Sonya Deville’s path to WWE took many twists and turns along the way. The 26-year-old spoke with Fox Sports recently about moving to Los Angeles at 18, MMA, acting and more.
Deville talked about being devastated after her elimination from season 6 of Tough Enough in 2015.
“It’s funny because I didn’t grow up watching wrestling. So I wasn’t like a diehard fan, but I was dejected because I’d fallen in love with WWE, the sports entertainment world,” Deville said.
“(WWE) was kind of the two dreams I always had. I wanted to be an MMA fighter; I was. And I wanted to be an actor. So that’s why I was out in L.A., you know, five, six years ago pursuing both those things. And then I found WWE, which was literally the combination of those two worlds. So it was kind of like I found where I fit in in the world.”
Deville also talked about making her main roster debut along with Mandy Rose as members of Paige’s Absolution stable.
“Some people’s debuts aren’t that crazy or special, so we were really blessed to be paired with Paige and Absolution. And for that to be our debut was really, really cool.”
She also described the difference between her character on Smackdown and who she is on Total Divas.
“Being Sonya Deville on ‘SmackDown’ is, ‘I’m a badass. I’m a fighter.’ You know, I’m tough and the fans don’t typically see a vulnerable, lighter side to Sonya,” she said. “Whereas on ‘Total Divas,’ I’m able to show them that more vulnerable, open side to me.”
The full interview can be read here.
