Latest / The Winning Culture Podcast / Deonna Purrazzo on Knowing Her Worth & Proving Herself Right | The Winning Culture Podcast Ep. 7
Transcript
- speaker-0: Winning is all that I think about. Hello, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to this episode of the Women Culture Podcast. I'm your host, Vernon Wiggins, the guest I have today. She is undefeated in Pure Wrestling rules. She is the first and current Ring of Honor women's pure wrestling champion. Ladies and gentlemen, she is the virtuosa. Diana Perrazzo. speaker-1: Thanks so much for having me. speaker-0: Hey, you're very welcome. Hey, thanks for coming on. I really, really appreciate it. And I wanted to just start off by saying congratulations on a successful title defense. Thank you. You're welcome. You're welcome on at the last pay-per-view. Look, I saw that match. Great match. I was rooting for you. I say Deanna, she gotta win. She gotta win. So so glad that you successfully defended the title. speaker-1: Thank you so much. I felt felt the same way. I gotta win and we gotta shut Steph Delander the hell up. speaker-0: Yes, yes, absolutely. Yeah, I seen some of the chatter, some of the chatter, I saw that. She she was already claiming the title and I say, Okay, well, the virtuoso was gonna show up better than she could tell. speaker-1: Thank you. speaker-0: You're very welcome. You're very welcome. So yeah, let's get into it. you know, so you obviously have had some very memorable matches throughout your career. you know, you've had rivalries with Mickey James, Jordan Grace. list goes on and on. So I just wanna know, was there ever a moment throughout your career where you felt like, look, you know what? This is this is my moment. This is my time. This made me right here. Is there anything that you can think of or remember that well a moment like that may have came at? May have come. speaker-1: When I won the Knockouts World Championship at Slamversary 2020 was the first moment that I felt that way. obviously just having a great match with Jordan Grace was what I needed. But I think that leaving NXT and feeling so dejected and feeling like I didn't even know if I wanted to be a wrestler anymore. And was there a place for me in this world, like being able to go to Teen A and being welcomed with open arms, and then them being like you know, my second match in the company, here's the ball, run with it, right? really felt like like I needed to have a great match 'cause I needed to prove everyone wrong. And then also I needed to win a championship to be like I proved myself right. You know, it wasn't as much of at that point it was proving everyone wrong, but it was also more so proving myself right, that I had worth, that I had value, that I could be, you know, the the world champion and I could be the face of a company. And TNA really gave me the opportunity to do that from day one at TNA. But then also, you know, over the course of three and a half years while I was there. There's a fun statistic that's like I think eighty-three percent of the time I was in TNA, I was a world champion. And so they believed in me more than I could have ever believed in myself from day one. speaker-0: Yes, yes. And look, I'm glad you said that about them believing in you. So I did see on a previous podcast you had mentioned I think you guys you and Jordan Grace had wrestled at I think Slamaversary, you won the title, I think it was. And then turnaround they had you guys do the thirty minute Iron Woman match like speaker-1: Yeah. Yeah, I don't think anyone knew how much chemistry we would have together. And I think they were not that they doubted we would have a bad match, but that match its anniversary was so like renowned immediately on social media how good it was. It was also pandemic era wrestling, right? So there wasn't an audience. Social media really was like that was a great match and then they continued for three and a half years to want to see me and Jordan interact with each other. So I think the company was like, we need to capitalize on this immediately. and there was a bunch of different ideas of at one point it was gonna be a no DQ match. And then they landed on yeah, a 30 minute Iron Woman match. And so now not only am I, you know, for the first time ever the knockouts world champion, a world champion, but I'm also the first ever Iron Woman. And I think only Iron Woman still to this day of teen A wrestling. So, yeah, like I said, they just believed in me and what I could do and and what I could be for the company way before I ever believed in myself. And that was the first time, you know, I think I felt it, but even more so looking back, right? Like they say, you don't know you're in the good times until the good times end and then you're like, that was the time of my life and and while I've enjoyed everything I've done since and and been able to do outside of wrestling since I feel like my time at Teen A, I'm like, I didn't know how good I had it until I left. speaker-0: Awesome, awesome. So yeah, so I guess we could say T and A, that's where you put your stamp right there. That yeah. Yeah, that's where you put a major stamp on your career. That is so