Insight with Chris Van Vliet - Deonna Purrazzo On Her AEW Debut, Leaving TNA, WWE NXT, Mickie James Match

Episode Date: October 22, 2024

Deonna Purrazzo (@DeonnaPurrazzo) is a professional wrestler currently signed to AEW. She sits down with Chris Van Vliet at West Coast Creative Studio in Hollywood, CA to discuss her surprise AEW debut in her home state of New Jersey, how the debut was kept secret, her TNA career which included a 30-minute Iron Woman match against Jordynne Grace and a rivalry with Mickie James, why she decided to leave TNA, why WWE didn't work out and more! Quote I'm thinking about: Some people are so afraid to die that they never begin to live. - Henry Van Dyke Sponsors: VUORI: Get 20% off your first purchase! Get yourself some of the most comfortable and versatile clothing on the planet at https://vuori.com/cvv ROCKET MONEY: Join Rocket Money today and experience financial freedom: https://rocketmoney.com/cvv ZOCDOC: Instantly book a top-rated doctor today at https://zocdoc.com/insight BONCHARGE: Use the code CVV to save 15% off your infrared sauna blanket at https://boncharge.com/cvv MAREK HEALTH: Get a 10% discount on Marek Health's Optimization Package with code CVV: https://marekhealth.com/cvv BLUECHEW: Use the code CVV to get your first month of BlueChew for FREE at https://bluechew.com PURE PLANK: The future of core fitness! Use the code CVV to save 10% on Pure Plank which was designed by Adam Copeland & Christian: https://gopureplank.com/ PLUNGE: Get $150 off your Plunge with the coupon code CVV150 at https://plunge.com For more information about Chris and INSIGHT go to: https://podcast.chrisvanvliet.com If you have ever enjoyed any of these episodes, could I ask you to please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcast or Spotify? It takes less than a minute and makes a huge difference in helping to spread the word about the show and also to convince some hard-to-get guests.  Follow CVV on social media:  Instagram: instagram.com/ChrisVanVliet Twitter: twitter.com/ChrisVanVliet Facebook: facebook.com/ChrisVanVliet YouTube: youtube.com/ChrisVanVliet TikTok: tiktok.com/@Chris.VanVliet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Oh yes. Welcome back to another one here on Insight. It's me, the three numbers from the back of your credit card. CVV, Chris Van Fleet. How is your weekend? Hope everything is going well for you. Thank you for being here. And thank you for making Insight the number one wrestling podcast on the planet. Hit a shooting star press on that follow button so you don't miss out on any of the episodes we have coming out. And thank you to everyone who subscribes on YouTube. The CVV Clips channel just hit 800,000 subscribers this week. Next stop, my friends, is 1 million subscribers. So hit a Shooting Star Press on that subscribe button on YouTube if you haven't done so already. So excited to have Deanna Parazo back on the show.

Earlier this year, she made her AEW debut, and it just so happened to timeout that she was able to make that debut. in her home state of New Jersey. She's wrestled all over the world. Her resume speaks for itself. She's been in WWE, Ring of Honor, Impact Wrestling. She's a three-time Impact Knockouts champion,

a knockouts tag team champion with Chelsea Green. She's a Ring of Honor, women's world champion. We had her on the podcast the first time four years ago, but so much has changed since then. So it was great to have her in the studio to be able to catch up on everything, including her recent marriage to former Impact Wrestling World Champion,

Steve Macklin. So snap a screenshot. Let us know that you're listening to this and tag us on social media. She's at Diana Parazo. I'm at Chris Van Vleach and let's do it. Please welcome the virtuosa, Diana Parazo. So is it that it's just coincidental that you debut in AEW in New Jersey? Just coincidence.

Was it? I mean, you're from New Jersey. Yes. Amazing. And why not debut there? But was it just that that was how the schedule lined up? Honestly, that's how the schedule lined up. And when I spoke to Tony Con before I signed, I had said to him like, this kind of seems

like we're on the same page with a lot of things. If I was to debut, the first dynamite of the new year is in New Jersey. And that would be like a dream come true for me. So how long, like when was that conversation and how long did it take for you to make the debut? That conversation was like mid-December. Oh, that's quick. Yeah, it only took like three weeks to like get this deal done. So you have that conversation and then did you find out like, all right, now I'm debuting. I can look forward to this or is it like a last minute thing? No, it was a last minute thing. I found out and I, so we have that conversation and I pitched that idea,

signed the contract on the first and it was like, okay, we have like two days. And I haven't heard anything, haven't heard anything. I was really upset because I thought like it's Tuesday afternoon. like, it's probably not going to happen. Yeah. Tuesday at 5 p.m. Sanjay Dutt called me and was like, we'd love to have you in Newark. Is that doable? And I was like, yeah, it's doable.

So, yeah, it was literally like a 24-hour turnover. And what a reaction? Yeah. Like, there are very few surprises in wrestling. And maybe it's because that came together so quickly. I feel like people were pretty surprised. Yeah. Well, I also think that there was this piece of like Mercedes-Monae was, like, it was

rumored she was coming to A&W, like no one really knew when she would show up, if she would show up. So they thought this is the first signing of the new year. She might show up. So I don't think anyone really expected me to be the first signing of the new year, which might be bad thing, but turned out to be a really great thing. Were you able to at least tell your family, like, hey, don't tell anybody else. Yeah. But I'm going to be there. Yes, I told Steve's parents, my in-laws, and then my dad and my step-mom came. So they were there. Yeah, they were front Oh, amazing. And it's, I feel like you get put into a big storyline right away, which was amazing. It wasn't like, hey, Deanna's coming. We'll see what happens. It's like, boom, we're going to make something that's like impactful. Yeah. Yeah, it was really cool because I didn't go in with any expectations. So I didn't know what I was doing until I got there. And I was like wheeled into TK's office on a wheelchair under like a tarp. Like so no one, it was crazy. Yes. Like, they didn't want anyone to see who it was. And I feel like, once they got there, everyone kind of put pieces together and the girls knew it was me.

But they wanted it to be super top secret. Like, I wasn't picked up to go to the venue until like 5 or 6 p.m. Then, yeah, I was kind of hidden in Tony's office for a little bit. And then they gave me my own separate locker room. And I felt like, this is just me. This is kind of really silly. Or you're like, I could get used to this. No, I was so uncomfortable.

And I was like, can I feel bad asking? Can someone bring me food? Where do I go to the bathroom? I felt very uncomfortable. But yeah, it was just so like, I didn't have any expectations. I didn't know what I was doing. I didn't ask what I was going to be doing. I was just kind of like, this is where I want to be.

This is my number one choice. And if we can make this happen, Jersey would be great. But I'm in this for the long haul. So you tell me what you want. Right before your music hits, are you sitting there backstage going, I hope they react. Yeah, I'm such a big crier. Like, in like a moment of like, um, like anxiety, especially when it comes to wrestling, I just like break down and cry.

It's the weirdest thing ever. I was so fine all day until like Mariah wrestled Queen Amanado right before I went out there. And their whole match, I was like in the back of staring. And Madison Rain, who's like my best friend in real life, is like, why are you crying? I have no idea. I have no idea. Had this happened before? This happens all the time.

