It's Official: WWE Doesn't Understand Friendship
"Why would people LIKE each other, pal? That's absurd!" - Vince McMahon, probably.
IMPACT Wrestling star Deonna Purrazzo may have just explained why it feels like few modern WWE tag teams can last five minutes without teasing tension or outright splitting up.
"Friendship" is a concept beyond the promotion's comprehension, it seems.
Interviewed on the Two-Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast, Purrazzo revealed that as well as she and Chelsea Green pitching a tag team during their time in WWE, they had also suggested a faction with Rachael Ellering. This was seemingly to be set up via a losing streak storyline culminating in Purrazzo snapping (h/t Fightful):-
"Me and Chelsea pitched being a tag team. Me, Chelsea, and Rachael Ellering pitched being kind like being a female Undisputed Era, Shield type thing. I pitched a ton of ideas. They had me lose a couple of times on TV, I pitched losing and making that a thing until I snapped. 'I don't even need to win, just let me keep the armbar and get disqualified and that can set up with this babyface.' I would do extra promos and film stuff at home. At the end of the day, I put every bit of me into that place to make it work it and it didn't."
WWE turned it down. Per Purrazzo, whoever rejected the idea didn't understand why real-life best friends would team-up:-
"Me and Chelsea were told, 'We just don't know why being best friends would be a tag team. Being best friends doesn't mean you're a tag team.' Um...we have pictures together, we travel the world together, she's legitimately been my best friend for like seven years. We work together and there's a dynamic there because we literally spend every day of our lives together. For some people they see it, for others, that's not what they see. I thought it was absurd that I couldn't be a tag team with my best friend because we were best friends."
This almost makes sense when applying WWE logic, considering the majority of the company's pairings are thrown together for an eventual split - including current Raw Tag Team Champions RK-Bro.
Nonetheless, surely friendship shouldn't be this difficult a concept to understand?
Purrazzo, Green, and Ellering all currently work for IMPACT Wrestling. Each woman had been released by WWE at some stage over the past two years, falling victim to that familiar excuse, "budget cuts."