wonderful. look, you know, that that Iron Woman match, whoof, it was that was one heck of a match. I I still remember seeing when you when you hit her with that weight case, I was like, god. speaker-1: Yeah. speaker-0: You hit her pretty hard. I mean, she hits hard too. Does she hit pretty hard? speaker-1: my gosh. Yeah, I always say whenever anyone asks me like who's the the toughest opponent you've ever been in the ring with and it's Jordan Grace. And because she's so strong, she's so powerful, she doesn't even know how strong and powerful she is. But she just, you know, like winning a championship, losing a championship, she feels that it's life or death, right? And it's you versus me and she's gonna bring it to you, in every way, shape, and form. And so it also brings out a different a beast in you when you walk into those matches knowing she's gonna hit me hard and she's gonna really try to win this and it's like okay I love that. I'm like you could hit me, you could you know, like this is a real fight. Let's do it. And so I think that's why we made so much magic together because we trusted each other to bring out the best of ourselves with each other. speaker-0: Awesome, awesome. I love it. I love it. I so love it. and you know, just look, congratulations on all the success you've had throughout your career. Thank you. It's been it's been an amazing career for you. You're welcome, you're welcome. So knowing that you had a lot of success inside the ring, I just want to get a little bit into outside of the ring because I know you know you've done a lot outside the ring as well. I know that you have a bachelor's degree from S NHU. Congratulations on that. So how much how much longer speaker-1: So I have give or take six months left. So I'm hoping that I'll be able to graduate with the graduating class this coming summer. speaker-0: Wonderful, wonderful. Well, Deanna, look, I know you have a busy schedule, so I really appreciate you taking time out to be on the podcast today. speaker-1: Yeah, absolutely. speaker-0: You're wrestling, you're in you're in school, and all these great things. So yeah, I really appreciate that. yeah, so how mu how much how supportive would you say AEW is with wrestlers going back to school? speaker-1: my gosh, well, they're the only reason I could do it, right? They have a continuum education program. So I Tony and everyone at AEW behind the scenes is so encouraging to understanding that wrestling isn't forever. None of us will be able to wrestle forever, and we have a long life to live when wrestling ends for everyone. So Tony and and you know, again, behind the scenes at AEW are all so supportive. They make the process so easy. To enroll in the continuing education program and you know, they pay for a portion of our tuition and it it's really the reason, like one of the reasons that made me fall in love with the company and want to go there is the fact that they put so much emphasis on post dressing life. And you know, it's not it's not just me, right? There's other people taking classes. Tony has encouraged talent himself to go back to school. So I think that yeah, it's a it's a really unique. and important part of the company that I'm so glad to always be able to talk about and and and I'm so grateful for. speaker-0: Wow, kudos to you. Kudos to you. That is so awesome. I wish you all the best in all the endeavors, everything that you're doing. I wish you the best for sure. Thank you. You're welcome. You're welcome. So yeah, now so yeah, tunnel to towers. I know you you're doing some great work with that, you and your husband. I think that's wonderful. So yeah, just tell me a little bit about that, you know. yeah. speaker-1: Yeah, so my husband Steve Macklin is a United States Marine Corps combat veteran. He served two tours in Afghanistan. And so I think we've gotten to the point where we're realizing wrestling isn't forever and what does our post-wrestling life look like. And I think Steve feels the most comfortable in the veteran and first responder community. There's just like this likeness that they all understand the mindset and they all understand like, you know, that what we're dealing with in wrestling or, you know, like in our regular jobs, like are so minute to the things that they've experienced and they see every day. And so being able to honor his service and the sacrifices my husband made, but then also, you know, use the platform that wrestling has given us to be able to celebrate the other people who are making those sacrifices and make them feel seen. And we also both grew up in New Jersey. So we experience nine eleven firsthand literally in our backyard. And so what Talent Towers does is it was created because Stephen Siller died During 9-11. But what's interesting about his story is he wasn't on duty that day. He was stuck in the tunnel and he got out of the tunnel, put on his stuff, and ran through it and ran to the Twin Towers that day. And unfortunately lost his life. And his brother Frank, who is amazing, created Tunnel to Towers to be able to honor his legacy, but also the families that experience similar. And so what they do now is they pay for mortgages for fallen first responders. Who