But does it, you know, do you not worry that maybe I'm going to still be crying by the time I get out there? Sometimes. Like, I kind of was. It might look like I'm still crying. I think that night. Why your eyes so red? Yes, that night it looked like I was still crying for sure, and I literally was. And then I saw my dad big head in the front row and I was like, oh, and now I'm crying again. What's the feeling? Is it overwhelming gratitude?

I think so. I think it's like, I spent my whole life wanting to do this, right? I spent every moment from the time I was nine years old until I'm 30 now, like, dreaming up this world that I was going to be a superstar pro wrestler. And I was going to make changes in women's wrestling. And I think, yeah, it's just like overwhelming gratitude and like, like, partially like I can't believe I'm actually doing this or like wanting it to go well and just, yeah, all those like mix of emotions. And I'm not like the most emotional person in my like real personal life. And it just comes out in wrestling. So I think it's just anxiety and gratitude and wanting to perform well and wanting to do well and wanting the crowd to react well, all those things. Is it also like wanting to live up to the expectations that you've set for yourself?

Definitely. And I think even leading up to that moment, like I had an incredible time in TNA impacted for me. I did so many incredible things that really led up to being able to talk to all the companies, being able to talk to WWE, getting to talk to Tony Con, and kind of using that platform that TNA had given me to create a new future for myself. and not wanting to disappoint anyone of like we're not taking a chance on Deanna

but we're giving her this platform and it's huge and she's coming in and she's making a statement and I didn't want, I never want that to not be what Tony Khan wanted to be, not what my opponent wanted to be, not what the fans know me for. Do you remember the first moment where oh my gosh, I'm actually doing this, wrestling seems like a viable career option for me?

My eighth professional wrestling match was a T&A pay-per-view, knockouts knockdown, 2014 against Burke Tessmocker. Man. My eighth match in front of an audience. And that was the moment that I was like, can we curse? Holy shit, what is going on?

And I was 19 years old, I think, at the time. Like, I was a baby. And the person sitting in front of you today is not the person. I was so shy. I was so, like, out of my comfort zone and out of my element. Like, I just didn't know who I was meant to be in this world yet. So that was the moment looking around that, you know, the impact zone, like, holy crap. This is like, what is a hard cam?

What are those people do? And I didn't even, like, if you go back and watch that match, like, I didn't even body slam her properly. There were so many things that was just like, this girl is green as grass and she doesn't belong here. But they clearly saw something in you in those other seven matches that you have. Luckily, Rob Strauss, Robbie E. Yeah. together, so he would pop into our training school. And he obviously, like, knew they were doing knockouts, knockdown, was friendly with

Christy heme, they needed a last-minute girl. And he was like, I know someone who could do that. But think of all the opportunities you got early on. So you're talking about this happening in 2014 in your first match. You also made some appearances that same year in WWE. With all of that coming together, are you going, this is all happening so quickly, I can't even believe it. Yeah.

I mean, way too quickly. Like, I wasn't ready for those opportunities. So it's funny because so that happened that that match with Rukest Malker. Literally two weeks later, I was asked to go be an extra and be a rosebud at WWE. So I was, you know, drove up to Hartford for Monday Night Raw two weeks later. And it was just like, again, holy crap. Like it's all happening way too fast and I'm almost not ready for it. But then also being involved in those big moments, being involved in those companies,

is there also a part of it where you're expecting like this could turn into something? Yeah. I then immediately got opportunities in NXT. And that's when I really thought, like, oh, this could, like, I could, being signed is like a real viable thing right now. Like early 2000, like late 2015, early 2016. I was in NXT tape at the tapings like every other week. I was there 24-7, like flying myself actively going into debt so I could be in Orlando, Florida, to wrestle for NXT. And that was when I was like, oh, like, I think I could take kind of the critique I'm getting.

I could keep training. I could, you know, go to Japan. I was working with Ringabonar at the time. Like, all of these little pieces are really starting to come together. And who the virtuosa, Deana Parazzo's like early stages, who I was becoming then could be someone who could get signed. You were flying yourself there? Yes.

Was this just the idea of like put yourself into the situation? Like make them so they can't say no? Yeah. Yeah. And like I was taught from day one, like you have to invest in yourself. And so for me, that was just like, if I'm getting the opportunity, they keep calling me back. At the same time, I was asked to keep going to Monday Night Raw and going to Smackdown. And if I could keep showing up and they can't get rid of me, then maybe they won't

get rid of me. Why didn't they sign you? That's a really great question. I don't know. Kind of always the answer was that, like, I was a five-foot-two brunette. And there was a ton of us. And there was a ton of us on the Indies. And it was just like, how do you go make yourself marketable? How do you become more than a five-foot-two brunette? At the time, that was like a really difficult thing to be told because it's like, I can't change my height and like, can't I can't change my hair color. But like for me, the wrestler I am is the wrestler I am. So, you know, like you tell me, you want me to be more Italian, you want me to learn Italian, I could try to do that. Like, you tell me something more than my physical appearance. And for a long time, they couldn't.

And yeah, after my try out, I did really well. I got all positive feedback. That was February 2016. They were just like, we have too many of you right now and go out there and keep making a name for yourself and maybe it'll come full circle. But when they're saying like, give us something more. And then they're not saying like, do more of this or do more than. It's just like you. Show us something. Yeah. How are you supposed to take that feedback? For me, like early on, it was like, okay, well, I'm going to keep going to ring of honor. I'm going to keep going to TNA. I'm going to, like, I put myself in a position where I was constantly on a television program. So, you know, I was a mainstay in the women's division at Ring of Honor from day one. So I was never going to stop doing that.

TNA would call every once in a while, I'd go do that. Like, you were going to see me on a stage somewhere, and I don't want you to, like, ever forget Deanna Prazo. But then I got an opportunity to go to Japan, so I did that. I went to Australia, went to the UK and did indies. Like, for me, it was just like, okay, well, you said no there. So I'm going to take the next next next next thing. You leveled up.

Yeah. What was it that made you level up? Because by the time you got to impact, like, people knew who you were and they knew where you were all about. I think when I got to impact, I had to impact. has been released from NXT. And I think that whole process, again, was a continuation of, like, you know, you're great. You can wrestle, but, like, show us something else. And no one could tell me what that something else was.

So, again, I invested in myself. I produced vignettes of my own and pitched them to them. I was doing all the extra ring. I was, like, training some of the new girls and helping with stuff with them. Like, there was nothing that, in my head, I want to create boxes. I want to say, okay, I can do this for myself. I can do this for myself. And that way, if this doesn't work out, then I did everything I could to make it work out.

And if it doesn't, then not that I can't accept responsibility for it, but like, hey, I did all that I could do. And so in NXT, that was kind of my mentality at the end was like, I've done everything you've asked me to do. I changed my hair color a million times. I've changed my gear design. I've spent thousands and thousands of dollars on that. I've produced my own vignettes. And this just isn't working out. So when they released me, I think it was a combination of like I was done changing myself for other people.

