Sonya Deville, now wrestling as Daria Rae in TNA, says the end of her ten-year run in WWE was ultimately a positive for her life and career.
Speaking on The Determined Society, Daria Berenato said that despite still loving pro wrestling, she had grown worn down by the routine and the politics that came with working in WWE. The departure, she said, was the fresh start she needed.
“Looking back, it’s probably the best thing that could have happened to me, because I think that I was becoming— numb’s not a great word, but I was kind of becoming numb to the routine and stagnant, and I felt a little like broken down. I felt like I was losing that kind of luster that I always had, that fire that I always had.
And it wasn’t for a lack of the love of the sport, but, you know, just going through a lot of things and politics and all the kind of things that go into a high-level sport like that. I needed it. I needed a wake-up call.
I needed a fresh start. And so the passion and the fire I’ve gained back for my life over the past, what has it been, two years? It has been insane.”
Berenato signed with WWE in 2015 after appearing on Tough Enough. On July 17, 2023, Deville and Chelsea Green defeated Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez on RAW to win the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship, marking Deville’s first title in the company.
Eleven days later, on the July 28 SmackDown, Deville tore the ACL in her left knee during a match against Bianca Belair and Charlotte Flair. The injury required surgery and cut her reign with Green short.
In February 2025, while negotiating a new deal, Deville was told WWE wouldn’t be re-signing her. At the time, she said she had expected the call to be about finalizing a new deal and admitted she was caught off guard by the decision.
Her new chapter in pro wrestling began on January 15, 2026, when Berenato debuted in TNA as Daria Rae, taking on the role of Director of Operations. On July 9, TNA confirmed her contract extension, keeping Rae as one of the authority figures on iMPACT!.