– Kevin Undergaro, advocate for Mercedes Mone, shared a lengthy piece on Daria Berenato, formerly known as Sonya Deville, in the newest Mone Mag newsletter. In the piece, Undergaro spoke about Deville’s WWE exit, wrestling future and podcast plans.
Keven Undergaro on Sonya Deville aka Daria Berenato
Hi Moné Makers, it’s Kev Undergaro, THE official Advocate for your CEO. Last week, the news broke that the WWE would not be resigning the likes of Sonya Deville, known to me as Daria Berenato or ‘D.’ I have known D since she was 20 years old, fighting MMA and hosting at my network, AfterBuzz TV. A decade later, we remain family and have shared some amazing experiences. My wife married her and her amazing wife, Tony, in what was the greatest wedding I have ever attended. D has been one of my most amazing mentees, from being the first female MMA fighter in WWE to being the first openly gay wrestler.Future Positive Ripple Affect
We’ll never know how many people she inspired to own their identity and orientation, but I know there are many. And thanks to D, in the years to come, we will see more and more do the same in wrestling and beyond.Talent Untapped
Her work in wrestling during Covid, managing both Smackdown and Monday Night Raw during less than talent-friendly quarantine conditions, showed us all her amazing talent. Much of that talent is still untapped.Daria’s Future More Sweet than Bitter
D not resigning with WWE is bittersweet to a degree as I think there was unfinished business there. However, the move allows her to express that talent – outside the ring. When you factor in her Herculean, Italian East Coast work ethic and sensational entrepreneurial spirit, the only way she will go is up. Give it some time, but mark my words, the mainstream will see a lot more of her. Daria will have a stellar acting and hosting career. I see femme fatale, assassin, and police roles, crime procedurals, dramas, and a platform of her own.UnWrapped with Daria & Tony
Some of you may have heard that ‘Unwrapped with D & T’ is launching, hosted by D and T (Tony), with plenty of help from yours truly. You may be saying to yourself, cynically, ‘big deal, another pro wrestler podcast.’ If so, you would be wrong. UnWrapped will promise to be a multi-level lifestyle platform, and resource (the first of its kind) centering on the New Modern Family. Unwrapped will feature programming with celebrity guests and experts and advice from the couple themselves. From the beautiful house they renovated, with their backyard full of chickens, Daria and her wife Tony will share everything regarding what it’s like to be a new modern family in suburbia. From parenting two children, renovating and flipping homes, and doing DIY to discussing fitness, beauty, Monéy, health, and relationship advice, I see a power couple on the horizon and a lifestyle brand being built. What’s even more inspiring is how many people the UnWrapped brand will serve and inspire. But then, that’s what D has always done, so it should be no surprise. It’s going to be fun to help this grow. As for you, fellow wrestling fans, fear not. I’m sure you’ll see some familiar faces popping up.Daria’s Future in Pro Wrestling?
As for pro wrestling, as we all know, you never say never. D is going to continue to soar to greater heights no matter what. She will continue to break barriers and inspire future generations, and I’m here for all of it. I love you, Daria, and have been honored to witness your incredible journey. I’ll be in the front row with many others, watching the next chapter. Meantime, I’d advise you to put your hair up and square up, but then, knowing you, you’ve already done that. MORE DE.
– Matt Hardy noted on The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy podcast that The Hardys appearance on this week’s WWE NXT on The CW Network show was a “very last minute” thing.
“This was, you know, a very last minute thing,” Hardy said. “It’s very cool because everyone knows that TNA and NXT have this partnership right now, I think it’s going to continue to expand a little bit. It has been so beneficial for TNA, it has also been very beneficial for NXT. I feel like just over the last little bit, probably after Fraxiom shows up and they watched us defend the titles against The Rascalz, I would imagine that wheels started turning from the powers that be. I don’t know all of the details on all these things, I’m still talent brother, I’m not booking, I’m talent. I think there was some interest there. They’ve seen these post show meet and greets we’ve been doing, everyone knows of these legendary meet and greets where we’re there until 1 o’clock, 1:30 in the morning signing for three hours after a four hour TV taping. Our popularity is great right now, it’s been off the charts, it’s been really really strong and if you put us in a position to succeed and you let us do what we’re strong at and what we’re good at, the people have a connection with us and that connection is very strong and it hasn’t faded away. It’s better than ever because we won these TNA Tag Team Titles, it was done right, we didn’t rush it. It felt organic in many ways and now that we’re at that point, I think there are some people that we can work with in NXT, especially on the WWE front , we are a WWE legacy tag team. We’ve been literally together for over 25 years working pretty much on top of the tag team division in some capacity. The fact that we are able to step out and get in the ring with other teams and kind of give them a little bit of our rub that we have and they kind of help us because they’re younger teams and kind of keep us relevant in 2025, it’s a win win. Really excited about this man and I’ll tell you, I am training for a fight this week too because the two guys that we are facing, they’re both legit badasses.”
(H/T to Fightful.com for transcribing the above quotes.)
