Deonna Purrazzo discusses her WWE release, reveals ideal next move & more [Exclusive]

Purrazzo takes it to Asuka!

So, the name Deonna Purrazzo. You can keep your name, I assume, as you used it before - but can you clarify that, and did you struggle to keep it when signing for WWE?

It wasn't too difficult. I had only been asked once before the Mae Young when I was first hired, so back in 2018, to send a list of potential names. They were like, "You didn't do this and you need to do it."

Then I sent them a list of potential names and I said, "My name is the Deonna, you will never have another Deonna, so if I can't keep my last name, here are last names that I would like." And I just never heard anything back, and there was never another conversation - so Deonna Purrazzo is my birth name, so I get to keep that forever.

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One of my favorite moments happened BEFORE you were signed. La Luchadora. Can you tell me about that and working with people like Becky Lynch?

It was really funny and I feel like the theme of my career is, like, last minute, I get these crazy opportunities, and I'm not ready for them, and they just happen.

I was in Puerto Rico and John Cone had text me, who is a referee but also is in talent relations. He was like, "Hey, can you give me a call when you get the chance? I have a really cool opportunity." So I called him and it was like, "If you're interested, we will fly you to RAW on Monday." I was like, "It's Saturday, and I'm not even in the country!"

Luckily, I was home in time. I flew to RAW and then, yeah, it was just like, "This is real," and, at the same time, Carmella was doing a lot with James Ellsworth, so the possibility of, like, "Hey, I can skip NXT as a whole if I really impressed right now and just be on SmackDown in some capacity," was real. That was the most exciting part but, overall, like, I got to work with Alexa, Mickie and Becky in that capacity, so I've done probably a lot more than people realize.

Deonna Purrazzo was one of several Superstars under the mask!