lose their life in the line of duty, the last thing a family should be worried about is how they're gonna pay their bills. And so Tunnel to T Tunnel to Towers comes in and and makes sure that their mortgage is one less thing they have to worry about. for our our military families, Gold Star families, who have experienced catastrophic injuries in combat, they're building smart homes so they can get around and they can live their best lives post service. And so those are all things that At mine and Steve's core are what matter to us and are so much bigger than anything we could do in wrestling. It's great to be a six-time world champion, but it wouldn't mean anything if we weren't able to give back to the community that means the most to us and what I believe is the most underserved. it's it's like political, it's become political to support your military and to support your first responders and your veterans. But at the end of the day, those are the people that are walking into scenarios that us normal people would never do. And so to be able to give back to them and shed a little bit of light on them with our little platforms that we do have is really important to both Steve and I. speaker-0: Yes. That now that is so amazing, Deanna. inside and outside the ring, in my opinion, you guys are heroes. Both sides. Thank you. You're welcome, you're welcome. I did want to mention, is there anywhere if anybody wants to donate, is there anywhere you can any information you can provide here on here where they can go and do so? speaker-1: Yeah, absolutely. Everyone can go to T the number two T so t2t.org and there's all information about the foundation, how you can get involved, and if you want to donate. it they ask for eleven dollars a month for our heroes, and that's a small amount to the debt that we owe them. So if you're interested, please go to t2t.org. speaker-0: Awesome. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Y'all keep it up. Keep it up. speaker-1: Yes, we're working on tons of projects. Steve and I will be in New York at the end of September to run the five K, the annual Tunnel to Towers five K. It starts, you know, it in where does it start? In Ma it starts in Brooklyn and you run through the tunnel and you go to Ground Zero and and the Freedom Tower. So we're so excited to be a part of that. this come October we are a part of Heroes Cup, which is a hockey tournament through Tunnel to Towers where we have Countless NHL veterans coming in to play hockey and raise money for tunnels to towers, and then we're working on a battle for the brave too. So our advocacy for our veterans and first responders is isn't finished. and we're only I feel like only just getting started. speaker-0: Great, great, great. That that's wonderful. That's wonderful. Hey, I mean, let's keep it going. You know, I know it's gonna only get bigger and bigger and bigger, you know. I know I'm down here in Louisiana, but y'all have a supporter in me for sure. You're very speaker-1: Thank you. Thank you so much. speaker-0: welcome, you're very welcome. Keep it up, keep it up. yeah, so another thing I wanted to touch on as well. So I know you started at 18, right out of high school in wrestling. speaker-1: Yeah. speaker-0: High school. How cool is that? How in the world did you pull that off? I mean, cause man, I don't know a lot of people that do it right out of high school, Deanna. speaker-1: Well I I was a wrestling fan growing up, right? So I started watching wrestling when I was nine years old and I saw the women do it and I thought, I'm a cheerleader, I'm a gymnast. Like if I could learn this, I think I could do it and maybe I could be good at it. And I never grew out of that. And so when I was fifteen, I went to my parents. I I had printed out a a wrestling school in New Jersey that would take kids at sixteen. And so at fifteen I was like, look, let parents, let's come up with a plan, right? Because when I turn sixteen, this is what I want to do. And they were like, Absolutely not, right? when I was eighteen I could sign the paperwork myself and so I found a different wrestling school that was actually, you know, twenty, twenty-five minutes closer to me. and I was just going to college one day. I was going to a local community college and I drove a different way and there was a big VFW with a sign that said pro wrestling the first Friday of every month. And I thought, well, I've never been to an independent show. You know, my parents, I was so fortunate enough that they could bring me to Raw and SmackDown in WrestleMania. but I had never been to an independent show. And so I really just wanted to be able to check it out and like, what is this type of wrestling, right? but when I Googled it, they had a wrestling school. And it was like I signed up the next week. Wow. And so yeah, it was it was a balancing act of okay, I just graduated high school. I'm in my first semester of community college. At the time it was for exercise science. I'm working a part time job and now I'm gonna add wrestling to the mix, but it was everything I wanted to do, right? It was it was the end of December twenty twelve and that was you know, everything else for me is