I was done accepting the answer no. But then also I had just worked out all of the kinks of like, this is who I want to be. This is how I want to present myself. And like take it or leave it. And going into TNA, impact at the time when I spoke to Scott Tamor the first time, I was like, I have an entire character synopsis.

This is how I see the virtuosa. This is who I'm giving to you if I come in there. And if you want her, great. And if you don't, that's okay too. Yeah. I was just in such a space of like, I don't even love wrestling anymore. So if we're going to make this work, it's on my terms.

Wow. or I'm not going to make wrestling work anymore, and that's just it. You've got nothing to lose then? Yeah, I really had nothing to lose when I walked in the door. So what's a virtuosa? So by definition, a virtuosa is someone who possesses outstanding technical ability. Usually it relates to, like, a pianist, or a violinist, or some kind of artist. And I just thought, what a pretty Italian word.

Early on, I thought, like, oh, it's kind of hard to say. Maybe people won't be able to pronounce it. But as time went on, I just felt like the audience understood it, the way I presented myself, my music, the outfits. It all, to me, professional wrestling is an art. So why couldn't a virtuosa or virtuoso relate to pro wrestling? Yeah, it makes sense. It's like you're crafting your masterpiece almost. Like every single time you go out to the ring, you're showing like this is why I have this moniker. Yeah. And for me, like my whole entire, every move I do relates back to the Fujiwara Arm Bar. So my masterpiece is breaking your arm. And when I hook in the Venus de Milo at the end, it's done.

My masterpiece is created. So really, if you look at my entire body of work, you look at the entire moniker of the virtuosa, it makes sense by just the simple like Webster dictionary. If you had fallen out of love with wrestling then, when you got released from WWE, what made you fall back in love with it? T and A did. And all the girls that were there, all of the management gale. Kim, Madison Rain, like, the entire environment that they cultivate there just really made me like, this feels like home. This feels like I belong here. It feels like everyone wants to work for each other. There's no drama. There's no, like, fighting over spots. There's no stabbing each other in the

back. Like, this is, I hate to call it that, this, but everyone calls it this, like the land of misfit toys. It is in terms of like, we've all been rejected by other places, other people. And we come here and we have a chip on our shoulder and we do the work for each other. And that was the environment that I was looking for. And it just didn't click until there. Was there a reason that you didn't want to stay there? I just felt like at the end of last year, like I kind of had done everything. It'd been a three-time knockouts world champion.

I had been a knockout's world tag team champion. I had carried the brand and become the Rana de Rana's champion in Mexico with AAA. I had went to Ring of Honor. I had main evented AEW Dynamite representing impact wrestling. Like what else was there for me to do here that would continue? you to level me. I just felt like I've worked with everybody in the locker room. I'm comfortable here. It's time now to get out of my comfort zone. But that's the thing. So you then go into the unknown, right? You bet on yourself. You know there's other opportunities out there, but you're

hoping that they'll come for you. So you leave there and you go, let's see what happens here. Yeah. Yeah. And that was, again, what I was hoping for, but it's exactly what I got with my AW debut. Yeah, it's like, yeah, what you had planned for ended up happening. Yeah. But that's, that is taking a chance at betting on yourself. Yeah. And I think that's kind of just what I've had to like learn is like, I could take this piece of advice and this piece of advice and this work for this person so I could kind of copy that in my own way and just like watch the successful people around me and how they've always bet on themselves or they continue to level up or elevate their character and tweak this and tweak that. And if I can do that for myself,

I could, if I could use their template for me, then hopefully I can do the same thing and be When you were in Impact, you had that 30-minute Iron Woman match with Jordan Grace. Yeah. So when they present that to you, how do you start to plan out what that match is going to look like? Well. Well, we were supposed to do a no disqualification match at first. And so at the time, what was great about Impact was we were taping like every two weeks in Nashville. It was still the pandemic.

So it was closed studio. And we would get creative ahead of time. So what Jordan and I were told we were doing was we were going to have our stuff. slam anniversary match. And then the next day at the next set of tapings for, you know, two weeks down the road or whatever it was, we would do a no disqualification match. So leading into that, we planned for like a hardcore

like what are cool, intricate different things we could do with weapons. It wasn't until the match at slam anniversary happened and it went over so well. That and the internet loved it. Like, just the entire reaction was so good to it from a company standpoint and from a like social

media standpoint that they were like, we need to do something bigger than like a 10 minute No disqualification match. We're going to do a first ever Iron Woman match. And when they told Jordan and I literally at the beginning of the next day, like 9 a.m., we were both like, what the fuck? Like, we were so beat up that we had 17 or 18 minutes on the pay-per-view, like beat that crap out of each other. And now you want us to do it again, but for like double the time. Yeah.

Jordan Grace is one of the hardest person, like hardest hitting people I have ever been in the ring with. Physically, like emotionally, she just like brings out such a different animal in every one of her opponents. It's like you need to be 100% to be in the ring with Jordan Grace. And so neither of us were 100% at that time. And so going in, we were just like, how do we even like reframe and reset our mind to do what we did again? But 30 minutes. And then how do you work on the pacing when there's no audience there? It's so hard because you like almost hear it in your head.

Like we did at the same anniversary like a spot where it was like this wasn't it. But like, you know, people do arm drag, arm drag, sweep, sweep. double drop kick and then you stand off. Yes. And then the crowd cheers, yes. And you expect that reaction and you plan for that reaction, but then it wasn't there, but we could still hear it in our heads. So we just kind of had to like go with that. Like, okay, we're just going to let that moment breathe and get right back into it. So yeah, it was really hard to plan that pacing of like they would react here and they would

react here. So let's just give it those beats. Then there wasn't real commercial breaks because it was taped. So it honestly didn't end up being a full 30 minute. It was more like 20, 24, 25, whatever it was. Right, but it was so like, okay, we don't even need to work through commercial breaks. So that was nice. Like, they really, because it was such a last minute decision and because it was like, we just killed each other at this pay-per-view. Like, we could take our time and take breaths where we needed them to be.

Does Jordan know she hits hard or does she just get caught up in the moment? She knows she hits hard. But she also does get caught up in the moment. And I will say, like, she's one of the few people that I can get caught up in the moment with you. Like, I love it. Like, I'm like, you want to fight? Then we'll really fight tonight. Like, I love that about her.

Oh, is that the same thing? So she hits hard, hoping that you'll hit her hard? I think she just gets carried away. I don't think she knows her own strength in terms of, like, the gym, in terms of how much weight she could lift. But I don't think she knows her own strength in the moment in the wrestling ring. Until then you, like, she's met with her match. She'd be like, bitch.

And I'm like, bitch! There was one time we were backstage jazz was at, Tina with us. And I had just wrestled jazz. It was like career verse title. And so jazz technically retired. And jazz was like, Deanna's so late. Tiana's this. Deanna's that. And Jordan was like, excuse me? And I was like, no, no, no, no. Jazz doesn't touch me. So I don't touch jazz. You want to really fight? Then I'll really fight. It's all dependent on the opponent. And do you find out after like the first lockup or the first exchange that you're like, oh, okay. Yeah. Let's see what we're doing here.

