AEW star Deonna Purrazzo has expressed frustration with the lack of character development in women’s wrestling, arguing that performers need more opportunities to establish meaningful connections with audiences through storytelling and backstage segments.
During an appearance on Behind The Turnbuckle Studios, Purrazzo discussed what she believes is missing from the presentation of women’s wrestling, using her own experience in AEW as an example.
The former TNA Knockouts Champion explained that while wrestling ability remains important, audiences also need to understand who the performers are and what motivates them before they can become emotionally invested in their matches and rivalries.
“We’ve talked a lot about being a character versus being the real person and I think what misses for a lot of women’s wrestling is that character development. We’re not getting vignettes to explain who we are. We’re not watching the women interact with each other in backstage, real-life scenarios.
And so, when you don’t have that, the audience doesn’t invest. The audience doesn’t know. The AEW audience at this point doesn’t know who The Virtuosa, Deonna Purrazzo, is. We haven’t seen a vignette for me in, you know, 18 months, right? So, if I get put on TV, they’re not going to be like, ‘Holy shit, this is awesome!’ and cheer for me because we don’t have that relationship yet.”
Purrazzo specifically pointed to the absence of promotional vignettes explaining her “Virtuosa” persona, suggesting that viewers who are unfamiliar with her previous work have not been given enough opportunities to understand her character.
She argued that simply appearing on television is not enough to generate a strong audience reaction if the promotion has not established a connection between the wrestler and the fans.
Purrazzo believes the issue extends beyond her own presentation and affects women’s wrestling more broadly.
“So, I think across the board for women’s wrestling, it’s developing characters that people relate to or hate. And that’s what’s going to get us those storylines, that’s what’s going to get us more time, and that’s what’s going to get us main events. But we need that character investment. Everyone needs that character investment, but we’re talking specifically about women.”
Her comments highlight what she sees as a connection between character development and the opportunities available to female wrestlers.
According to Purrazzo, giving performers more time to establish their personalities, motivations, and relationships could help generate stronger storylines and ultimately lead to more prominent positions on wrestling shows.
Rather than focusing solely on increasing the number of women’s matches, Purrazzo emphasized the importance of building characters that audiences either want to support or actively dislike.
For the AEW star, that investment is essential if women’s wrestling is to receive more television time, meaningful rivalries, and main event opportunities.