the icing on the cake. speaker-0: You see what I'm rocking? That's right. I'm rocking. Screwed up golf apparel. Make sure you go to screwedupgolf.com and get the latest and greatest apparel. That's screwedupgolf.com. We have hats, shirts, and everything that you're looking for to go on that golf course for your golfing needles. Remember, screwedupgolf.com Yeah. Hey look, speaking of icing on the cake, so I know you made your AEW debut in New Jersey. speaker-1: Yes. speaker-0: Okay, so did that become like a full circle moment? Because I think you had some family in the house when you made speaker-1: Yeah, yeah. my dad and my stepmom were able to come and my husband's parents, my in-laws were able to come and it was full circle. And I remember talking to Tony Khan in the build-up to me signing with AEW and saying to him like, Well, I saw the first dynamite of the new year is in New Jersey and I don't know if you know, but I'm from New Jersey and I'm just throwing it out there that that would be a dream come true, to be able to debut in Prudential Center and know that my family could be there, right? And he was he was like, okay, that's interesting. And I didn't think it was gonna happen. It was so last minute, like it came together in like, you know, maybe th twenty-four hours, right? that I was even surprised that it was happening. And and I was so fortunate that my parents and my in-laws could make it work and they could be there and sharing that moment with me because I realized after the fact that I had never wrestled in front of you know, that's not true. I had never been in a promo situation in front of five, six thousand people, right? And and it's a debut and th I know that they didn't expect it to be me, the first dynamite of the new year. There were so many free agents at the time. but, you know, that audience, six thousand people chanting Diana, Diana, and I'm looking at my dad while that's happening, i I could still watch it back and cry because it was just full circle and so meaningful and to be able to share it, my husband was there and with my family, it was it was everything I in wrestling I feel like we don't get our dream come true is in like everything the way we envision it ever, right? There's so many other powers it be. but that really was everything I could have wanted it to be and more. speaker-0: Wow, wow, Deanna, that that's wonderful. That is magnificent. I mean, did it was that planned like that or it just happened to happen like that? speaker-1: No, like I said, it it I knew that the first dynamite was in New Jersey of the of twenty twenty four. But I didn't hear from I had signed my contract, I was signed on January first, and I didn't hear from anyone until, you know, literally twenty four hours before the show. And they were like, Could you be in New Jersey tomorrow? I said, I can be in New Jersey in six hours if you want me to be You know, so it really came together last minute and it was it was perfect. It was perfect. speaker-0: Amazing, so amazing. That that's wonderful to hear. So wonderful to hear. So you've had you've obviously had so many great moments in wrestling, time after time after time. And I just wanted to ask you, so to any aspiring wrestlers out there, would you have any advice for them, you know, wanting to get into the business, you know? speaker-1: Yeah, I think my biggest and I feel like this is a little controversial 'cause there's a lot of wrestlers who would tell you otherwise, but I think now I've I've been wrestling for almost fourteen years and I've been in every major company, WWE, TNA, and AEW now, and I think that my biggest advice is to have other hobbies, right? Like everyone's gonna tell you to be one hundred percent invested in wrestling, and I do agree with that, but I feel like I learned so much more about myself and my identity and who else I wanted to be outside of just the wrestler when I decided to go back to school. When I decided to start looking into what veteran organizations can we be a part of, how can we give back? What can I do for school teachers? Because I was a school teacher before wrestling became my full-time job. Like I feel like I became such a better, well-rounded person when I realized that like I could do better work in wrestling if I'm not consumed with wrestling 100% of the time. And my value doesn't strictly come from wrestling. My value comes from so many different other avenues now, that I enjoy wrestling way more than having like I had blinders on, right, for probably like nine of those years. Like, I'm gonna be is a wrestler and all I have to be is a wrestler. I I I can't, you know, dive into this. I don't have time for school, I don't have time for friends. And I feel like I became such a better wrestler and a better person when I was able to mix all of those things together. speaker-0: Got it, yes, yes, yes. Is there any wrestling coaching in you in the future? Because I can see that now. speaker-1: Yeah. I think I think so. I feel like I'll always, you know, like I'm not anywhere near ready to be done with wrestling, right? And I feel like I have so much more to give to women's wrestling for years to come. But I do feel like, you