Yeah, you could tell kind of like right away. What did it mean to be able to share the ring with Mickey James? Oh my gosh. That whole entire feud was, I think, career defining for me. I think after I worked with Jordan, I kind of went into a phase of like working like, you know, pay-per-view to pay-per-view programs with a lot of the girls on the impact roster. And when Mickey came in, it was slam anniversary.

And she was making her return after being released from WWE. And I think it was just the exact opposite. opponent I needed, an organic baby face with a history at this company who's also like, at that point, she has nothing else to prove. Like, she's just here because she wants to be here because she wants to continue wrestling, because she wants to continue to better and change women's wrestling. And my character at that time was like, one, I'm the best and like, who are you? You know, like, just so arrogant and so like, this is my championship and my company and my

title. And just the chemistry we had organically was just everything I needed in those moments, really to sink my teeth in and define. who the virtuoso was. This episode is brought to you by Timeline. Timeline is a Swiss-based life science company, and they're a global leader in Eurolithnae research. So what's Euralithin A?

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I think just the way, like, she carries herself. She is such, like, a clear vision of the story she wants to tell and the shit she'll take from people. Like, she is a badass woman who knows what she wants and knows what she's worth and will settle for nothing less. And I think that if every woman could get to that point and accept nothing less than they deserve and fight for what they think women deserve, women's wrestling would be in a completely different place. But that sounds like you now, especially when you were describing the 2014

version of you. Yeah. That sounds like you now. Like you are very confident in who you are, you know who you are in the ring and out of the ring. And maybe it took 10 years to get to this point, but you know exactly what you're about. Absolutely. And yeah, it took 10 years to get to this point because like I said, the girl who started wrestling at 18 years old, fresh out of high school, had no idea what she would be capable of. And the woman who can even sit on this microphone and talk to you and look you in the eye, didn't exist, you know, 13 years ago. And what did it take to get there? I think being told no, I think being successful and taking advantage of the people around me,

learning from the people around me, and then applying those lessons, I mean, those three and a half almost four years at impact changed my entire career. And I don't think had I had those four years and been as successful as I was, I could stand here today and be like, oh, no, no, no, no, I'm worth more. Or, oh, no, no, no, no, like, I have more to offer. The proof is in the pudding. So you can't tell me if you don't give me the microphone, I can't go out there and cut a promo because I can. You can't tell me if you were to give me 30 minutes, I couldn't handle it because I can.

And I know those things now. And no matter where I go in my career after that, like, no one could take that from it. When we go back to the early days in WWA, look at the people you were in the ring with. Yeah. Like, you were in the ring early with Naya Jacks and Oscar and Baskah. and Bailey, and there's a whole bunch of other people I'm forgetting there, but they're not long matches, but you're still, you're in the ring with them and you have the ability to learn from them,

and they're there. And I think it levels you up. Oh, gosh, absolutely. The match that I had with Bailey and NXT, I don't remember the time we were given for the match, but literally right before we went out of the curtain, they were like, okay, you got to cut a minute. And she was like, no problem.

And came to me and was like, let's do this, this and this. And I was just, whatever you want to do? Okay, you know. And she talked me through the whole match. in the ring and like there was even one point I remember I didn't hear what she said so I just like went to what my next thing was and like she just went with it like just even those moments teach you like oh if she can handle that and just go out there and like that's no problem because she's trained to do that like I want to get to that level I want to be so comfortable that

nothing can phase me that no one could throw me off my game what about being in the ring with naya jacks I love naya and she has always been so like giving to her opponents and like so I remember, it was like, I think, her second match in NXT after she debuted that it was me. And I was intimidated because I'm like, oh gosh, like, she's new. I'm new. Like, this could be really bad. And she was just like, Sarah Amato helped produce, Triple H was in the ring helping produce. Like, she was just such a sponge to all the things. So, like, I was just like, whatever you need to do? And she was like, can you do this? Can you do this? Like, gave me a couple things way more than I needed at that time. And then we got to do it again when she re-debued

the raw after mania. in 2020. And it was like so comfortable because we had known each other then. We had done this. Like, like, even then she gave me too much. They made us redo the match. I think she's such a great person. And like to be in those moments with her was really like exciting for me. Like I like to see that development. And I was really grateful to be a part of it. And you were a kid growing up in New Jersey. What made you think you could do this for a living? Oh gosh. I saw the women do it. And like, like, Trish Stratis, Lita, Mickey. You know, Jazz, Jacqueline, Victoria, I saw them do it.

And, like, they were fighting so hard for women to get TV time, women to have actual storylines. Like, Tristratus was like, is my idol, still is. Have you met her? Yes. Finally, and I cried and I cried. Coming full circle on the crying here. Yeah.

They just fought so hard. And then to see what that turned into into, like, the divas era. And that's really when I was, like, deep into, like, my wrestling fandom. I just thought like women are way more than that. Like women have more value than Playboy pillow fights or, you know, like bikini contests and dancing danceoffs. And, you know, like, I just really saw that and was like, that's not what it used to be. You know, even if the wrestling wasn't great back then, like you still saw aggressive women fighting. And this isn't what I don't like this.

And I think women could be more than this. And I want to change that. And what gave you the courage to step into the ring? I don't think I never, like I didn't ever have the courage. Like, I always knew when I decided. I did like at nine years old, like, I'm going to be a professional wrestler and nothing deterred me from that. Doesn't everyone go? Okay, and now what's your real aspiration? Yeah, and I was like, no, I'm going to be a wrestler.

I had backup plans. Like, I had this ultimate dream. I was going to go to the University of Kentucky and be on the co-ed cheer team and be a national cheerleading champion that I was also going to train OVW with Rip Rogers. Like, that was my ultimate. Like, that's what I'm going to do. Cheer thing obviously didn't work out, but I got to train with Rip Rogers on OVW. And so I had this grand plan. I mean, at 15 years. old, like, I was printing off paperwork. There was a wrestling school, like, 30 minutes from my house. And I said to my parents, like, when I get a car at 16, like, I can drive myself and they'll take me at 16. Like, I just need you to sign the paperwork. And they were like, no, absolutely not. Like,

they were not on board. But my mom did say when you're 18 and you can have a job and you can pay for this yourself. And if it's still something you want to do, then by all means, you go for it. So that's what I did. I turned 18. I graduated high school. And that December, I was wrestling training. Wow. What was the job you had to save up the money to go to wrestling school? I worked at Apocombie Kids. Does it smell like the same cologne there too? I could still smell it. Fierce? I don't know what it was called. I have no idea. But if I get a waft of it like in the mall or something, I'm still like, ooh. The crazy thing at the mall is you can smell it from like seven stores away. Yeah. Luckily, I worked in the back, so I folded the clothes. So I didn't have to smell it all the time.

But yeah. Can you still fold the clothes like that? Probably. Probably. Probably. If I really tried, yeah. I mean, you feel like it's maybe ingrained into you. Yes, yeah. From the time that you started wrestling school to the time you had your first match, what was the timeline there? I think it was about a year. Okay.

