Spreading the positivity is just as important as telling the difficult stories.
— Sonya Deville
I love being able to share my story to help others relate or cope with their own stuff they have going on at home.
I realized - and I think I learned this at a young age - that anything that's worth anything, you're going to take a risk to get there and it's not going to be easy.
It's important to not have my sexuality define me.
I've had tattoos since I was like 16, but if you would have asked the younger me to get a tattoo that symbolized my sexuality, I would have told you no, because that's how not okay I used to be with it.
Sonya Deville was originally supposed to be NJ Deville to help me keep my MMA nickname of 'The Jersey Devil' after debating back and forth we agreed on Sonya Deville.
What attracted me to wrestling was the entertainment factor. I loved watching how into the show the fans get, and also how physical it is.
Even prior to WWE, when I was bartending and training MMA, I always had a sense of fulfillment because although not my dream job, I took pride in being the best bartender I could be.
I have a theory that confidence comes from self-worth.
Being a lifelong athlete, I am a firm believer that I am who I am today because of sports. Not only did it give me structure and a solid foundation, but it gave me a sense of failure and how to overcome failure.
To force something that was not organic to who I am was tough on me, and so I can relate to all those girls and guys out there going through the same thing.
I want the women's division to have that legitimacy, I want it to have that intensity and the aggressiveness, and I feel like that's where I personally can contribute.
You can call WWE whatever you want, but at the end of the day, it's a fight and fighting is my specialty.
Equality for all is what we should all want, between race, religion, gender, sexuality... it doesn't matter.
As much as we don't like to admit it sometimes, we are the influencers.
I think I was more just not comfortable with saying it. I was also in denial. I was like, 'I'm not gay, am I?' Cause I think, also the fact that I didn't fit the stereotypical mold of what a lesbian is supposed to be or act, I was just this girl that nobody would have expected.
I grew up riding quads, shooting guns and playing sports.
Sonya is the way she is for a reason and I love enlightening the fans on what those things are because so many people are going through similar experiences and have amazing stories I love to hear and relate to myself.
Everyone has contributed to the Women's Evolution in their own way, and I hope that my message can just be it's okay to not look like the rest, it's okay to not fit in, it's okay to be yourself and be different.
I'm the first-ever openly gay female in the WWE.
I do feel pressure, but I put it on myself because I want to represent the LGBTQ community in a place where they've never really been represented that much, being the WWE and professional wrestling in general.
Acting is my love.
Until I came out publicly, I wasn't really living my fullest life. I was trying to be who I thought I was supposed to be, which never turns out good, and I wasn't fulfilled.
I was in my junior year of high school and I had been playing soccer and basketball almost my entire life, and I wanted a change of pace. I wanted to do something more, something different. That's when I found an MMA gym about 45 minutes from my house and fell in love with the idea of becoming a professional fighter.
I think no matter what your job title or role in life is, it's important to just take pride in what you do and do it well.
Being a part of the WWE, I am blessed to have a platform both on social media and TV, with that platform I am able to spread my message and share my story.
I was afraid of Sonya being defined by her sexuality because that's not fair to her. I don't want Sonya to be defined by who she loves.
I think back to when I was in high school, to 17-year old Daria, who was dating guys and thought that that was the only way of life. I was very confused, and it was definitely manifesting itself in other parts of my life that were unhealthy.
My life is amazing. I get paid to hurt people.
I live for the pressure, I live for the moments when I'm deep in the match, out of breath, hurt and feel like throwing up. It's in those moments that I push through, I keep punching, I keep going forward, because no matter what, I will never stop.
My goal in talking about my sexuality publicly is just so that a scared little girl or little boy can see me do it and think, 'wow, if she did it, then maybe it's OK that I do it.' It's to encourage people to be themselves.
I feel like the story me and Ronda can tell one day will be so awesome, and I think we have something special here. I think that it's going to be an honor and a privilege to work in the ring with her. That's the biggest compliment, is that Ronda Rousey - she's done a lot in her life. She's accomplished a lot.
I just, I was in such denial within myself for the longest time, just because of the place I grew up in. Like, it wasn't common. I didn't know anybody that was gay. I think I had one gay friend in high school and she never even, like, came out. It was just, like, we all just knew.
When I was 14 years old, I said, 'Mom, I want to fight MMA.'
My personal life is a big part of who my character is.
I've never dealt with really anything negative in the WWE as a whole, in the locker room, anything.
I don't want it to be Sonya Deville, the gay wrestler. I want it to be Sonya Deville, the awesome performer who happens to be gay.
The Women's Evolution was just starting as I was getting into 'Tough Enough.' I've always had great role models coming in and watching the Becky Lynches and the Charlottes, the Bayleys, the Sashas move that movement and then being able to be part of it.
Acting has been a passion of mine since I was young, I took acting classes through most of high school and years following while training MMA.
You can be happy with work, you can be happy in other facets of life, but if you're not happy in your personal life, and you're not loving open and honestly, it sucks.
I think the ability and the knowledge to be able to defend yourself builds confidence. Also there's great gratification in the sweat and work you get from any combat training.
I love every minute of being inside that squared circle.
In sports, you deal with disappointment often, but it's how you handle it and come back from it that shapes you. All these lessons are transferable to life and have really helped me with the adversities I've had to deal with in life.
I didn't want it to feel like I was shoving my sexuality down people's throats.
Being a part of the LGBTQ community myself, it's another passion of mine to let my fan base know that I represent another demographic in the WWE.
I look up to and have learned a lot from the women before me. With that said, there has never been a woman in this ring with the experience that I have in fighting.
We're all equal and we should treat each other as such.
Everything is social media nowadays, everything is sports and entertainment.
My friend's mom said to me, 'honey, I think you're gay.' And I go, 'yeah, I am.' As soon as someone vocalized it to me, gave me permission. I was like, 'yes, yes, yeah!'
I love Daniel Bryan. He's such a sweetheart.
