iconic in there. But at the time the third larger and famous promotion in the USA which manufactured a huge amount of today's WWE and AEW superstars didn't invest that much of a time in women's wrestling. Until names like Taeler Hendrix who was a big name in OVW and made some appearances on Impact Wrestling landed in ROH. And of course, Deonna Purrazzo entered the fry to help build the path for today's women of honour and the WOH World title.
Deonna, Taeler, Mandy Leon, Kelly Klein, etc. are responsible for the WOH's existence as it is - as an event that is dedicated to women's wrestling! Deonna and the women back there were what the likes of Gail Kim, Awesome Kong, and their peers were for the Impact/TNA's KO division.
And then - after participation in the tournament to determine the inaugural WOH World Champion in 2018, where Deonna was eliminated in the second round by Mayu Iwatani, she parted ways with ROH and was hired from WWE, after participation in their Mae Young Classic tournament, two following years (2017/2018), where her performance wasn't easy to be missed.
In 2017-2018 she took a long trip to the land of Joshi wrestling - Japan where she appeared in shows for World Wonder Ring Stardom, where she teamed with Shayna Baszler on several occasions.
Sadly, WWE NXT didn't find an appropriate way to use Virtuosa's talent to the full extent. She was overlooked and the only memorable moment I have from her NXT career was that gauntlet match where she did that shocking double foot stomp on the face of her opponent. WWE really missed the chance to book her properly and then they released her.
For good, because when she finally signed with Impact Wrestling, the golden era of her career has started. Winning the KO's gold (on July 18, 2020) Slammyversary defeating Jordynne Grace) was just a matter of time. The Virtuosa was destined to do that. Su Yung defeated Purrazzo on October 24, 2020, Bound for Glory, but Deonna returned even more concentrated and hungry the next month and won the title back at Turning Point, (November 14th). Her match against Melina at NWA Empowerrr (the all women's show produced by Mickie James) on August 21, 2021, was epic and she defeated the legend via submission. After months of defeating many of the Impact biggest names and outsiders like the legendary Jazz, to retain the belt Purrazzo lost to Mickie James on Bound For Glory, October 23rd, 2021.
On August 14th, 2021her trip to AAA ended with her defeating Faby Apache for the AAA Reina de Reinas title at Triplemania XXIX.
On January 10th taping of Impact! Deonna Purazzo finally won the WOH Women's World Championship (the rebranded, replacing deactivated WOH World title, championship belt) in a winner takes all, where her AAA Reina de Reinas belt was at stake, against Roc-C, becoming a double title holder of two of the most important promotions in USA and Mexico.
With her ups and downs, rocky journey in the world of wrestling Deonna Purrazzo managed to succeed to accomplish so much in her career that started in 2013. Now we can say that she is one of the world's top wrestlers and she pushed names like Tessa Blanchard and Taya Valkyrie out of the top spot, building a strong legacy that will continue to grow and become more and more solid in 2022.