Yeah. And I'm still working a job to pay to go to wrestling school? Yeah. Still working at Abercrombie kids? I think so. I don't remember. It must have been. I don't remember another job, but yeah.

But this is the thing I love about wrestling so much, It's this thing leads to that thing that leads to that thing. This brick lays upon this brick that lays upon this brick that now makes you the person that is sitting in front of us right now. When you look at everything that's happened since you debuted, look at all the people you've been able to work with. And like all of these things have built upon itself. Where does it go from here in AEW?

Who are the people you haven't worked with yet? Yeah. Oh gosh. Chris Stalander. Very briefly a few weeks ago, I worked with Willow Nightingale. But I think she's just such an organic. baby face, that would be great for like a program with the real heel virtuosa. Sky blue when she's healthy to come back.

Mercedes Monet, of course. I just think our roster continues to grow and everyone is, it's like, I think especially at AWE, but just wrestling in general now moves so fast. So I think that like if, you know, Camille just debuted with Mercedes not too long ago, I think Camille is amazing. I'd love to like actually wrestle or we've done like one little thing. the other ever. And there's so many people on our roster. What's going on in wrestling right now? It feels like it's cool for the first time and a long time.

Yeah. I mean, it's on every single night, right? It doesn't matter what you're a fan of or what style of wrestling you're a fan of. I mean, there's just like something for everybody right now on every channel. And so how could you, how could you deny not liking just at least one bit of it? It really is like the ultimate buffet right now. You've got the, like you said, every night of the week, you've got a little bit of something that you can choose from. Whether that's men's wrestling or women's wrestling, it's just so, we're at such a good spot right now. And I'm saying that as a fan. It's cool to be able to be able to turn on the TV and see something that you like every night. Yeah. And I think as a, as a worker's perspective, like there's so many opportunities in places to work

right now. Yeah. Yeah, for you and your friends. Yeah, absolutely. To, you know, my husband's just sitting off camera, like, you know, to see what he's doing in T&A. And to, you know, to see what he's doing in T&A. And to see the people he's, you know, working with and the friendships he's making and the stories he's getting to tell. Like, it's really exciting that he gets to do that there. And I also get to be successful here. Chelsea Green is my best friend to see her absolutely thriving and being her, like, real true authentic self on television every week is so fun for me because there's so many people that I'm so close to now that I feel like, well, if it can't be me being successful, I'd want it to be them. And they are being successful while I also get to be successful. So it's just this like

really cool, like, phase of life right now. It's really fun to boot Chelsea right now. She's not really like that in real life. But she is crazy. She is, like, she comes up with these, like, crazy one-liners or her facial expressions or, like, you know, if she has a drink or two, you never know what's going to come out of her about. Like, she genuinely is that silly and that fun that right now on TV, you're not supposed to like it. But I think organically everyone does like it. Do you remember the first time you met Chelsea?

I do. We were sitting at a mellow mushroom in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, right after it must have been Russell Cade. And there was a girl sitting between us, but a group of us went out for pizza. And across this girl, we were so rude now that I'm thinking about it. We're just like chit-chaling back and forth, like, well, I did this and I know this person and you know this person and da-da-da. And we have this moment of like, did we just become best friends? Yep. Yes, we did.

And it's so funny because like two or three years ago, we went to make. mellow mushroom after a wrestlecade in Winston-Salem with Matt Cardona. And we were like, is this where we became friends? It was. What about the first time you met Steve? And I was so surprised when Steve came by here. Yeah. Yeah.

Good to see you, Steve. Yes. We actually, like, we tell everyone this story about how we met because we grew up like 30 minutes from each other. And we didn't meet until 2018 when I went to NXT in Florida. And he had messaged me like, hey, my mom. works, his mom's a nurse. My mom works with so-and-so that went to high school with your mom. Like, do you know that person? And I was like, oh, I don't, like, let me ask my mom. And that's kind of how,

like, at least a friendship started between us because it was like, oh, wow, and this person helped get you into wrestling and that person helped me get into wrestling. And, oh, you know, this indie guy from Jersey. And I worked with, like, it was just, if you believe in fate, I believe we're fate. Like, we were meant to meet each other when we met each other because our lives are so weirdly interconnected. And we would have never known. When you added each other to Facebook, you probably had, you know, 74 friends in common or something like that? If my husband had a Facebook. Oh, it's time to get a Facebook, Steve. He is so, like, would be in Alaska with no phone if he wasn't a pro wrestler. Like, he's so off the grade. Well, maybe that's the retirement plan for

you guys. Maybe not Alaska. No, the retirement plan is like buy five acres of land and, like, rescue dogs. That's not retirement. That sounds, you can do that without even retiring. Yeah. You could do that in, I don't know, maybe not Florida. You can do it in Florida, actually. Yeah? Yeah. Like in the middle maybe. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. That's okay. Yeah. It's doable. And this is the plan. That's the plan. Okay, great.

I hope you're on board with the plan, babe. Alaska, Florida. Yeah. Either way. Yeah. You guys were both at the top of your game in impact at the same time. I loved seeing all the headlines that you guys were a power couple. Yeah.

Heck yeah. Yeah, I think we are like inside wrestling and outside wrestling. We have so many like real life ambitions and real life like interests that have nothing to do with wrestling. Like obviously Steve's a veteran. So, uh, advocation for our veterans is really important to us and stuff like that that we're getting into outside of wrestling. Um, makes us like a real life power couple. But to have that moment, I had rebellion last year, um, where he was in like the semi main event and I was in the main event. And we both won world championship.

on the same night. To do that together was just another career defining moment that is like when we're 80 and we get to tell our grandchildren that, like, how amazing is that going to feel? That's got to be a first. Yeah. It wasn't actually. We thought it was. Sue Young and Rich Juan won world championships. It was bound for glory 2020 the same night. But I guess on screen, we're not even together on screen, but they're so completely opposite characters that I just don't think anyone put two and two together. Yeah. And then I also don't know if Taya Valky and John Morrison won it on the same night, but they

were champions at the same time. While you were in. So Taya will have to fact check me. That is a small group of people that you are in there. Yeah. That's amazing. I remember seeing the photo on social media. Yeah.

It's just like, I'm just so happy for you guys. Thank you. Yeah. To both have your championships, same night, same company. Amazing. Yeah. Well, I think it was particularly cool. for me, and I cried about this right before.

Lance Storm was mine and Jordan's producer for that match. And as his match is wrapping up, and she's like, okay, we got about like, you know, three minutes we should head up. And I was like, I don't want to see him win. I had been the champion before. You know, I had, that was, I was going into winning my third world championship. Like, I knew how

that felt. But I think for Steve, not knowing how that felt, being in this position for the first time. And he had, he's been wrestling just as long as I have, you know, just about 13 years. to finally be getting that opportunity, to finally be getting that moment. Not that it was way more special than my moment was going to be, but I just felt that so much more for him because I know what the first time feels like. And I was excited for him to get that feeling and that validation of like,

oh, I can earn this. And if he chooses to tell his story one day about all the stuff he's been through and his journey in NXT, and I think that people will realize that validation was like just that much more special. Is you saying you didn't want to see it? I didn't want to see it. Because I was going to cry. He just told this wonderful story about how.

