Sonya Deville On If We'll See A Sincere Lesbian Storyline In WWE, Her "Daddy Deville" Persona

Sonya Deville recently spoke with Joseph Staszewski of The New York Post to promote WWE and her Rainbow Love clothing line. She revealed the inspiration behind her "Daddy Deville" nickname.

"It came from a year ago when I was responding to a compliment that Becky Lynch gave me on 'The Bump.' She said I was the next rising star," Deville revealed. "I felt like she was calling herself The Man, but I felt like I could be superior to her in a type of way. And what's bigger than The Man is being The Man's Daddy. I was just trying to level up at that time and it kind of just transpired into having a life of its own."

Deville was asked what she wants the "Daddy Deville" persona to mean to the WWE Universe.

"I think in the day and age of the women's evolution (in WWE) and redefining what being a female in sports entertainment means, I think it's kind of cool to take gender roles out of it, showing people that Daddy can mean anything," Deville said. "It's not attached to a certain gender, but it obviously comes with a dominant title because when we think of dad we think of this dominant, large-and-in-charge person in our lives, and I kind of feel like I'm that dominant large-and-in-charge person in the division now."

Cyber-bullying has been a topic of discussion on pro wrestling social media as of late and Deville was asked about her experience with the negativity, and how she deals with it.

"I've always been one in the past to ignore the hate because I don't want to give them any more of a spotlight or any more power than they already think they have," Deville said. "Obviously we all get it. We all get it to different extents and about different things. It's a part of social media and it's a part of the world that we're in, especially being on the public platform that we're a part of. I wanted to let people know and I like to check people sometimes and let people know this is not OK in any way shape or form and I'm not gonna tolerate it to that extent because journalism's one thing, but bullying is a whole other thing. You can be critical and you can be particular and give feedback without bullying somebody. There's a big difference there and I think that needs to be spoken about.

"It's so important that we have each other's backs and we stand up for each other. Nobody's gonna make a change by being silent. Nothing's gonna change that we want to change without speaking up for what we believe in."

Deville and former partner Mandy Rose were rumored for a lesbian storyline on SmackDown at one point last year. Deville was asked how close she thinks we are to seeing a sincere lesbian storyline in WWE.

"I think anything's possible," Deville said. "Especially this year, I don't rule it out at all. Like I've said in the past, inclusion is important in every aspect of life, including sports entertainment, and I think that the company would agree on that. I think it's definitely a possibility this year."