Former Sonya Deville Recalls WWE Hires That Forced Her To Change Her Character

Many pro wrestlers now incorporate mixed martial arts maneuvers into their arsenals, adding a touch of realism to what they do in the ring. As the popularity of MMA rises, and with the fact that UFC and WWE now share a parent company in TKO, fans can expect to see more crossovers between the two. 

One of the first female adopters of an MMA-centric ring style was Sonya Deville, who came to the WWE possessing a combat sports background. However, the signing of MMA's version of the Four Horsemen, notably Shayna Baszler and Ronda Rousey, may have caused fans to forget Deville's origins. Deville spoke with "Busted Open Radio" to address this notion. 

"When I first started, I was the first kinda female with the MMA background, and so it was cool when that was my character. But, as my character started to evolve, it was kinda like we started to drop the MMA stuff, but it was also the time they started to sign Ronda, Shayna, Jessamyn, and Marina, the Four Horsewomen of MMA. So, I was fine departing from that part of my personality and my character, because I was like, I have other stuff to offer, let them be the forefront of the MMA movement."

The Jersey-born wrestler expressed a desire to return to a more brutal style alongside Zoey Stark and Shayna Baszler. 

"I felt like it was kinda a missed opportunity to not capitalize on that more, especially with our group forming [PFC], I felt like their could've been a clearer direction of where we were going," Deville said. "We were three chicks who were fed up with the system, anti-authority, that were gonna kick a** and take names."

Deville would go on to speak about the "30-second phone call" where she learned of her WWE release.  

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Busted Open Radio" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for transcription.