I'm almost crying talking about it. I didn't want to see it because I knew like literally three minutes later I have to go. So like let me not cry for you and be so excited for you. But he waited until after my match in gorilla. And the moment I came through, he was right there. And there's a picture of him giving me a big hug and us kissing. And it was like, okay, we can have our moment now. Yeah.

But I couldn't have it before. Have you watched it back? I watched his match. Yeah. But I... Have you watched him win the championship? Yes. Okay.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I've not watched mine, but yeah. Why not? You don't watch your own work? Very critical of myself. I think that's a good thing, though, right? But to the point of like, if I liked it beforehand, I'll watch it and completely destroy it. And then I'm like, okay, now I hate it.

So I liked what me and Jordan did together. There was a couple things in the moment. I was like, I didn't like that. But I was like, I like I like it. I don't want to ruin it for myself because I will. But sometimes there's something, and I don't know this from experience because I haven't worked a match, but sometimes there's things that don't feel right in the moment, but you watch it back and you go, oh, that was, that actually looked fine.

Not me. I harp. Like, I'm crazy in terms of like, I will lay in bed for like three weeks after and think about it. Like, I just, I know myself and I'm like, I just, I can't. There's some matches and I'm like, it was fine. Let's close the book and move on because my brain won't move on if I watch it and I pick it apart. Who do you think in wrestling backstage that you can trust their opinion when they tell you something's good? because so often you go to the back and they go, yeah, yeah, that was great, good stuff.

Yeah. Who's going to shoot you straight? Madison Rain, for sure. Not only is she like my best friend in real life, but she has known me since I was 19 years old doing knockouts knockdown. She has seen like every phase of my life. So like personal and professional. So I trust her in like a nice way to let me down if need be. Steve also is one of those people who like does critiques me in a way that it's like not.

offensive or like, I feel like wrestling relationships can get like really tense when you talk about wrestling and you critique each other's wrestling. But I feel like he lets me down in like a gentle way where I feel like I'm very aggressive with him. But I can trust his opinion 100%. But maybe, you know, you can trust it and you know that it's coming from a good place. Yes. It's to make you an even better performer in the ring. Yeah. Jordan is another one of those people who we constantly are sending each other's stuff back and forth or being like, I didn't like this or I didn't like this or what do you think I could do differently here? Like she's my greatest opponent ever.

So if I want like a true opinion on like what did you think about that, I can go to Jordan Grace. What is there left for you to do in wrestling? You've done so much. I got to win the AEW Women's World Championship. Yeah, I think a championship at AEW, I think going there and just knowing the type of environment it is and the complete new set of girls that I've never worked with. I knew it was going to be a challenge to, I don't want to say conform, but like, relearn a system. I had been comfortable at TNA for so long. I knew the system.

I knew the people. I knew the position I was in. You know, I was on top there. So there was more leeway for me to give my opinion or pitch ideas. Coming into A.A.W, you kind of need to earn those rights all over again. So I think, yes, there's still so much left for me to do. I feel like I'm just now feeling like myself again there. feeling like, okay, this is the virtuosa.

There was, you know, like, I mean, I've been there nine and a half months now. That first stretch, it was like, I don't know, know what I'm doing or who I am. I'm working a brand new, like, system with television and times. And I felt really thrown off. So I feel like now I'm finally getting in a groove that will propel me. I think people forget this, is starting a new job. Like, sure, you have the background of wrestling and all these other places. Yeah.

But it's starting a new job. Yeah. You know, and it's, like you said, learning the ins and outs of it, both. on camera and behind the scenes as well. Yeah, and you're forming relationships with brand new people, brand new producers. You know, luckily I had Madison there, and I had Scotty Too Hottie, who I knew from NXT, and I know, I know Pat Buck, and I know Sanjay Dutt, but, you know, I don't know Tony Con. I don't know Jerry Lynn. I don't know, you know RJ City, who's such a big hand

in all the women's stuff. Like, I don't know Jen Pepperman, who came in. So creating those those relationships and forming bonds and trust with each other. So they know I could put Gianna in that position. Like, I also didn't want to come there and rely on like, this is all the stuff I did over here. So it's not going to transfer over here. Like there's just no way. It's two completely different companies.

But if you look at those two different companies and you look at how TNA runs, it's not live television every week. AAW is live television every week. And it's in front of a pretty big crowd too. Yes. So, you know, even just from my debut in New Jersey, I couldn't recall the last time I had wrestled or even spoken on a microphone and cut a promo in front of 5 or 6,000 people.

I don't think I had ever done that. Just the way the systems are run are so different. Doing live commercial breaks and what it takes to go into a commercial break and then come back out of a commercial break are things that T&A wrestlers don't always have to worry about because it's not live commercial breaks. So there's a little bit of fudge room.

So I going into that system knew this is going to be an adjustment. I didn't realize how big an adjustment it was because I had to like really figure out who the virtuosa was going to be in a new space. But it was re-learning how to wrestle on live television every week. And a lot of the time you spent in WWE was either in NXT, you know, small audience there and I guess the performance center where they do NXT. And then during the pandemic when things were just a little funky all over the place. Yeah, yeah. Even when I went up to Raw for like a few weeks, I wrestle. Oscar on a Christmas special.

So we taped two episodes that night. And Oscar and I had two segments, but it was a taped show. So you didn't even really have to worry about commercial breaks then. Then when I kept going up to the main roster, I was doing main events. So it's just like you have eight minutes, go have fun. There is no commercial break. It's just straight eight minutes. So even that, like to go into AW and be told, you know, you have a total 12 minute

segment and however that's broken up, like at TNA, I don't think I had any less than 12 minutes ever. At the very end, when Trinity was there, we had 28 minutes on a pay-per-view special before, which at the time was like, holy crap, what do you do with 28 minutes? But then I go into AEW and it's like, what do I do with 9? You know what I mean? Like having to reshape how I tell stories in the ring has been completely different. So it was, I don't think people realized as big of an adjustment as it was for me. What do you do at 28 minutes with Trinity slash Naomi? Oh, my God. You do everything. Luckily, that particular matter. happened. We did a UK tour last year and Gail Kim was the special guest referee. So we had a lot of fun

with Gail and I had an interaction at the end of the of the match. And, you know, you could, you could, the UK crowd is so great that you could really like take your time and take those moments and like interact with them and they chant and they sing back to you. And so that was the perfect environment, I think, to have 28 minutes. But holy crap, like we had a solid 28 minutes. And it was. Did you do everything you wanted to do? Yeah. Because if the crowd's really chanting and you're leaning into that, maybe that takes up some of the time for the things that you had planned. No, we got the whole match in. Nice.

