Insight with Chris Van Vliet - Sonya Deville: WWE Exit, Almost Shaving Her Head, Slapping Adam Pearce, Scary Home Invasion

Episode Date: July 24, 2025

https://cvvtix.com - Get your tickets for INSIGHT LIVE in NYC with VIP Meet & Greet! Daria Rae Berenato (@TheDariaRae) is a professional wrestler best known for her time in WWE as Sonya Deville. She sits down with Chris Van Vliet at West Coast Creative Studio in Hollywood, CA to discuss her WWE contract not being renewed, whether a return to wrestling is on the cards, the scary home invasion that occurred in 2020, her work as a WWE General Manager and slapping Adam Pearce, why she didn't enjoy her SummerSlam match with Mandy Rose, being injured while reigning as Women's Tag Team Champion, her upcoming acting roles and more!   Quote I'm thinking about: "Maybe it's not too late to learn how to love and forget how to hate." - Ozzy Osbourne   Please support our sponsors!   PURE PLANK: The future of core fitness! Use the code CVV to save 10% on Pure Plank designed by Adam Copeland & Christian: https://gopureplank.com/?ref=tibcloux  SEAT GEEK: Use my code for 10% off your next SeatGeek order*: https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/CVV Sponsored by SeatGeek. *Restrictions apply. Max $20 discount PRIZEPICKS: Download the app today and use code INSIGHT to get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup!  TIMELINE: Go to https://timeline.com/insightto get 10% off your order of Mitopure!   VUORI: Get 20% off your first purchase! Get yourself some of the most comfortable and versatile clothing on the planet at https://vuori.com/cvv   ROCKET MONEY: Download the Rocket Money app and enter “Insight With Chris Van Vliet” in the survey   HUEL: Get 15% off plus a FREE Gift for NEW customers with the code INSIGHT at https://huel.comMIRACLE MADE: Upgrade your sleep with Miracle Made! Go to https://trymiracle.com/CVV and use the code CVV to claim your FREE 3 PIECE TOWEL SET and SAVE over 40% OFF   ZOCDOC: Instantly book a top-rated doctor today at https://zocdoc.com/insight   BONCHARGE: Use the code CVV to save 15% off your infrared sauna blanket at https://boncharge.com/cvv   BLUECHEW: Get your first month of BlueChew for free with the code CVV at https://bluechew.com   PLUNGE: Get $150 off your Plunge with the coupon code CVV150 at https://plunge.com   For more information about Chris and INSIGHT go to: https://podcast.chrisvanvliet.com If you have ever enjoyed any of these episodes, could I ask you to please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcast or Spotify? It takes less than a minute and makes a huge difference in helping to spread the word about the show and also to convince some hard-to-get guests.    Follow CVV on social media:  Instagram: instagram.com/ChrisVanVliet Twitter: twitter.com/ChrisVanVliet Facebook: facebook.com/ChrisVanVliet YouTube: youtube.com/ChrisVanVliet TikTok: tiktok.com/@Chris.VanVliet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Van Fleet. How are you, my friends? Welcome back to another one here on Insight. I'm CBV, Chris Van Fleet. Thank you for hitting play on this episode today. And thank you for helping to make Insight, the number one wrestling podcast on the planet. Hit a German suplex on that follow button wherever you're listening.

If it's Spotify, could I ask for a favor? Could you leave a rating on there? If it's Apple, could you take a minute to leave a review? Just a few words. Doesn't need to be anything crazy. A few words would be so, so helpful. But either of those, a rating or a review would go such a long way. Our guest today knows a thing or two about podcasting.

You knew her in WWE as Sonia DeVille. Her real name is Daria Baranato, and she has a brand new podcast called Unwrapped. So when this episode's done, go check out Unwrapped. It's a lot of fun. Darius' time with WWE. came to an end in February when her contract wasn't renewed. And she has been so busy since then.

Busy with the podcast, also busy filming three movies. One of them that she co-stars in with Mick Foley. She talks about during this episode, but it sounds like so much fun. It's a holiday movie. Holiday, and you know how much Mick Foley loves Christmas. So this is fantastic. We talk about so much during this. We talk about her WWE career, that feud she had with

