Ex-WWE Star Sonya Deville Reveals How Big Match With Mandy Rose Was Supposed To End

Back in 2020, WWE star Sonya Deville was targeted in a terrifying attempted kidnapping that was thwarted by police. The incident had a massive effect on her life, and in the wake of her recent WWE release, the wrestler has publicly reflected on the various repercussions. Speaking in an interview with Ariel Helwani, Deville explained the original plan for the feud against her former tag team partner Mandy Rose was changed due to the event.

"They had told me to take time off," Deville said. "That's why we switched the ending of me and Mandy's SummerSlam match. It was supposed to be hair vs. hair, and we all kind of decided maybe that's a traumatic move to happen right now because ... I was supposed to be shaving my head, and that was going to lead to a big character turn."

Deville went on to state that she was initially hesitant to make such a drastic change to her appearance, but she had warmed up to the idea by the time August rolled around. However, the attempted kidnapping took place just a week before SummerSlam 2020, and the company nearly canceled the match altogether. Deville was set against that, and she wound up making a convincing argument for her case.

Just a few days after her attempted kidnapping, Deville was backstage at a WWE event and found herself determined to wrestle at SummerSlam. The performer went to go speak to Vince McMahon or a head writer but accidentally walked in on a company production meeting, with upwards of 40 WWE officials and employees in attendance, including McMahon.

"I ended up giving a speech to everybody," Deville stated. "I was like, 'Listen, I don't want what this guy did to dictate my career or my future, and it kind of pisses me off that was the guy's intention, so I'm wrestling at SummerSlam, one way or another.' And Vince was like, 'Okay, what do you want to do?'"

Deville said that McMahon gave her the option to do whatever kind of match she'd like at the event, so she and Rose got together and came up with the idea of making it a "Loser Leaves Town" match. Their pitch, which was accepted by McMahon, had Rose winning and Deville taking time off from WWE before coming back with a refreshed version of her character.

That plan was quickly altered to have Deville win, which neither wrestler felt worked for the story. They then successfully lobbied to have the finish changed once again, and Rose went on to defeat Deville in the feud.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Ariel Helwani with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.