Speaking of chant, I thought it was so cool when you wrestled Thunderosa recently. Thank you. And the crowd chanted women's wrestling. Yeah. It's like, heck yeah. Which was crazy because we were the first match of the night at Double or Nothing. Yeah. And like, we didn't do any, like, we didn't do, the wrestling we were doing was not like some crazy, intricate, like, women's wrestling. It was very, like, just a hot crowd with two great women's wrestlers. And they liked what we did. But I remember thinking as they're chanting it, looking around, like, I don't think we

really warranted women's wrestling chants. But I will take what I could get. I mean, why not? Yeah. That crowd was hot. You know what? A lot of people online shit on the fact that we were on the pre-show. And I have said this before, but I think you sell people on the pre-show.

on the pre-show. Like, the idea is, it's free. Anyone could watch it. If you aren't sold on the pay-per-view itself yet, and you see really good wrestling on the pre-show, we sold them on buying the pay-per-view. That's my job. And so to get that type of reaction

with that audience in Vegas, like, if they weren't sure, they were damn sure by the time we were done. Fellas, do you want your grooming routine to be a one-and-done deal? Well, the days of using the same trimmer for your face and your private parts are over thanks to our friends.

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I mean, he is incredible. Like, and I love that he's, in Orlando. So I drive over Monday or Thursday or whatever, depending on my schedule that week, and get like an insane workout. And then it takes 40 minutes and then I get to go home. Like, it's not even like, I have to make this work today. It's going in and out and easy. And he's dialing in your nutrition too. Yeah. Yeah. And for me, that's always like my biggest part is I don't eat enough. And like my sleep schedule is horrible. I don't sleep at night. So I'm like, you know, an 11 a.m. noon type of person. Like, so I just don't have enough time to like get all my meals in by the end of the day. So with him, like, being able to tweak what I eat and when I

eat it. And also, like, I'm Italian. I want to eat pasta all the time. I'm a carb queen. So for him to be able to work that in where I can eat pasta for every meal is amazing for me. It's like the best of every world. I think he titled the video recently on YouTube. I want to get my six pack back. Yeah. Has he given you a timeline of when this is going to happen? He tells me if you, and he, I mean, he like hammers it into me. He gets annoyed because I follow the meal plan. But again, like, I I just, and it really, it's just my sleep schedule. I love pasta. I love pasta, but I don't get enough meals in the day.

So that's, and he's like, if you could just give me 12 weeks, where you wake up early enough to get all your meals in, and my workouts aren't the problem. It's the meals. If you could do this for 12 weeks, you would be like ready for a bodybuilding competition. Okay. And I'm like, that's exciting to hear,

but like, I don't know that I could commit to that. Of course. If you can commit to be the wrestler that you are, you could do anything. Yes. And I commit to it, like, when I was in Japan, and that's where that quote came from. When I was in Japan, I had said to Sheena Beasler, who was there with me, like, what do I need to do? I was working out with the gym in Japan and, like, the workouts were great.

But what nutrition-wise do I need to do to have, like, six-pack washboard abs for, my first match was against Tony Storm for one of the championships that started him at the time. I want to look amazing to work in Corkin Hall for the first time. This is a dream come true. I'm going to cry and I did. I want to look amazing. Help me. And she was like, okay, great, don't eat carbs. Like, not even vegetable carbs.

So it was like three weeks leading up to that. And all I had was like chicken, some kind of ground meat that I could find in the grocery store. I don't know what it was. Let's hope it was ground turkey. An avocado. That sounds miserable. It was miserable. But then I will say, like, we drank lots of.

alcohol. So that was like kind of the carbs. Like that was the trade-off. Like I'm not eating rice and pasta, but I'm drinking lots of alcohol for three weeks. And then I was ripped. Like I have never seen myself look so like ready for a competition kind of look. Like if I look at that picture, like my face is sunk in and I'm like, oh, that's like, I did it healthily, but like wouldn't be sustainable for me. And that's what I was talking about. Like, I want to look like that. I worked with the nutritionist last year, AJ Sims, cement factory. I turned 40 last last year, I wanted to be in the best shape of my life. And the thing that was great about it is it keeps you accountable.

Like, you know, he gives you the meals to eat. He gives you the workouts. And at the end of the week, you check in. And if you don't look a certain way, it's like, okay. Yes. Where did you slip here? Yeah. Like, well, I really like chocolate chip cookies.

So I said that to Sessor. I was like, you know, I trained some like hormonal stuff. Like, I really crave chocolate right now. Like, I feel like a 12-year-old that needs a candy bar. And he was like, that's fine. Like, do you need the whole candy bar? Or do you just need, like, a handful of it? of chocolate chips. Yes. And I was like, honestly, like a handful of two or chocolate chips is enough.

I just have never craved chocolate before. And he was like, no problem. And like literally 12 hours later, I had a new macros that included chocolate in it. So that's what's been amazing is like, it's really custom to like what I like to eat. And even like we went to Disney yesterday. Like, I didn't log anything because I had my Mickey pretzel and I had ice cream and I enjoyed myself. And he's like, okay, and today we're getting back on the wagon. Like that's what I need. I need the accountability, but also the flexibility to still. feel like I can have a treat. Yeah.

I went to WrestleMania here last year and he's like, all right, can you send me a list of all of the restaurants inside SoFi? He's like, why don't you eat this here, this here, and try to sneak some protein powder. And I'm like, oh, okay. Yeah.

But we made it way to work, but the cool thing was being able to be accountable to somebody. Yes. To be able to say, like, all right, if this is the goal we're reaching towards and we're headed towards, these are the steps that we need to take to get there.

Yeah. Yeah. And that's what I needed. And I was starting a new job. Like, I wanted to feel my best. And I wanted to look my best. And, like, the Internet had come for me for not looking my best. And for me, it was just kind of like, okay, a realization of, like, there's work I could be doing for myself.

And I'm not going to do it for the troll on the Internet who wants to tell me I'm fat today. I'm going to do it for me. And I'm going to put the work in for me to feel like I'm my best. And I could put my best work out there. But the Internet also defended you a lot, too. Oh, my gosh. Yes, they did. And like that's the unfortunate beauty of the internet, I think, is like when people come for you for such silly things, like your body or whatever it is.

I wanted to defend myself. I felt like I needed to say something. And what I said, I mean, I feel in my heart and soul. Like, I am so much more than what my body looks like, I'm so much more than a number on the scale. Like, first of all, I've never been a size small. But my husband loves me whether I would be a small or I'd be an extra extra large. Like, he thinks. I'm beautiful no matter what, and honestly, that's all that matters. But I have a college degree. I'm working on getting a master's degree. I have worked in every company in the world. There's a reason people want to work with me, because my body of work, not my body. And for people to agree with that and then say such nice things, like I cried because the internet hurt my feelings, but then I cried because the love I felt from my friends

and my family. It's just so, it's so sad that we're in a time right now where the minority can be so loud that it feels like that's, it feels like it's the majority. Instead, it's just a handful of people were unhappy in their own lives and want to try to take it out on other people. I saw, I re-watched the Taylor Swift documentary

that's on Netflix. I'm a big new Swifty. And one of the first things she says in the documentary is how much her life has always been dependent on people's happiness. And I heard that and was like, that's wrestling. Like our self-worth and satisfaction comes from pleasing other people and doing good for other people.