Mandy Rose. Do you remember they were going to have a hair versus hair match? I asked you, like, well, who was going to win this? Who was going to lose this? More importantly, who's going to have their head shaved? He may be surprised by the answer. We also talk about how all of this, her entire wrestling journey started on tough enough. And I think a lot of people don't even remember that she was on tough enough. Before that, she had an MMA career and three amateur fights. So we talk about all of that and what the future holds for her. So snap a screenshot and tag us. Let us know that you listen to this episode. She's at the Daria Ray on X. She's at the Daria Ray Baranado on Instagram. I'm at Chris Van Fleet, and we just announced who the

live guest is going to be for Insight Live. We're kicking off SummerSlam weekend, Friday, August 1st in New York City, and it is going to be a banger. Yes, Seamus is our special guest in New York City. Grab your tickets now at CVV. tix.com, that's CVVTX.com. There are just a handful at last check, handful of VIP tickets available. That includes a Q&A and Ask CVV before the show and a meet and greet after the show. So I hope to see you there in New York City with a banger of a show with Seamus. All right, please welcome into the studio, formerly known as Sonia DeVille. Please enjoy this chat with Daria Baranado.

Great to see you again. Great to see you again. Yeah, it's been a while. I know. It's been, what, when was the last time we interviewed? That was WrestleMania 40 weekend. Oh. Yeah.

In Philly? That was, yeah, when we were on the stage. Yeah. That was fun, though. That was so much fun. I like the live crowd. Yeah, it's always good with the live crowd. Interacting.

Yeah. Yeah. But great to see you. You too. Is this a new tattoo? Oh, I have a few new ones. Oh, but the one in your hand. So where's my camera, this one?

Yeah, look at that. Yep. I just got this. And then. What else did I get? Oh, I got something on my neck. Oh, wait a second. I don't know which side it is.

Wow. Well, you got something on both sides of your neck. It's this side is new. Well, yeah, what is this? This is like the um symbol. It's like grounding piece. Yeah. Oh.

A few other things. Is this for like, when you punch people, they can see this eyeball coming? No, you want to actually know what this is. It's a crazy story. My wife and I went and did ayahuasca in the jungle of Costa Rica. And when I was tripping, I saw this triangle with the eyeball in it. Wow. And so I like made mental note of it and I like Googled it after and I screenshotted one that looked like what I saw. And I was like, oh, I got to get that tattooed on me. Whose actual eyeball is that?

I don't know. Well, if you were like, oh, it's my wife's eye or it's my life. No, no, this is for my wife. I did get a tattoo. Why, you've been busy. I've been at the tattoo shop. I actually was done. I got all this in one day and I was almost done. And I said to the guy, I was like, oh, wait, I want to get one more. And he's like, okay. And I was like, I want to get something for Tony because he knows my wife.

And he's like, what do you want to get? And I was like, just a tiny tea. That's it. Tiny tea. Yeah, just a little baby tea. Where did the plant medicine journey begin? Was that something you've always been into? Well, no.

No, it wasn't really intentional, to be honest. My wife dove headfirst into it. And neither one of us are like drinkers or we don't do drugs or psychedelics on the regular at all. So it was kind of out of left field, but she was kind of going through this like spiritual journey and digging deeper into herself. And she stumbled across this resort that she thought was like a yoga retreat essentially in Costa Rica. And then when she called to like book it because she was going to go do it, they were like, we're actually like a plant medicine resort. And she's like, what? And they were like, yeah, we do ayahuasca.

Have you ever heard of it? And she's like, no. So she went on this, like, rabbit hole of researching it. And she was, like, fascinated by the process. And she was like, maybe I should go do this. And so she just booked the trip. I was on the road with WWE still. So I couldn't go. And she came back. And she was like, that was the craziest, greatest thing I've ever done. And so then my contract doesn't get renewed with WWE. I have all this free time. And she's like, do you want to go back with me? And I'm like, sure. Like, I'll try anything once. And so I go, and it was the craziest thing I've ever done in my entire life. So it's like the strongest psychedelic, you know, it's made from like tree bark in the forest. It goes back to ancient tribes all across South America. And essentially, it's supposed to be like a healing plant medicine. So you take it. You're in this big room with like 60 other people. You each have your own individual mattress and bucket to throw up in because it's,

like a purging experience. And you take it and you trip balls and they play music and, you know, wave smoke around and, you know, hit you with feathers. It's like a full encompassing experience. And you have visions. Sometimes they're visual. Sometimes it's just like a feeling or a knowing. And yeah, you do that for four nights in a row in the jungle of Costa Rica. So for the uninitiated like myself. Yes. Are you seeing something? Is something speaking to you? It can be very literal and visual.

Like you can see stuff. Like I saw this, obviously. Or it can be more of just like an understanding. Like most of mine was like just like an innate understanding of like someone is telling me something. And you could say it's your inner self. Like it's a different part of your brain you're accessing. It's mother ayahuasca. Like whatever you want to call it.

