Former Sonya Deville reveals how TNA debut came together, whether she’ll wrestle
Daria Berenato (the former Sonya Deville) had good timing when reaching out to TNA Wrestling about joining the company.
Now known as Daria Rae, Berenato arrived in TNA last week as a new on-screen authority figure. Her debut took place on the company’s AMC premiere — and Berenato revealed in a new interview with Denise Salcedo that she actually reached out to TNA right before news of the AMC deal broke. She viewed the serendipitous timing as a sign that she was making the right decision by returning to the pro wrestling industry.
Berenato departed WWE in February 2025 when her contract with the company was not renewed. She explained to Salcedo that her first contact with TNA actually came shortly after her WWE departure, but she wasn’t ready to get back into wrestling at that time.
“I took a much-needed break, and then as we rounded the end of the year, I just had an epiphany,” she said. “I looked at my wife and I was like, ‘Babe, I think I want to go back to wrestling in some capacity.’ And she was like, ‘Yeah, I think you should.’ So that was kind of it. I had been talking to TNA kind of from the moment I left [WWE]. Because TNA is owned by the same company that Invicta FC the MMA company is owned by — Anthem Sports. So I had met [TNA President] Carlos [Silva] at an Invicta event. We had talked back then, and I just wasn’t ready then. And then I was. So I reached out and I was like, ‘Let’s do this.’ And it happened to be the day before they were going to announce the AMC TV deal.”
Aside from her wife, Berenato did not tell anyone about her TNA debut in advance. She received supportive messages from Natalya, Liv Morgan, CJ Perry (Lana), and Bianca Belair after popping up on Impact.
Berenato said she’s very passionate about her TNA character and is having so much fun putting it together. Working alongside Santino Marella was one thing that drew her to TNA, with Berenato thinking they could have a really fun dynamic as opposing authority figures.
It remains to be seen whether Berenato will ever wrestle again. When asked if we could see her without a suit in TNA, Berenato did not close the door on competing.
“Well, I don’t know. I really like wearing suits,” she told Salcedo. “But if you were to ask me a year ago if you would ever see me in heels, I would have told you no. So anything can happen, I’ll leave you at that.”
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.