Vince McMahon’s Vision For Sonya Deville In WWE Is “Stephanie-Esque”

As a guest on the latest episode of the Out of Character Podcast, SmackDown superstar Sonya Deville joined to talk about her role as a WWE authority figure that started in January of 2021.

The 28-year-old spoke about where the inspiration for her character came from and what Vince McMahon wanted her character to be like.

"I've gotten a lot of what I do from Stephanie," Deville said. "Looking back on the old Stephanie stuff, I think that is Vince's kind of vision for me, a Stephanie-esque character. When I do get in the ring, it's like yeah I get in the ring but I get in the ring as an authority figure. I will use my power how I see fit and how I can to my advantage and I'll enjoy doing it because that's how Steph does and that's how Vince did. I've taken a lot of notes from both of their past work for sure."

Since taking on her role as an authority figure, Deville has rarely wrestled many matches, coming back prior to the Royal Rumble and having recently wrestled at Elimination Chamber in Saudi Arabia.

The former Fire and Desire member mentioned a conversation she had with Vince McMahon prior to her match at the Elimination Chamber where she received a heavy amount of boos from the fans. Sonya Deville said at that moment she knew Vince was right about leaving her out of action for a while and that the story they were telling with her was paying off.

"About half way through this role I was going to Vince saying, 'When am I getting back in the ring? When am I getting back in the ring?' Kind of pestering him and he was like 'just wait' and then a couple weeks ago he pulled me aside and was like 'aren't you glad you waited?' So that was kind of my confirmation from him letting me know to look at how much equity and work we just put into this character and now she can go anywhere and do anything from this point on," Deville said. "So that was kind of cool because as a competitor and someone who constantly wants to be better like all of us, it's hard to be in the moment and realize what you're doing is being special and you always want more.

"That was kind of a cool moment like wait, he's right, we just put a lot of work into this character, it was very consistent and long and you don't get that very often. Sometimes things are short-lived and a couple of week things and it's cool to be a part of something more longer and more permanent because then when you do something else and switch it up on the fans, they're like whoa. It's a drastic change and it will get that reaction. I'm excited to see how it all plays out but again, I'm in no rush to leave where I'm at right now."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Out of Character with Ryan Satin with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.