And we put ourselves second in that list of if the crowd reacts and the crowd chance women's wrestling, then I did my job. If the crowd chants, holy shit, now I've done my job. But really, we need to be able to find that piece and that happiness of like, no, I feel like I did a good job. I did it for me. And I think in wrestling, it's as wrestlers as whole in this entire industry, we put ourselves in our satisfaction on the back burner for such a small majority.

How many of those people that came for me or come for anyone on Twitter are actually buying a ticket to come see me at AEW in Newark, New Jersey? Probably none of them. How many of those people are coming to meet me at a meet and greet and say how much they love my work or how much they love the picture I posted in my dogs or how is my husband or how's this or how's that? Probably none. So for me, this year, I really needed to like do soul searching and dig down deep to find like what satisfies me about myself, about my work, about my work, about my. home life that you can come for me all you want on Twitter, but it's not going to make me cry again. Yeah, it sounds like you found like a piece. Yeah, I think for me and I experienced this when I was in NXT too, like all of the bullshit that you don't realize goes into wrestling and

the politics and the people not liking each other or the bad matches or the internet. Like, we don't sign up for that. We sign up to be wrestlers so we could get in the ring and do the wrestling. That's what I'm here for. I'm here for the professional wrestling. Everything else, like, you don't see that as a kid. You just see the lights and the, and, you know, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, you know what I mean, you don't see all the backstage stuff. So, going into NXT and dealing with all that backstage stuff, which I never had to

deal with before, um, really affected me as a person and made me fall out of love with wrestling. And coming out of that, I realized, like, I have given so much since I was nine years old of my my life and my soul to wanting to achieve being in WWE. And this is what happened when I was. in WWE. That was devastating. But I can't let wrestling, like, devastate my whole life. So what can I do and what can I give outside of this? And how can I have other interests and other hobbies? And that's why I went back to school because it was like, I love history. I'm such a history nerd,

such a history buff. Like, I just like to do that for fun on the side. Let me, because I didn't even know if I wanted to keep wrestling, have a backup plan. And I always thought, like, I need a backup plan. I tried to go to school. I quit for wrestling. Like, let me go back to this and earn a college degree and earn something that no one could take for me. No one could say, like, you didn't deserve that or you didn't earn that. Because also in wrestling, someone else is making those decisions. My success in AEW isn't always going to be based on what I put forward in the ring. My success in Nxte had nothing to do with the body of work I put out there in the ring. It had to do with so-and-so not liking me, or this drama, or that drama, or being a five-foot-two brunette, or whatever it was.

me earning a college degree, no one could say wasn't me doing that for me. So I felt like I needed to find peace and I'm relearning that again now and hobbies and things I could love that weren't wrestling related because wrestling had been my whole life. As the stage grows that you, you know,

perform on and the support grows, on the flip side of that, the detractors also grow as well. So it's, you know, even though the support may be growing, unfortunately, the other side of grows as well. And sometimes that just sounds so loud. But the fact that you know who you are is really the only thing that matters. Yeah. And that's what I had to learn. You know, and I think, again, taking that piece of like, I don't like how this makes me feel. So I'm going to do a lot of

work over here to make me feel good and to boost my confidence over here and to do things that no one could take for me. Made me feel even more successful. Is it a master's in history? So I have a bachelor's in history. I'm actually going back for my master's in political science. Oh, wow. Yeah. Maybe there's a political, you know, something down the line. I always tell Steve, like, one day I'm going to be Congresswoman of Florida. And he's like, okay. He's so supportive. He's like, if that's what you want, then you go for that. But it's just, that's what's easy for me. That's what's interest me. That's what's natural for me. So I'm like, you know, maybe in a year, I'm going to hate it and try something else. Sure. You know, I tried one semester of PR and I was like,

I don't like this. Like, you know, so I don't know. I'm just trying to figure out, like, who Deanna wants to be. Because my wrestling career is not winding down. I've been wrestling for 13 years. Yeah. We want to have a family. We want to start a life together that maybe I can't wrestle for.

So what will fulfill me outside of that? But even if it's 13 more years, that means you're the halfway part. Yeah. Absolutely. So then it's like, all right, I guess need to at some points are considering what life is after wrestling. Yeah, what that looks like. And I think that's a big piece of just like what we've been doing this year is like, what else do we want to get into and what do we want to use our voice for positive in the world? And yeah, do we want to go back to school? Do we want to look to buy land? What do we want to do that's not wrestling related that's going to build the rest of our lives? Five acres with dogs. Yep, that's the plan.

What else is it that you're working on outside of wrestling that maybe we don't say? Yeah. So right now we are in the very, very early stages of working with tunnels to towers, which is mainly. a 9-11 survivor and first responder organization where the owner and founder of this organization actually lost family in 9-11. And this was kind of his

way to give back to other families who did the same and they pay off mortgages for first responders who unfortunately lose their lives and their family is left with all of that to deal with. They have pieces of to help end veteran homelessness, which is something Steve and I

are really interested in. They do 5Ks all over the cut. Like, it is just such a first responder and veteran first organization. And obviously, Steve, being a veteran, and the things I've seen us being together that he goes through with even just like the VA and the pieces of things that should be so easy are so overwhelming and so frustrating. I think going through that together, it was like, we have such a big voice and such a big platform we can use to make more people aware of the,

the trials and the tribulations that our veterans go through, that's often not talked about, and also first responders who deal with a lot of the same similar things. So it was just, you know, being presented that opportunity was like, that's something we have to do. We have to use our voice for the good of that. It's so good to see you again. Thank you so much for coming by, coming into the studio. Thanks for having me. Great to catch up with you.

And I'm going to ask you the question that I ask at the end of every interview. Gratitude is so big for me. It's a cornerstone of my life. I live every day with so much gratitude for the things that I have. What are three things in your life that you're grateful for? Oh, gosh. I am first and foremost grateful for my husband. I am grateful for our beautiful home.

And I am grateful for our family's constant support. I love that. Yeah. Great to see you. Congrats on everything. Thank you so much. And can't wait to see what's next for you. Thank you.

Thanks for having me. Well, there we go. Big thank you to Deanna for joining us in the studio. Big thank you to you for being a real, real one. and listening all the way until the end of this episode. Very excited to see what's next for Deanna Parazo. She says she wants to win that AEW women's world championship. Well, I think it's just a matter of time.

She's done it everywhere else. So it's just a matter of time before she does it in AEW as well. Snap a screenshot. Let us know that you're listening in Tagas. She's at Deana Parazo. I'm at Chris Van Fleet. This is very easy. It's just our names.

It's so easy. And I'll leave you. this quote from Henry Van Dyke to wrap up this episode. Some people are so afraid to die that they never begin to live. I know that's speaking to somebody right now. Some people are so afraid to die that they never begin to live. Be great. Be grateful, my friends. We will see you on the next one for some more insight. Jim Rome takes on sports. Why? Because I have a job to do. So I don't want to hear from you lava pigs on this notion today. No idea what you're talking about.

You're complaining more than you like to breathe air. It's like you get up in the morning only to complain and cry and moan on social media about things that you don't even understand. He's the spitfire of sports smack. Take advantage of it. Get up in here. The Jim Rome Show podcast. What's your beef? Follow and listen on your favorite platform.

You've been warned.