know, I'm so inspired by this like new wave of wrestlers coming in. We've seen A AEW with Maya World, you know, who who rose through the ranks the last couple of months and was able to win the TBS championship and defended at all in, right? And You know, Zeta Steele is doing some really great work right now. We've seen tons of girls come in and really like elevate women's wrestling right away. And so I'm so inspired by that to to el keep elevating myself and keep changing things and figuring out what more I can do and how different I could be, and have better and better matches with them. So I definitely think that Like women's athletes are only getting stronger and more athletic and they're coming into wrestling and and learning this and taking it to new places. So I would love to be a part of that for many years after I can physically do it. speaker-0: amazing. That's amazing. I mean I even see you producing too. I see speaker-1: I would love that. It would be so fun to learn that. And you know, Madison Rain is one of my best friends and she produces a lot of the women's stuff at AEW and to kinda watch her come out of wrestling and fall in love with the producing aspect of it I think has been really influential for me. So I would love to sit under the Madison Rain producer learning tree one day and learn how to do it myself. speaker-0: that's wonderful. That's wonderful. Yeah. I I'll be looking forward to that. speaker-1: Thank you. speaker-0: Yeah, you know, man, I I've watched like quite a bit of your matches, and I saw like a la a couple of the recent ones. And it seems to me that the Virtue also is getting some cheers out there. Quite a bit of now. speaker-1: Yeah, I mean being being the good guy and the people the person fans like isn't supernatural to me. I feel like it's it's way easier in just like s any social setting to make people not like you than it is to make people like you. You really have to work for that. But I think my body of work speaks for itself and people know and respect the work that I can do and the work that they've seen me do over the last fourteen years. So it feels good to know that there's like a mutual respect for me. And the fans and for the fans back to me. speaker-0: Yes, yes, I I I see that. I see that. I'll tell you one thing. You lock in that Venus De Milo speaker-1: Yeah. Yeah, it's over. There's very few people who have ever gotten out of it, so yeah. I off the top of my head, maybe just one. I think maybe just one person has gotten out of it when I was when I got it locked in. So I love it. speaker-0: Yeah, because you know, when you lock it in, I'm like, man, I I could feel the excruciating pain. I'm like, good yeah. Yeah. I I think, you know, that you know, i it's a lot of reasons why you're undefeated in in pure wrestling rules. I mean, you are the queen of that, in my opinion. I mean speaker-1: Thank you. I think so. I mean I have the championship to prove it. But I think more than that, before there was a Pure Rules division, I was doing Pure Rules wrestling, right? There just wasn't a name for it. I've always been a technical based wrestler, a map based wrestler. and so I think it was natural to be a part of this division and to win the inaugural championship to be the first ever is amazing. But then that means you have a target on your back. And that means that there's you know, I I'm now eighteen and I think it is. There's eighteen matches of mine under this style that girls can study and and watch and then pick apart and and learn how to use against me. So I think that being the first ever is great, but now it's like have an entire women's division in Ring of Honor that wants a piece of at some point. I have to keep elevating. I have to keep working to, you know, find new ways to latch on the Venus to Milo. Come up with new moves. We just saw me introduce a new finisher last week on Ring of Honor against Lacey Lane. The pendulum, which is a move I've done for years but haven't used in pure rules yet. So you know I feel like there's 18 matches of me to study. I have to keep things in my back pocket and pull out when you least expect it. speaker-0: Yeah, I love that Queen's Gambit power driver too. speaker-1: Thank you. speaker-0: Yes, that that's one of my favorite moves of yours right there. Thank you. Yeah, no no problem. So look, you okay, you won championships in T and A, you won championships in Ring of Honor. Okay, what is there left for Deanna Perrazzo to do? You've speaker-1: Win championships in AEW. speaker-0: okay. speaker-1: Yeah. We have you know, we just saw at all in over the weekend Mercedes Monet win the AW Women's World Championship. I've never wrestled Mercedes. I've only ever in almost three years gotten one shot at the AEW Women's World Championship. I've never had a shot at the TBS Championship, which Persephone just won from Maya at all in. we now have women's tag team championships. I've never gotten a shot at those. So I think there's so much more for me. There's I've made so much history. But my time isn't over. There's so much more history to make and there's so many more dream matches to have and and I really look forward to getting a shot at any of those