Steve Maclin and Deonna Purrazzo initially dismissed the idea of running their own charity wrestling show.
The former TNA world champion and his wife, the current Ring of Honor Pure Women’s champion, had wanted to stay away from that major undertaking. It wasn’t until Tunnel to Towers Foundation president Mike Lentin and his son Josh approached them about it after their Heroes Hockey Cup last October and persisted that it would be a good idea.
The couple, who are both New Jersey natives, have been working in other ways with the foundation for three-plus years and chose to take the leap.
“We said screw it,” Maclin, who joined the Marines in 2007 and completed two deployments in Afghanistan, told The Post. “Let’s give it a shot and see how it goes.”
He and Purrazzo are putting on the Battle for the Brave on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Rahway Rec Center in Rahway, N.J., to benefit Tunnel to Towers, which assists military veterans, first responders and their families with things such as mortgages, smart homes and college tuitions.
The 31-year-old Purrazzo, who is a Livingston native, said it can be challenging in the wrestling space to find a cause to advocate for in a climate where you could risk isolating half of your audience with something they don’t agree with. Even supporting the military and first responders can be hyper-politicized, but for them, it’s now.
“That’s our community. That’s where our hearts lie,” Purrazzo said. “But finding that comfortability in being able to say we support our military and we support our country and we want to give back to this community because it means so much to us and we want to see our veterans come home and live happy, successful lives after service.
“We want our first responders and their families to feel comfortable and not stress about how to pay their bills. We want to eradicate veteran homelessness and all of those things are really noble causes.”
The 39-year-old Maclin, who is from Rutherford, said some veterans, when they return to civilian life, struggle with a loss of community and brotherhood as they try to find a sense of comfort and belonging, which he was able to find again through wrestling.
“When you’re in a platoon, you’re in a fire team every day, every night and then you don’t have that at one point,” Maclin said. “It’s there, and the day you get out of the military, Marine Corps, Army, whatever branch you’re in, and it’s just gone.”
To do their part to help, the duo has taken on the challenge of being first-time promoters, which comes with far more responsibilities than just showing up at the building for a show as wrestlers. They had to get a card together, book hotels and transit for the talent and make sure everything stayed within budget — knowing the card is always subject to change.
“Usually, our flights are just sent to our emails and you just have to make it there on time,” Purrazzo said. “Someone shows up and picks us up at the curb at the airport. Now we’re trying to arrange all those things for everyone while also keeping in mind the things that upset us as professional wrestlers, the things that we find a lack of etiquette, we want to make sure we are doing right by all of our talent, who are also our friends.”
One of their big gets was Matt and Jeff Hardy to headline the card against The Verdict. MLW stars Priscilla Kelly and Shotzi Blackheart, along with TNA’s Rich Swann, AEW’s Kris Statlander, Zachary Wentz and the Infantry and GCW star Joey Janella, are also scheduled to appear. Maclin believes fans should look forward to the clash between WWE I.D. talent Marcus Mather and local star David Goldy.
“Now we just have to go out there and deliver,” Maclin said.
Purrazzo said getting the Hardys on board wasn’t just important because of their overwhelming popularity with fans, but also the show’s credibility.
“We also need [beyond the Tunnel to Towers mission] veterans and legends in the wrestling community who are willing to put their name on Steve and I, but also the event and say, ‘No, this is special, this is important, this is can’t miss,’” she said. “Come see us and we are willing to put our names on it and also bet on it.”
Maclin is set to appear in the battle royal, which will also feature Statlander subbing in for AEW Women’s Tag champion Megan Bayne. She had to pull out because of a scheduled title defense on Collision, Purrazzo said.
Maclin is back in the ring after an injury scare at TNA’s Sacrifice show in late March. Maclin was rocked in the neck by a superkick from TNA World champion Mike Santana in the opening minute. Referee Alice (Katie) Lane stopped the match after Maclin lost his bearings. He couldn’t feel his arms and his legs were wobbly. Thankfully, he did not suffer a concussion.
“She stepped in and knew something was wrong right away and the first thing she asked me was, ‘Are you OK?’ I said, ‘Yeah, just tell him (Santana) to give me a minute,’ and it was just trying to gain my bearings, trying to get ready for the next spot and as Mike came to pick me up and we were trying, she just knew instantly, ‘No, you’re not getting up.’”
After TNA’s medical team checked him, it was producer Ace Steel coming and tapping the mat and going “you’re done” that let Maclin know his night was over.
“It was one of those good things where you had to hear that one person’s voice that you trusted the most and he was that voice at that time,” Maclin said. “It was a really good moment for the company and for the world of pro wrestling as well to kind of handle these [types of] injuries.”
Maclin has had two matches since, including a rematch with Santana, with whom he is close in real life despite their intense on-screen rivalry, on TNA’s weekly show on AMC. He was happy to be told that their match had the same viewership as what the show started with, which he said was the first time that had happened in a very long time.
“To do that in a main event segment with the story that we had, I was kind of angry it wasn’t built for more of a pay-per-view, but I know at the same time, it’s going to help the company in the long run,” Maclin said.
Purrazzo, who has spent 11 combined years in Ring of Honor, has been doing her part as the inaugural Pure Women’s champion since December. Under the rules, wrestlers are allowed only three rope breaks, there is a 15-minute time limit, no closed-fist strikes and no outside interference whatsoever to emphasize a more technical style that has always been her signature. She is enjoying the challenge of building a new division.
“Pure rules is something I’ve done without the title of pure rules just because I’m a submission-based wrestler. I’ve always had to go into a match looking at how I’m going to get my opponent to use a rope break anyway or not and tap out,” she said. “So I think when I’m walking though a match with an opponent, I constantly just have to remind them, you can put me in any submission you want, just make sure it’s something I can get out of because I just can’t use the rope break and vice versa. I am never going to put you in a a position where you are going to look silly in this type of match because the rules are what bolster us as characters. They are what make us look like smart wrestlers.”
Purrazzo hasn’t been on AEW television for 18 months, but with the brand-crossover pay-per-view Forbidden Door later this month and a Survival of the Fittest match for the vacant TBS championship scheduled for July 1, she believes there could be an opportunity to contribute to AEW programming. Ring of Honor just had its first women’s Survival of the Fittest match at Supercard of Honor on May 15.
“I think having Ring of Honor representation in that match [on July 1] is really important, considering Survival of the Fittest is a Ring of Honor stipulation historically,” she said.
She said there are constant roles as an opponent or partner that pop up that she feels fit her character, adding that wrestlers always “fantasy book ourselves.” She’d certainly be interested in having a pure rules match with Mercedes Mone, who returned to AEW on Wednesday, feeling it “would be magic for me,” as their submission styles are a perfect fit. Purrazzo also pointed to Stardom’s Suzu Suzuki as an ideal opponent.
“We always want to be used and feel valuable and feel like we are giving something of ourselves to television,” she said.
She and Maclin have certainly found a way to be valuable by helping Tunnel to Towers in several ways over the years — none bigger than the show they are going to put on in their home state.
“We can use our platform as wrestlers to engage back into the T2T community and say, ‘Hey, look at this veteran who came back and was able to recreate a life here and is really successful,’” Purrazzo said. “We want that for the rest of the veteran community, for the first responder community. So use Steve as your inspiration and look at what this platform has done. Join us for one very special night.”