Deonna Purrazzo spoke with Sportskeeda on Youtube to discuss the announcement of Mickie James in the Royal Rumble and being paired with Matthew Rehwoldt.
Deonna giving her thoughts on Mickie James being in the Royal Rumble:
“I think that WWE hasn’t always necessarily played well with others, so there was so much shock factor to them announcing Mickie James entering the Royal Rumble as the Impacts Knockouts World Champion,” Deonna said. “I think regardless of what we’ve done in Impact thus far, it put a whole new set of eyes on Impact’s product, and then specifically, Mickie’s and I’s match at Hard to Kill.”
“I was as shocked as everyone else about the announcement, but if it is benefiting Impact in some way, then I’m all for it.”
Deonna on being paired with Matthew Rehwoldt:
“It was really organic actually. We were doing the Homecoming tournament and Impact wanted me to be a part of it. It was like, well, who fits with The Virtuosa?”
“They planned on bringing in Matthew Rehwoldt anyway,” Purrazzo shared. “They put us together and it worked. There was no effort needed. They were like, well maybe come up with an entrance or something, and we were like, we got this. His character and The Virtuosa, this drama king, and I’m so dramatic in who The Virtuosa is. It was a natural pairing, and it just really worked.”
“The Virtuosa is supposed to be this big, mean, evil heel bad guy, but I think fans have this weird dynamic where they also respect me and have been on this journey with me for so long. They are seeing me get what I deserve in some ways, so they cheer me. It kind of solidified like, no, she’s the bad guy and they want to boo me when they paired me with when they paired me with Matthew Rehwoldt. I was so happy they we were able to navigate a way for him to be a part of that main event because I really feel like he’s been such an integral part in the story that Mickie and I have been telling, that as the main event, he deserved a little bit of spotlight too for what he’s done for us.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit “Sportskeeda Wrestling” with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
