Deonna Purrazzo brings hometown wrestling show back to support New Jersey school
Ring of Honor women’s pure champion Deonna Purrazzo is returning to her New Jersey hometown to raise money for her former high school and draw attention to school funding challenges in the region.
Her JTown SmackDown event is scheduled for Friday evening at Jefferson Township High School in Oak Ridge. Purrazzo will wrestle alongside her husband, pro wrestler Steve Maclin, but the show also has a cause close to her heart.
Purrazzo said she began working with athletic director Bill Koch earlier this year after reconnecting with him at a rally focused on school funding. The rally called for changes to New Jersey’s S-2 funding formula, which she and other local advocates say is unfair to students in the Highlands and Pinelands.
Proceeds from the event will benefit the school’s athletic department and the Jefferson Township Educational Fund, which supports students.
The S-2 formula was introduced as part of changes to the state’s 2008 School Funding Reform Act. Purrazzo says restrictions under the Highlands Act have made it especially difficult for Jefferson Township to grow its tax base. The law protects large areas of land that supply drinking water to millions of New Jersey residents, while limiting development.
She said roughly 88% of Jefferson Township is protected, restricting new businesses and affordable housing, among other development. Those limits, she argued, leave the town with fewer ways to increase revenue even as local taxes rise.
School funding is tied in part to enrollment, Purrazzo said, and the district’s declining student numbers have meant less money. She believes the formula needs to account for communities whose growth is constrained by land protections. Environmental safeguards matter, she said, but the current system can leave local students with fewer resources than those in towns able to expand.
The New Jersey Education Association said last month that it was working on a revised funding formula, with the goal of putting it in place for the 2027–28 school year. Jefferson Township Superintendent Jeanne Howe warned in March that the district might need to cut programs and increase class sizes if additional funding does not arrive.
State lawmakers have provided millions of dollars in recent years to districts that lost funding under the S-2 formula. Purrazzo hopes the show will help bring more attention to the issue.
She spoke at a rally at the high school in March, sharing how growing up in Jefferson Township helped shape her and her wrestling career. Her entrance music played as she walked to the podium, and she said the moment brought her to tears.
Purrazzo is studying for a master’s degree in political science, but speaking publicly about legislation was new territory for her. Producing a wrestling show for the cause has been a rewarding next step, she said, though she expects the night could be emotional.
On the card, Purrazzo and Maclin will face VSK and Emily Jaye. Goldy is scheduled to wrestle Griffin McCoy, Tiara James will take on Tina San Antonio, and Oxx Adams will face Marcus Mathers.
Jaye, who made her All Elite Wrestling debut earlier this year, has also competed for several other wrestling promotions. Purrazzo said her advice to Jaye and other emerging women wrestlers is to stay committed to their own vision, even when others do not immediately understand it.
Purrazzo said she had to trust in her “Virtuosa” character and give audiences time to understand it. If performers believe in what they are building, she said, they should not let other people’s opinions make them give up.
JTown SmackDown begins at 7 p.m. ET.
