Daria Berenato, known as Sonya Deville in WWE, recently recounted the pivotal moment a decade ago when she chose to pursue a WWE career via “Tough Enough” over a burgeoning MMA career that included an amateur title opportunity. In an interview with Fightful, she explained how Maria Menounos set her on the path to sports entertainment.
Before WWE, MMA was Berenato’s primary focus. “The full plan was for MMA to be my career,” she stated. “I was obviously bartending to pay the bills… and I was in love with it. It was my whole world. I identified as an MMA fighter.”
The unexpected WWE opportunity came via a call from a friend. “Then out of nowhere, a friend of mine, Maria Menounos, called me… ‘There’s this show, Tough Enough.’ They wanted me to do it,” Berenato recalled. Despite knowing little about wrestling beyond The Rock and John Cena, she was intrigued.
This led to a difficult decision. “I really had this weird moment where I had to decide as I had an amateur title shot scheduled… and I had to choose between Tough Enough and the amateur fight,” she said. “It came down to my coaches being, ‘You’re stupid if you don’t go do this opportunity. You can always come back to MMA.'” That decision led to a successful 10-year WWE career, and now, her return to the MMA world as an Invicta FC announcer feels “extra special” and “very exciting.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit Figthtful with an h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
