Wrestler Deonna Purrazzo in Two-Piece Workout Gear Shares Motivational Message

Deonna Purrazzo, a powerhouse in the wrestling world, has solidified her success with IMPACT, even winning the Knockout Championship. Having also been a part of WWE’s NXT brand, Purrazzo is no stranger to hard work and determination. Recently, she shared inspiring messages and workout tips in an Instagram collaboration with coach Cezar Bonni.

1. She Worked With A Coach

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Purrazzo shared her journey into wrestling with Yahoo Sports. She says that she worked with a coach to help her train. “Nine years after informing my parents of my career decision, 130 pounds soaking wet, I stepped into a professional wrestling gym for the first time. The gym – The Adams Pro-Wrestling Training Camp - was barely 20 minutes from our house. There were half a dozen trainees. I was the only girl. The coach, Damian Adams, directed us to the ring, which was set up towards the back under a low ceiling.”

2. She Works Hard

Purrazzo tells Yahoo Sports that she makes sure to work hard when it comes to training. “For the next year, I trained like that every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings. My body toughened up and as I learned the fundamentals of the craft. Training exclusively with men, I see now, wasn’t a disadvantage. My offense had to be extra crisp to be believable against them — and I had to hit the technique on a slam or suplex exactly right every single time. Unlike some of the guys, I couldn’t rely on pure muscle to get the job done.”

3. She Stood Up For Herself

Purrazzo opened up about her decision to leave NXT with Yahoo Sports. She says that she wanted to stand up for herself and receive feedback from them, and they weren’t giving it to her. “After a year of frustration and doing anything I could to please, I finally stood up for myself by — politely — suggesting an alternative: Couldn’t I lose to someone new? Wouldn’t wrestling someone different make sense all around? The answer came back, no, you are losing to the same wrestler. No discussion, no ‘we understand your concern,’ no sign that one side of this professional relationship was prepared to listen to the other. Something changed in me. I thought about it and then I emailed back, with respect, that wasn’t in my own interests and I’d prefer not to be part of that television taping. It was very liberating. I felt like I did when I was wrestling on the independent circuit, ready to take a chance on myself again.”

4. She’s Authentic

While Purrazzo plays a character in the ring, she tells Yahoo Sports that it is pretty authentic to who she is. “When I made my big return to IMPACT Wrestling last summer, it was as a heel and I sewed the experience of the previous year into my character. In my persona’s mind, I’d been held down, treated unfairly and there was every justification to selfishly go after what I wanted. My character — and my real self — would not be asking for permission anymore. I fit in at IMPACT. Its women’s division – the Knockouts – is run by Gail Kim, one of the legends I looked up to as a kid. I hit the ground running, excited to prove what I could do with this new chance.”

5. She Does Cardio

Purrazzo revealed in her Instagram post that she does a lot of cardio to stay in shape. Cardio workouts are important. The Mayo Clinic reports, “During aerobic activity, you repeatedly move large muscles in your arms, legs and hips. You'll notice your body's responses quickly. You'll breathe faster and more deeply. This maximizes the amount of oxygen in your blood. Your heart will beat faster, which increases blood flow to your muscles and back to your lungs.”

Maxxine Dupri is a successful wrestler with the WWE, currently signed to their Raw brand. Last month, Dupri took to Instagram to model workout clothes from Shop Jaunty. She posed in a white hooded sweatshirt and a black workout bra and shorts, showing off her athletic style. Dupri also opened up about her journey in wrestling, sharing insights into her training and mindset.

1. She’s Authentic

Dupri is all about being authentic on social media. She talked about this with Wrestle Zone. “I think this is something that’s funny because if you look at — for example, my Instagram prior to being in WWE, you don’t see my personality at all. I’m very, very goofy, like this is more who I am than what you see from me online. Most people just don’t really know me unless you’re my close circle of friends. I think it’s been fun to just share that goofy side.”

2. She Wants To Improve

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Dupri tells WrestleZone that improvement is something that is important to her. “It’s so authentic to me and just really getting to learn and grow, this is true to my core. That was my first match and I truly was excited to have completed it and done well. My finish was successful and I think it’s not so much character for me, this is me learning and I’m learning from extremely talented people. I’m having so much fun and I’m getting to show a side of me that is who I am. I love that I get to share that.”

3. She Works With Trainers

Dupri tells WrestleZone that she is working with trainers to help her stay in shape. “I think for me right now, I’m being trained by two incredible amateur wrestlers. I’m going to use all of those tools to the best of my ability and I think as we continue my training I think we’ll learn some more submissions, some more suplexes and just become more and more dangerous every time I enter the ring.”

4. She Works Her Lower Body

Dupri doesn’t skip leg day. She shared some of her favorite lower body workouts in this Instagram video. Having strong legs is important, according to Piedmont. “Having strong glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings and calf muscles gives your body a strong foundation and can: Tone your lower body muscles. Boost your metabolism as you increase muscle mass. Give you a higher calorie burn as you train larger muscle groups. Improve your balance. Strengthen your bones. Reduce joint pain.”

5. She Uses Weights

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Dupri is seen using weights in the previous Instagram post. ACE Fitness states that this has a lot of benefits. “Using maximal loads for compound (multi-joint) movements like the deadlift, squat-to-shoulder press, bent-over row or chest press can improve intermuscular coordination, which is the ability of many muscles to work together to generate and control high levels of force through multiple joints.”

