Daria Berenato (Sonya Deville) Comments On Her WWE Release

Originally posted on Wrestling on SI | By Jon Alba | Last updated Feb 20, 2025 1:06 PM ET

Daria Berenato spent 10 years in WWE as Sonya Deville, where she made a significant impact as one of the company's first major openly gay performers.

But her decade-long run came to a close earlier this month, when she alongside several other WWE names was released or had their contracts not renewed by the company.

On Thursday, Berenato took to her YouTube channel she shares with her wife Toni to discuss her initial reaction to the news her contract was not going to be renewed. She noted she was on the treadmill while on a cheerleading competition trip for one of their kids when she got the call.

"First and foremost, I had the greatest 10 years of my life," she said in the video. "So grateful. You know, the stories on the road, the traveling, the wrestling, the performing. Like, I lived out dreams that I could have never imagined. I did imagine them. I think I manifested them as a child, but never could have even dreamt something so incredible."

Berenato said she and WWE had been in contract negotiations for a potential renewal, so she was taken aback at first that officials weren't going to bring her back. She wasn't quite sure what led to the decision, but quickly settled in with the news.

"It was such a feeling of like, when I got the call, he said the words, first, it was shock. At first it was like, 'oh wow.' But then it was almost like, instantaneously, my trust in the universe allowed me to just be at peace with it instantly because you can't fight fate, like, that chapter was meant to close and all these new beautiful blessings were meant to come," Berenato said.

"But like, just the way things happen. Like, is there anything more like serendipitous? Like it just, it happened for a reason. So how could you be mad at that? How could you be upset or frustrated or even wonder what if?

Her wife Toni noted Daria immediately beginning to pivot towards what she could look forward to doing now that she was no longer going to be under a WWE contract. Berenato said she was extremely grateful for her time with the company, but had to focus on putting her family in the best position possible.

"Life's too short. I have so many dreams, so many things I want to do," she said. "And I still love everybody there. And I have a great...my memory from that place is nothing but positive, and I want to keep it that way. But also I respect that the universe is like, 'hey, that chapter's closed.' Right now, forever, whatever. It doesn't matter. But like, on to the next. Let's go. I have two kids and a wife to take care of. We have a family. Like, we got to keep going. So I think that just allowed me to have, like, instant peace. It was like, it's all good."

Berenato originally was a competitor on WWE Tough Enough before being signed to a contract by the company in 2015.

If you use the transcript from this piece for aggregation, please H/T The Takedown on SI.

This article first appeared on Wrestling on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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