three championships. I just need a tag partner. speaker-0: okay. I I could see that. I see that. I see that. Who who you thinking? Who you thinking? speaker-1: You know, I don't know. I loved my tag team with Ty of Alkyry, Vendetta. It was short lived on AEW, but I thought it was really interesting and we had a cool dynamic going. and then again we just saw Britt Baker come back. Britt Baker has been a great friend of mine for ten years now, if not longer. We came up together on the independent scene and so I was really excited to see her back in AEW at all in, but I'm really excited to see what else she does. And if she ever needs a friend, I'm a phone call away. speaker-0: Okay, okay, so can we be hinting at maybe a tag team play this moment chance? speaker-1: Hinting at anything, I'm just throwing out the possibilities. speaker-0: Got it, got it, got it, got it. Well, I know I would love to see that. I would love to see you and Mercedes Monet lock up in the ring. Thank you. that would be my dream match right there. Yeah, definitely. What about Willow Nightingale? speaker-1: Yeah. I so I've r I have known Willow since we both started wrestling. We've wrestled all over the Tri State area, New York, New Jersey, when we both were coming up together. And I was such a big proponent of of when she was a free agent and just, you know, doing the indies. Like someone needs to sign Willow. Someone needs to sign Willow. And I pushed for it to be at T and A. but then she went to AW. And so, I'm so excited to see her rise and to see what she's been able to do at AEW and to see how the fans have accepted her for exactly who she is and that she's never changed. The character you see on the screen is the person I met twelve years ago, right? And so I yeah, I just I I love this business can be so fickle and and, you know, again, nothing ever happens the way we want it to. We don't get things when we feel it's our time to get them or that we deserve them and it it's hard to keep pushing forward and and and see the light at the end of the tunnel and I love when people work hard and then get what they deserve. And I truly, truly believe that Willow has deserved everything she's gotten and and again, she's not near done, so she's going to deserve everything she gets in the future. speaker-0: Absolutely, absolutely. Well, same with you. You you're nowhere near done either. And I will say this, okay, you know, I know you have the aspirations for the AEW titles, getting championships over there, but I don't know because you might end up retiring the championship you have right now. That may be the only way you go over there because speaker-1: you know what? I'm begging for someone to take it off of me. If if you're the better woman and you could do it, I am begging you to step up and do it. speaker-0: Yeah, I I I don't know though. Who 'cause you've been tearing through the competition, so we'd have to see how that how that goes, you know, but you've been tearing through it pretty good, pretty good. So yeah, so this is you know, point here where we're we're nearing the end, but I just wanna ask you, is there anything else that you wanna mention to anybody out there, just you know, what we could be looking forward to or just anything else coming from Deanna Perrazzo. speaker-1: Yeah, gosh, I don't know. I feel like Boots to Boots, Mine and Steve's podcast is coming back September 14th. we've changed the format a little bit where we'll be doing new episodes every other Monday. And so we're really excited about we just filmed our first and second episode. We're really excited about the guest we have coming and her incredible story. I I in the intro we say she is the embodiment of everything we talk about on Boots to Boots. And I'm really excited for that episode to drop in to see what people have to say about her her crazy unique story. but yeah, I'm really excited for that. Again, we have a ton coming up with Tunnel to Towers, and so we're really looking forward to the next few months. speaker-0: Great, wonderful, wonderful. And yeah, I just wanna I didn't mention it, but I do want to mention, congratulations to you and Steve. You guys make a great couple. You are both two amazing people. Keep doing what y'all doing for sure. speaker-1: Thank you so much. We really appreciate that. speaker-0: You're very welcome. You're very welcome. Well, ladies and gentlemen, that's the Virtuosa, Deanna Perrazz, and I'm Vernon Wiggins, your host of the Winning Culture Podcast. Deanna, before we sign out, can you give us your social media information where anybody can follow you, please? speaker-1: Yeah, everyone can follow me on X, on Instagram, and on TikTok at Diana Perazzo. speaker-0: Thank you. Thank you very much, Deanna, for coming onto the Winning Culture Podcast. I really appreciate your time. Thank you so much. speaker-1: Absolutely. Thanks so much. speaker-0: Very welcome. Have a good day. Winning is all that I think about. I go to sleep thinking about it. I wake up thinking about it. Winning is all that matters. I don't know nothing else. I really don't know nothing else. All I ever knew was how to win. speaker-1: I'm gonna win, I'm gonna make it yes again.