By Sonya Deville is currently doing the best work of her WWE career. After taking a 4-month hiatus from television in August of 2020, Deville returned to Smackdown on January 1st, 2021. Deville and real-life best friend, Mandy Rose were enthralled in a feud. The feud ended in a loser leaves town match at Summerslam in 2020. The match concluded with the former taking a loss. This was a way to write Deville off of television to handle real life issues. Deville was stalked and confronted in her home by a “fan” with mace and a knife. Crazy. This man, really attempted to kidnap Deville, real name Daria. After such a horrific experience, Deville got some much-needed time off.
Sonya Stuns In Suits
With no explanation at all, in typical WWE fashion, Sonya Deville was seen walking through the halls backstage in a suit. As the wrestlers in the back looked on, no one knew why she had returned. It is later revealed that Sonya had taken on the role of a WWE official. We don’t know her official title, but we do know she has some authority as a middle rank official.
Sonya Deville (Left) and Mandy Rose (Right)
Before Sonya Deville was made into a WWE official, she was a badass fighter turned pro wrestler. Much like Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler, Deville has an MMA background. Albeit, she isn’t as accomplished as the latter, she has an MMA record of 2-1. One by knockout, one by submission. Her one loss was a decision. She incorporated some of that in her move set in WWE. Since her time in NXT, she grown exponentially in the ring. Everyone has to start somewhere. Though she was a little around the edges upon first entering the pro wrestling world, like most are, it was clear that Deville would become great.
Middle of the Pack
Her NXT run wouldn’t amount to much. She was portrayed as a badass fighter who would kick your teeth in but showed little to nothing. She had sparks of greatness. This is mostly due to her booking. She was one of those wrestlers where she just seemed to be in purgatory. Still, some like myself took a liking to her. As you all know, character work in WWE is everything and Deville failed to stand out in her early days in the company. She would get her first big storyline when she debuted on Raw, Nov. 20, 2012, alongside former champion Paige, and her aforementioned best friend, Mandy Rose.
Paige was making her return and Deville and Rose were making their main roster debuts. All three attacked the likes of Sasha Banks, Mickie James, and Bayley. Being in the same segment and story as Paige was a big deal for the up and comers. Together, they formed the group known as Absolution. Unfortunately, it didn’t last long due to a career-ending neck injury to Paige. Deville and Rose stuck together and created the TagTeam of Fire and Desire. With a division sorely needing tag teams, this was a welcomed edition. The two had great in-ring chemistry as a team and worked well together. Disappointingly enough, this great work did not get rewarded with the championships. What a missed opportunity that was.
The Break Up
Once the Pandemic hit, the two become entangled into a storyline with former World Champion, Dolph Ziggler and Heavy Machinery. Heavy Machinery was yet another solid and wasted Tag Team made up of Otis and Tucker. Otis had a crush on Mandy and Ziggler was having none of that. As Otis and Mandy became closer, Sonya got more jealous. Finally, after getting passed Ziggler, Otis secured his date with Mandy Rose. Before that could happen, Sonya and Dolph sabotaged the whole thing. This would of course lead to a tag team match between the four, with the heels picking up the win. Otis and Dolph would go one on one at Wrestlemania. The payoff was Otis getting the win and getting to kiss Mandy. The underdog, nice guy gets the girl. Way to go Otis. I live vicariously though you.
After that was done, the inevitable 1v1 match between Mandy and Sonya would happen at Summerslam. This was around the time Deville’s real-life problems would arise and she was written off of television following the loss.
Back And Better Than Ever
When Sonya returned, she was an on-screen authority figure. At first, it was nothing too crazy. More recently however, we’ve seen her abuse her power. She has been picking on former 2x champion, Naomi for at least 4 months. In typical WWE fashion, we have no idea why. Sonya has yet to tell us what her issue with Naomi is. The two finally clashed in a match after a couple of failed attempts due to Sonya’s corruptness. Sonya lost, giving Naomi and the fans the big payoff. The problem is, after seeing the Royal Rumble, this feud continues. It should be over. But let’s focus on Sonya. She had her first 1v1 match in over a year and a half and she looked superb. The time off did her some good. She felt like a big deal. The match was far better than probably anyone expected.
Deville is no longer the fighter. She isn’t coming out in a gladiator style outfit anymore. Her character is no longer bland. She stands out now. She has taken her character on and is doing the best work of her career. She is completely unlikable. As a good heel, this is what you want. With her new gimmick, new epic theme music, new badass and very sexy ring attire, Sonya has it clicking on all cylinders. She should be the next mega heel to come out of the women’s division.
Introducing Your Champion
WWE should capitalize on the heat that Sonya has gotten from this storyline with Naomi. Yes, it has run its course and it should end. Once it ends, what do you do with Sonya from there? What I would do is give her a hard push after Wrestlemania. This will let all stories reset and new challengers to step forward for whoever the champions are coming out of Wrestlemania. WWE should have Deville abuse her powers as an official to get into a title opportunity and eventually win the championship. Once she is champion, she can build upon her heel work and dominate the competition. This would, of course mean she has to give up her WWE official position. How WWE goes about it? I don’t know. Could be as simple as her being forced to step down as a conflict of interest while she’s champion. Deville would do well as a dominate heel champion. She would be new to the main event scene and it could make for some very interesting rivalries. The problem with WWE now is the recycling of the same matches and feuds. Well Sonya fixes all of that. There are endless possibilities. It’s up to WWE to realize the gold they have in Sonya Deville and capitalize on it.
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