Mickie James On Rekindling Her Feud With Deonna Purrazzo: The Stakes Are Even Higher Now

Mickie James is aware of the situation at hand leading into Hard To Kill.

Mickie James recently spoke with WrestleZone ahead of IMPACT Wrestling’s Hard To Kill pay-per-view. James is set to defend her Knockouts Championship against Deonna Purrazzo, and it’s since been announced that the title will be up for grabs in a Texas Deathmatch.

James spoke about her history with Purrazzo and said that she went into Bound For Glory with everything to gain, but now it feels like she’s defending against a different person that isn’t caught up in the showmanship this time.

“I just feel like the stakes are even higher, honestly because I was going into that match with nothing to lose, really, I didn’t have anything to lose and now I do have something to lose and that’s the championship. I think I’m looking at Deonna and I’m looking at her and I see a very different woman than I did. Going into Bound For Glory, I’ve always had respect for Deonna,” James said. “Maybe I’ve respected her a little less as of late because of her attitude and things like showing up to my house and trying to drown me in a water trough. I think that she’s an incredible wrestler and technically, especially, one of the greatest out there. I’m all about giving respect but it’s hard to give respect if you’re not getting it. I felt like she didn’t respect me or any of the work that I’ve done at IMPACT or anywhere else and it felt really good to be able to shut her up for a while.

“But I see this version of Deonna that has come back as very different, she doesn’t have the whole ‘Virtuosa’ persona going on with the hats and the robes and all these things. It’s back to basics and almost back to her roots and I have to think, what is she thinking? I feel like without this championship, a championship that she held for a very long-time, and rightfully so, that she’s a bit lost and that doesn’t make me nervous but it makes me very aware. She’s a little bit unhinged at the moment and I already know what she’s capable of,” James noted, “so I feel like the stakes are going to be a lot higher on that because I feel like she’s already proven that she’ll do whatever she can to win. It’s going to be exciting… it’s going to be exciting for us all.”

Mickie James spoke about becoming IMPACT Knockouts Champion again and reflected on her exciting year, which already includes three title defenses on IMPACT and NWA programming.

“I think it set in that night. I feel amazing and I’ve now defended my championship at NWA: Hard Times 2, I put my championship on the line against Kiera Hogan, as well as Mercedes Martinez [at Turning Point] but then we saw Deonna [Purrazzo] come back. It’s amazing, honestly. Obviously a lot went into that match and I was excited for the opportunity to go for the championship and now on the other side of it,” James pointed out, “so much has happened for me this year and it’s been a crazy year. It’s been a big learning curve and it’s hard to say that but we’re forever learning in this business. It’s exciting times.”

After noting how Kiera Hogan has talked about James being an influence on her career, James was asked who else she’d like to work with in the future. James said it’s a long list, but she wants to wrestle everybody… almost everybody.

“I think that’s a long list, which is ironic to think because I feel like that’s how much women’s wrestling has grown, that there’s so many incredible women out there and women that I haven’t faced yet or had high-caliber or championship style matches with. For me, it’s about if the match is going to mean something and the reason why the match is happening. I love dream matches and those one-offs but it’s always, as the fan in me, it’s always been about the stories and the reasons. I’m the type of champion that’ll take on every challenge,” she explained, “so if anyone wants a shot at the champion, sure they can call me, for sure.

“It was special for me, I think, to be able to give Kiera Hogan a championship opportunity because I’ve known her since she was a fan and 17-years old and coming to shows and coming to my concerts and she’d say ‘I’m gonna be a wrestler, I wanna be a wrestler,’ and even when she first started training and to see her grow and to see her grow on television because I think it all happened so quickly for her, it was amazing but I did it from the sidelines because I was back at WWE at the time and doing so much,” James said, “so I didn’t think that matchup would ever happen. So, now, being able to not only wrestle her, which was really special, but to wrestle her for the Knockouts Championship, which is a championship that she never held when she was there [IMPACT Wrestling]. I don’t think she ever even challenged for it before Hard Times 2, so it was special in a lot of ways, so I’m excited about that.

“The match with Mercedes [Martinez] was awesome, I have so much love and respect for her as well, she’s incredible. I think now that there’s so many awesome women available, some I’ve wrestled before, some I haven’t,” James noted, “but there’s a lot more that goes into it when the championship is on the line as well. So, yeah…I want to wrestle everybody…well, mostly everybody.”

Mickie James will defend her Knockouts Championship against Deonna Purrazzo in a Texas Deathmatch on Saturday, January 8 in Dallas. Check out our full interview in the player at the top of this post where James also talks about the Knockouts Ultimate X match, more opportunities for female wrestlers and more.

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