AEW star reacts to claim Tony Khan doesn't pay her well; shares huge personal update
One of the major benefits of AEW existing is that wrestlers have multiple career options with top-tier pay. However, since All Elite Wrestling is a private company, its books are not exposed to the public. This invites speculation regarding the company's expenses and the pay scale for its talent.
For Deonna Purrazzo, it's been a year filled with new experiences. The Virtuosa signed with All Elite Wrestling early this year and is also about to start grad school. She took to X/Twitter today to express her anxiety about it, but some fans were curious about why she's attending grad school in the first place.
One fan suggested that Tony Khan isn't paying his talent very well, but Purrazzo immediately shot that idea down. The Virtuosa responded and claimed that AEW's tuition program was a major factor in her decision to continue her education:
"Actually, AEW encourages continued professional development and the tuition program is what made my decision to go back to school that much easier. Happy Monday 😉," she wrote.
Deonna Purrazzo opens up on choosing AEW over WWE
Before she gained fame as The Virtuosa in TNA, Deonna Purrazzo spent two years in NXT. Unfortunately, she didn't get much television time during her run, and she left the company disappointed.
After becoming a free agent at the end of 2023, Purrazzo weighed her options and considered returning to the Stamford-based company, but her prior experience pushed her to take the opportunity AEW offered. She recently revealed to Stephanie Chase that she was hesitant to return to WWE after what happened with her first run:
"It didn't work out and now I was very bitter about that but now I could say it just didn't work out and I learned a lot about myself, but I was hesitant to go back into that situation knowing how I was treated, wanting to avoid that at all costs and I just felt like there wasn't trust there for me to squander this great opportunity I knew was there with AEW."
Deonna Purrazzo recently lost her feud with Thunder Rosa, and it's unclear what her next steps are. The Virtuosa has made it clear that she intends to win gold in the Jacksonville-based promotion, but whether she can climb to the top of a stacked women's roster remains to be seen.