Deonna Purrazzo Made an IMPACT on the Knockouts Division
An opinion article about the run of Purrazzo in IMPACT Wrestling
Photo credit - IMPACT Wrestling
The “Virtuosa” Deonna Purrazzo is now “All Elite” as revealed on the first episode of All Elite Wrestling (AEW) Dynamite in 2024. Although Purrazzo will not be part of the IMPACT Wrestling re-brand back to Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling in 2024, she made an impact on the promotion that she called home for three and a half years.
Let’s look back at some of the memorable moments that made Purrazzo the anchor of the Knockouts Division during her time in IMPACT.
The Arrival
Purrazzo entered an IMPACT ring on June 9th, 2020, and made her presence felt immediately. She targeted Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace, attacking her in the ring. This led to a match being made between the two at Slammiversary where Purrazzo was victorious, starting her first reign as IMPACT Wrestling Knockouts Champion.
Making History
Historic Title Reigns
During her time in the Knockouts Division, Purrazzo held the IMPACT Knockouts Championship three times for a combined 531 days as champion. This puts her second in the most combined days as champion, behind only the legendary Gail Kim. Her longest reign lasted 343 days, the second longest of all time behind the 377-day reign of Taya Valkyrie.
During her time as a Knockout, her reach was not limited to just IMPACT Wrestling. During her second reign as Knockouts Champion, she traveled to Mexico to compete in Lucha Libre Worldwide AAA where she became the Reina de Reinas Champion. Although she lost the IMPACT Knockouts Championship to Mickie James, she quickly re-gained a second title.
On the January 9th edition of IMPACT on AXS TV, she defeated Rok-C to become the Ring of Honor (ROH) Women’s World Champion, becoming a double champion once again.
In addition to her historic title reigns in singles competition, she held the IMPACT Knockouts World Tag Team Championship alongside Chelsea Green once during her time in the promotion.
Although her title reigns entered her name into the history books, the matches she took part in made an impact on the Knockouts division as well.
IMPACTful Matches
Purrazzo was quickly established as a focal point of the Knockouts Division. Her history-making in IMPACT started early as she participated in the first Knockouts 30-Man Iron Man match, retaining the Knockouts Championship over Jordynne Grace only a couple of months after arriving in IMPACT.
She participated in the first and only Homecoming tournament in 2021 with Matthew Rehwoldt as her tag team partner. The duo went on to win the one-night tournament becoming the first and only Homecoming King and Queen of IMPACT Wrestling.
Things turned extreme in the next history-making matchup. The Texas Deathmatch against Mickie James at Hard to Kill 2022, marked the first time that a Knockouts match main-evented an IMPACT Wrestling pay-per-view. The match delivered the brutality it was advertised on and ended with Purrazzo not being able to re-capture the Knockouts Championship.
Purrazzo along with Jordynne Grace, Tasha Steelz, Chelsea Green, and Mia Yim competed in the first-ever Queen of the Mountain match at Slammiversary 2022. The reverse ladder match requires a competitor to score a pinfall or submission against another competitor. That makes a competitor eligible to win the match while the competitor that was pinned or submitted spends two minutes inside of a ringside penalty box. Once eligible to win the match, a competitor must climb a ladder and hang the belt to the fixture above the ring. Although she did not win the match, Purrazzo took part in a memorable moment when she and Chelsea Green were on top of a ladder in the center of the ring. Mia Yim pushed the ladder, sending both Purrazzo and Green from the top of the ladder, outside of the ring through two tables. The historic match had a historic moment that Purrazzo was a part of.
Creating Rivalries
Through her many matches in her time at IMPACT, many rivalries formed. Two of her best-known rivalries took place against Jordynne Grace and Mickie James.
Having Grace’s Number
Her rivalry with Grace started early as the two feuded over the Knockouts Championship immediately after Purrazzo arrived in the IMPACT Zone. The two locked up six times in Purrazzo’s first year in IMPACT but it didn’t end there.
At the 2023 edition of Rebellion, the two once again met for the Knockouts Championship. Mickie James had vacated the title, leaving it up for grabs. The two rivals locked up once again with Purrazzo getting the win to start her third reign as champion. The two met again at Under Siege with the added stipulation that if Grace lost, she would not be able to challenge Purrazzo for the title again. With the stakes being harder than ever, The Virtuosa came out victorious once again defeating Grace.
The two had two more key matchups without the Championship on the line. The two squared off at Victory Road with Grace getting the better of Purrazzo. The final matchup between the two in an IMPACT ring took place at Final Resolution as Grace and Trinity defeated Purrazzo and Gisele Shaw.
Feuding With a Legend
The Virtuosa entered a feud with TNA/IMPACT legend Mickie James. While in her second reign as Knockouts Champion, Purrazzo was approached by James who was a producer for the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) at the time. She invited Purrazzo to defend the Championship in the NWA. Purrazzo turned her down and disrespected the legend. The disrespect was met with a kick from James.
She eventually did defend the Championship successfully on NWA EmPowerrr but the feud was far from over. At the first-ever Knockouts Knockdown Purrazzo won a match against Masha Slamovich, the handpicked opponent for the champ by James herself. This culminated at a match between the two with the Knockouts Championship on the line at Bound for Glory 2021 which James won, ending the historic reign at 343 days.
Purrazzo did not wait long to get back at James as she attacked James at Turning Point and invoked her rematch clause for Hard to Kill 2022, leading to the Texas Death Match that James won. This concluded the feud between the two, adding a key rivalry to the resume of The Virtuosa.
Other Accolades
In addition to the above-mentioned titles the following awards were won by Purrazzo during her time as an IMPACT Knockout.
The below awards were part of the annual IMPACT Wrestling Year-End Awards.
· 2020 Knockout of the Year
· 2020 Wrestler of the Year
· 2021 Knockouts Match of the Year (2021) vs. Mickie James - Bound for Glory
· 2022 Knockout of the Year
She also won the below Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) awards as a member of the IMPACT roster.
· 2021 - Ranked No. 3 of the top 150 female wrestlers in the PWI Women's 150
· 2023 - Ranked No. 7 of the top 250 women's wrestlers in the PWI Women's 250
She was also recognized by none other than ESPN.
· 2023 - Ranked No. 25 of the 30 best Pro Wrestlers Under 30
In Conclusion
Through her record book earning title reigns, memorable feuds, many awards, and plenty of memorable moments between the ropes, Purrazzo made her impact on the IMPACT roster. Her legacy will speak for itself as the evolution of IMPACT Wrestling reverting back to TNA Wrestling unfolds. She now has a fresh start in a very young wrestling company to write her name in another history book.