On WWE Raw live from Greensboro, North Carolina, fans were treated to the return of a beloved female superstar. Sonya Deville has been out of action since last July after suffering a torn ACL. At the time, she was a tag team champion with Chelsea Green and for a long time, the Women’s Tag Titles have been dubbed “cursed” by the internet because something always happens to at least one of the title holders. Deville herself even joked about it on her social media after announcing her injury. Instead of the team vacating the titles, Green instead fielded a new partner on social media. She was eventually paired up with Piper Niven and they held the championships for 126 days through December, with just two successful title defenses in their reign.
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While she’s been backstage for several months, her first on-screen appearance since last July came on tonight’s Raw. She approached Zoey Stark and Shayna Baszler backstage who were competitors in a #1 contenders bout for the tag team titles. Deville introduced herself to Stark and said she wanted to talk to the both of them, but while Stark seemed interested, Baszler shut it down and told her they aren’t interested. Stark tried to protest but ended up following behind Baszler instead. With Green now on SmackDown, it eliminates any potential for an epic reunion between the two former champions.
In an interview with Comicbook in February, Green discussed Deville’s unfortunate injury and whether or not she was worried that WWE would scrap the the story all together.
“I mean, it’s always scary because you just don’t know in wrestling where our storyline is going to go ever. So, you know, keep in mind that we had the championships, but who knows how long we were going to be holding those championships for, so everything was really up in the air when Sonya got hurt. And I really just like first and foremost was really worried for her, especially after so many years in the business. You know, she had been with WWE for eight years. She had never had an injury. This was her first championship. So it’s like so many things combined that were just really, really lame.”
Deville first joined WWE after competing on the sixth season of Tough Enough in 2015, the same season as former NXT Women’s Champion Mandy Rose. She would quickly sign with WWE after that and train on the developmental brand, NXT. She was paired with Rose in a tag team, “Fire and Desire” and they were even under the tutelage of Paige as Absolution. She’s kept a very steady career in WWE ever since, expanding her roles beyond the ring on Total Divas as well as WWE’s many charitable efforts.ย
