Deonna Purrazzo recently spoke on The Wrestling Inc Daily and had some things to say in regards to WWE currently working through the pandemic. The topics included working without a crowd in attendance and if any backlash would come to the talent who may wish to not work during these trying times.
Purrazzo was recently released by the company and she last performed with them in early April against Nia Jax on RAW. She had the following to say about working in this type of environment which mirrored what a lot of wrestlers have stated:
“I never felt unsafe because I felt that this was my job and what I have to do and I’m getting paid for it. There’s a lot of people that need a job and aren’t getting paid so I’m grateful for that. But on the flip side, I thought it was very presumptuous to be asking people to make that choice – do you wanna work, or do you not? To say, ‘Oh, it won’t be held against you’ but we all know how wrestling works and it probably will. It was just a really sticky situation for people to navigate,” admitted Purrazzo.
With that being said, there are some Superstars that are rightfully so leery in working in this type of environment. Most importantly those that may have pre- existing health related issues, are immunocompromised, etc. prior to the ongoing pandemic should feel comfortable sitting out without any repercussions.
Two names that were brought up during the conversation were Roman Reigns and Sami Zayn. Purrazzo commented on both instances as follows:
“Honestly, I don’t know. I feel like, for his (Reigns) health he has to do that because he’s been sick and is very susceptible. That needs to be understood,” said Purrazzo. “I think it’s different if it’s a healthy person saying, ‘Oh, I don’t think it’s safe and I’m not gonna do it.’ But for someone who beat leukemia, you have to not put heat on that person because that’s a real-life, serious disease that this man overcame. He can’t get that again and possibly come out with the same outcome. So, I can’t imagine there would be heat on him for making that choice.”
As for Zayn, he recently was stripped of the Intercontinental Championship due to not competing. A title that he spent many years chasing and finally won it at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view in February. He defended the title against Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania and came out retaining it.
“That’s the thing – they tell you it’s not gonna be held against you but things like that happen. I think as wrestlers we’re bred to not take time off. We’re anxious about things like this happening. If I get hurt then the title gets taken off of me. Or if I’m sick then I lose my TV opportunity. Then if I’m off TV for three weeks then I’m off TV for three months. All of these things trickle so you can’t really say it doesn’t get held against you when missing one week of TV could be detrimental to your career,” stated Purrazzo.
She also speaks on how she believes that pro wrestling should be unionized which you can check out the full interview by visiting Wrestling Inc. here. All credit for transcription and the interview goes to Wrestling Inc and The Wrestling Inc Daily.
What are your thoughts on what Deonna had to say? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.
