During a recent conversation with VICE, professional wrestler Deonna Purrazzo discussed her opinions on women’s hardcore matches, her take on the Hollywood Ending match at AEW Revolution 2025, among other topics.
Key takeaways from Purrazzo’s dialogue are captured below:
In regard to women’s hardcore matches, Purrazzo expressed her sentiments, saying, “I don’t necessarily think it’s a strength of mine, but it does have its role to play. For instance, my first women’s Texas Bullrope encounter with Thunder Rosa, against whom I have been rivals with throughout summer, on a national TV platform, was certainly a fitting moment. It’s a curious thing when you receive reviews along the lines of ‘This was monotonous. There was no blood,’ regardless of notable actions during the match. It becomes a bit subjective and debatable when receiving feedback from either end.”
Purrazzo’s view on the Hollywood Ending match was: “The females performers were offered a chance, and they absolutely seized it. If we want to encounter such occasions more often, we need to be daring and present similar performances to demonstrate our capabilities – often proving that we can do it even better. While pleasing everyone is not realistic, it’s imperative to find our satisfaction. I believe that Toni and Mariah really aced it. They’ve elevated the level of brutality in our category and have thereby set a new benchmark for females in wrestling. I’m extremely proud of them and feel privileged to be a part of a division that promotes such efforts.”
During his recent visit to the “VladTV” podcast, Swerve Strickland shed light on his experience with WWE. He believes that his match with AR Fox in Lucha Underground put him on the WWE’s radar. Sharing his thoughts, he said, “I think that’s correct. Our objective was to create a buzz and make people talk about us. We wanted to ensure that our match was so unforgettable that people talking about it would immediately remember our match. The bout was a seamless mix of athleticism, lucha, storyline, and intensity. We wanted to highlight the narrative aspect instead of just mere crash wrestling.
The wrestler continued, “The entire motive was to showcase Fox as superior to me. Even if it took me going to extreme lengths to defeat him, that portrayed him as a strong opponent. Not only did the audience connect with the narrative, but it also helped us in reaching out to a broader audience who had not known us before.”
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