Ivelisse Velez, a well-known wrestler, continues to dominate in the world of professional wrestling. Famous for her time with Lucha Underground, Velez recently shared some thrilling highlights from her latest match with Shine Wrestling on Instagram. She captioned the post with pride, "My best match of 2024 🤼‍♀️🇵🇷⚔️🇯🇵." With a career centered on breaking barriers and raising the bar for women’s wrestling, Velez has become a powerful voice for female athletes. From her dedication in the ring to her role as a dog owner and advocate for healthy living, Velez's journey continues to inspire. Her passion for promoting women's wrestling shines through, solidifying her as a trailblazer in the sport.

1. She Wrestles

Wrestling is the main way Velez stays in shape. The sport has a lot of health benefits. FloWrestling states, “Wrestlers learn from challenging one-on-one struggles against an opponent and also develop an awareness of diet and nutrition through the process of making weight. While not all wrestlers and coaches approach weight loss in healthy ways, when done correctly, this can teach a physical life skill that many young athletes may never learn.”

2. She Has A Dog

Velez has a dog, whom she prominently features on her social media accounts. She shared this video on her TikTok and Instagram. Harvard Health states that having a dog can have some health benefits. “Ongoing research is showing that the health benefits of owning a dog are undeniable. Dog owners have lower blood pressure and healthier cholesterol levels, and a lower risk of heart disease, than non-owners.”

3. She Wants To Highlight Women’s Wrestling

Velez opened up about her career in an interview with The Huffington Post. She says that promoting women’s wrestling is important to her. “I have always wrestled like a guy; I have always had it in my mind to have that standard. I have always wanted to bring that level of credibility to women's wrestling. Women can fight. Women are just as good as men. Women are just as tough as men."

4. She’s Proud Of Herself

Velez is extremely proud of the way her career has gone. "With Lucha Underground, here I am, where I was meant to be all along," she said to The Huffington Post. "That's why I feel like I was meant to go through all that hell. This is perfect for what I wanted to bring to the world. It definitely means a lot. Being in this career and giving everything I have given, being acknowledged... It makes that feeling ten times bigger. I'm happy it's happening, happy for everything to come and extremely grateful!"

5. She Helped Change Things

Velez talked about being a part of getting women’s wrestling promoted to The Huffington Post. "I highly doubt it has anything to do with the talent, the women out there itself. It has to do with the fact WWE was the main wrestling entity, and that's what they wanted to sell. Anyone else who had a different agenda pretty much got short-handed. Now it's out there; there's a higher demand for that type of performer. They sort of have no choice but to roll with the punches and finally give people what they want to see."

Mercedes Mone is a very successful wrestler. She is currently with AEW, and was previously with WWE. She recently did a training session with the gym. Mone shared a video of it on Instagram, captioning it, “Always gotta stop by @hogwrestling to learn from @sensationalamazingred anytime I’m in New York! Thank you HOG Krew.” How does she stay so fit? Read on to see 5 ways Mercedes Mone stays in shape and the photos that prove they work.

1. She Wants To Promote Black Women Wrestlers

Mone tells The Ringer that she wants to promote black women in the wrestling world. “I was thinking about this the other day. It’s been our goal. It’s the goal. It’s the dream. It’s the standard. It’s the barrier that we’ve been breaking down, and it’s letting people know that we’re here to stay and you have to get used to that standard.”

2. She Puts Her Heart Into Things

Mone opened up about wrestling after an injury to The New York Post. “This was almost all taken away from me and I couldn’t imagine where I would be if I didn’t have wrestling. I would be so, so lost,” Moné said. “So for me, it’s really putting my heart, my soul, my body all out there all over again and not being afraid of getting hurt. That’s the biggest thing about having an injury is not being afraid of hitting these moves you hit before. You don’t want to get hurt again. I’m ready to put my body on the line. I’m ready to put my heart out there.”

3. She Works With Trainers

As you can see from her recent post, Mone makes sure to train. She also shared this Instagram post from the gym, and praised her trainers in the caption. “Thank you @flatbackstraining For being a safe space to do what I love most. For reminding me who da fuck I am. For welcoming me and making me better with every training session. For being a school that all wrestlers can be proud of.For going above and beyond for a young vet like this Brooklyn Girl. For being there for me when I didn’t know where to start again. And reigniting my mind, body, and passion. 💙It’s almost time.”

4. She Does Yoga

Mone loves to practice yoga to stay in shape. She shared these photos on Instagram of herself doing poses. Mone captioned the post, “The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” Harvard Health states that yoga can help with your mental state. “Yoga develops inner awareness. It focuses your attention on your body's abilities at the present moment. It helps develop breath and strength of mind and body. It's not about physical appearance. Yoga studios typically don't have mirrors. This is so people can focus their awareness inward rather than how a pose — or the people around them — looks. Surveys have found that those who practiced yoga were more aware of their bodies than people who didn't practice yoga. They were also more satisfied with and less critical of their bodies. For these reasons, yoga has become an integral part in the treatment of eating disorders and programs that promote positive body image and self-esteem.”

5. She Doesn’t Pressure Herself

Mone revealed in an interview with The Ringer that she doesn’t pressure herself to perform well. “I don’t want to put pressure on myself because I’ve been doing this for 14 years. I have more excitement than pressure, but I am really nervous as well, just because it’s been a year since I performed, but being in the ring with someone like Willow Nightingale, I know it’s going to be absolutely everything I’ve ever dreamed of. We’re going to go out there and steal the show.”