Sonya Deville says she is retired from the wrestling business “for now” but “never say never”
Former WWE star Sonya Deville did an interview with Chris Van Vliet and here are the highlights courtesy of ChrisVanVliet.com…
Her WWE contract not being renewed: “I’m not one to sit in things and sulk. It’s very hard for me to do that, I think, because I want to be doing stuff all the time. I have a high work ethic and work rate, and so there was no part of me that was going to sit home and cry about not getting my contract renewed. I have my family, I have my stepdaughters and my wife at home, I have so much I want to do. I have a legacy that I still want to leave. As much as I’m proud of the work I did in WWE, I very much feel like I’m just getting started in my footprint that I want to leave in this world. So I was excited. I was like, wow, now I get to go pursue those things, because I wouldn’t have left the safety net of the company. I had a steady paycheck coming in. I loved everybody there, I loved what I was doing, so I wouldn’t have left. But I think it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
Whether anything could have happened to lead to the contract being renewed: “I can’t even comprehend thinking of it like that, because it’s so serendipitous and it happened so beautifully like that chapter closed, and now I’m doing all these things that I’ve wanted to do since I was 12 years old. So I can’t even look at it like that, my brain won’t let me, so maybe? I don’t know. I was training my ass off. I was always on point with my look and my character work. So I think it was just time. I will say transparently that I was feeling like I was in a rut for the past few years of my career there, I felt a little like I needed a change of pace, and I didn’t know what it was. I never would have left on my own merit, but I felt a little bit like I was in a loop, kind of in Purgatory, like I wanted an opportunity. I got the title with Chelsea finally, then the injury, got back from the injury, was finally getting my footing again in the ring after coming back from the ACL [tear], and then I got released. So it’s hard to look back and regret any of it, though, because I really feel like everything happens for a reason.”
How long it took to process: “To be completely honest, I probably haven’t processed it because, like you said, I was right on to the next [thing]. I didn’t sit and sulk or really feel it that much. I’ll have moments where I’m like, wow. Being a WWE superstar became my identity. I was Daria, the WWE superstar, in my personal life, to my family, to my friends, like that was my identity. Probably because I started when I was 21 it was who I was. So that like mindset took a minute to get rid of. Now, you know, when I talk to people and they’re like, What do you do? It’s so weird to not say I wrestle for WWE.”
Whether she has retired from wrestling: “Definitely for now. Never say never. But right now I feel at peace with that. I’m not gonna lie, and I haven’t said this, but it almost is like an open wound, and if I think about wrestling somewhere else, it’s like I was so loyal to the company, it was my only home from 21 years old to 31. I’m a ride or die type of person in general. So it’s weird to even think about doing that, but not there.”