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Deonna Purrazzo was credited with helping to relaunch the women’s division in Ring of Honor (ROH) when she joined the company in 2015. She was in one of the first women’s matches in the company’s history in nearly a decade at the time.
She spent three years with the company before landing back in All Elite Wrestling (AEW) in 2024. By then, AEW co-founder Tony Khan had purchased Ring of Honor and it became a sister company to AEW. Upon her return to Ring of Honor, she was thrown into a tournament to determine the first ROH Women’s Pure Champion.
PRO WRESTLING STARS WHICH BRING EXHIBITION TO GOOD TUNNEL TO TOWERS SHARE WHAT BEING AN AMERICAN MEANS TO THEM
Deonna Purrazzo celebrates after winning her match during AEW Collision on June 15, 2024 at the Covelli Center in Youngstown, Ohio. (Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire)
In December, Purrazzo defeated Billie Starkz to be crowned champion and has held the title ever since.
As a wave of new wrestlers hit the free-agent market over the past two weeks, Purrazzo touted the opportunities Ring of Honor has for women’s wrestlers — something that was “really important” to the New Jersey native.
“I think what’s so great about Ring of Honor is that it kind of flies under the radar,” she told Pakinomist Digital. “So you get to really develop and tell stories and show personality and maybe try something different than you would if you were on ‘Dynamite’ every single week. I think there’s really great women’s wrestling in Ring of Honor. Most weeks there’s four, five, six women’s matches, and so I think it doesn’t get enough credit online that it deserves for the purpose it serves and serves what it serves, again, really important to me, starting in Ring of Honor, starting in the women’s department 11 years ago.
“Getting to see more women every single week grow and develop, I think that’s really important, and I think if more people saw that as a landing spot, maybe we could grow that perception in the public eye.”
Athena sits atop the women’s division in ROH. She has held the ROH Women’s World Championship for more than 1,200 days. Red Velvet is the current ROH Women’s World Television Championship and has held it for more than 150 days.
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Deonna Purrazzo attends Shaq’s Fun House at XS Nightclub at Encore Las Vegas on February 9, 2024. (Greg Doherty/Getty Images)
Purrazzo also has the opportunity to help veterans and first responders in need.
She and her husband, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling star Steve Maclin, will line up in Battle for the Brave on June 6. The charity event will benefit the Tunnel to Towers Foundation.
Purrazzo emphasized how important it was to her to give back to military veterans in an interview with Pakinomist Digital earlier this week, especially as a military wife. Maclin served in the US Marines.
“Also, 9/11 was a big thing growing up in New Jersey. For me, I was in the second grade,” she said. “I didn’t understand what was going on, but in the days that followed, I felt a sense of unity that everybody came together, everybody was proud to be Americans, and we had to fight back and stand together and be one, united country. And I think that feeling has always stuck with me, but being a veteran’s wife, it took on a whole different role.
“Steve opening up about his service and things he’s seen and experienced with me has given me a new passion to let veterans know that yes, war will always come home with you, but it doesn’t have to define you. Steve was lucky enough to be able to find wrestling right after he got out of the Marine Corps, and that saved him, in a way, from falling down that unknown path? Who am I?”
Pro wrestling stars Steve Maclin and Deonna Purrazzo stare each other down. (Provided to Pakinomist Digital)
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“And I think that’s something that our veterans deal with unbeknownst to the rest of the public. It’s not talked about enough. They say 22 veterans, but right now the math is 44 veterans a day are losing their lives to that battle — an identity crisis of who I am after service. So that’s what being American means to them now, for our veterans to show support for me now, because our veterans are here. and we’re here to support them, and we’re here to give them the resources they need to live healthy and successful lives after service.”