But like you definitely are more connected. with yourself than I've ever been. Were you scared of what you might find when you look inside? Yes, I was scared of that, but I was also scared of not being in my right mind because I'm, I like to be in control and I like to, you know, be sober. And so I was nervous about like being on a psychedelic in general. And so the first night I was definitely like fighting it and the medicine was like, nah, you're coming with me.

And so I was like in this like torment for hours. but then by the fourth night I had kind of like released a little bit and so it took me somewhere and yeah it was just like very deep knowing of like who you are and like seeing yourself for like who you are. So what's the underlying message you left there with? I think for me it was more like I was obviously at a pivotal point in my life where I had finished this decade long journey with WWE. and I'm embarking on this next chapter.

So I was kind of going for more like clarity, like not to heal some deep wounds inside me. But I ended up coming out of it, like, understanding that life is going to take you on a journey and you can't always control everything and kind of just being more at peace with the journey itself, which I've never been good at. It's that phrase that I love.

We hear it all the time. It's like, life isn't what happens. to you. It's how you react to the things that happened to you. 100%. And just like, you know, the gratitude. Like, I am more grateful for my life now than I'd ever been. And I think mostly just because I never took a minute to breathe or think about what I'd accomplished or where I'd been or what I'd done or whatever. Like, I was kind of just on autopilot, like, off to the next city, onto the next event. And so it was like the stillest moment of my life since, you know, prior to WWE. And so it was really just a good experience for me to just like be still.

Well, you were thrown into this next chapter of your life. Yeah. It's not like you had time to like set up and prepare. It was just like your contract wasn't renewed. And then it's like, okay, now you got to figure it out. Yeah. Well, I'm not one to like sit in things in soul. It's very hard for me to do that.

I think because I just, I want to be doing stuff all the time. I have a high work ethic and work rate. And so there was no part of me that was going to sit home and cry about not getting my contract renewed. And you know what I mean? Like, I have my family. I have my stepdaughters and my wife at home. Like, I have so much I want to do. I have a legacy that I still want to leave.

As much as I'm proud of the work I did in WWE, like I very much feel like I'm just getting started in my footprint that I want to leave in this world. So, like, I was excited. I was like, wow. Now I get to go pursue those things. because I wouldn't have left the safety net of the company. I had a steady paycheck coming in. I loved everybody there. Like, I loved what I was doing.

So I wouldn't have left. But I think it's the best thing it's ever happened to me. Do you think there was something you could have done in the final six months or year that would have led to your contract getting renewed? Me? I don't know. No. I really,

like, I can't even like comprehend thinking of it like that because it's so serendipitous. And like, it happens so beautifully. that like that chapter closed and now I'm doing all these things that I've wanted to do since I was 12 years old. So like I can't even like look at it like that. Like my brain won't let me. So like maybe, I don't know. Like I was training my ass off. I was always on point with my look and my character work. So like I think it was just time. You know, I will say transparently that I was feeling,

felt like I was in a rut for the past like few years of my career there. I felt a little like I needed a change like a change of pace

and I didn't know what it was and like I said like I never would have left on my own merit but I felt a little bit like I was in like a just like a loop like kind of in purgatory.

Like I wanted an opportunity I got the title with Chelsea finally then the injury. Got back from the injury was finally getting my footing again in the ring after, you know, coming back from the ACL and then I got released. So it's like, it's hard to look back and regret any of it, though, because I really feel like everything happens for a reason. How long did it take you to process that? What? Like, that conclusion I just came to? Yeah, like, you know, it came to an end. And then

it just like abruptly came to an end. Yeah. And then it's like, okay, I'm not getting on a plane this week. Yeah. I'm not going to be on TV this week. To be like completely honest, I probably haven't processed it. Because, like you said, like, I was right on to, like, the next. I didn't, like, sit and sulk or, you know, really feel it that much. I'll have moments where I'm like, wow, I, like, being a WW Superstar became my identity. Like, I was Daria, the WWB superstar. That's, like, in my personal life, to my family, to my friends, like, that was my identity. And probably because I started when I was 21, like, it was who I was.

And so that like mindset took a minute to like get rid of. And now, you know, when I talk to people and they're like, what do you do? It's so weird to not say, oh, I wrestle for the WWE. Oh, what's the answer now? Well, I make a lot of jokes. I say I'm retired. I say I'm a stay at home house. Like, I make jokes.

But really, you know, I'm an entrepreneur. I'm an actress. You know, I could fall under a lot of categories right now. Well, you've only wrestled for WWA. Yeah. And that's a, that's a rare thing. Yeah. So are you retired as a wrestler?

It's so cliche because it's like, you know, someone's feeling like, yeah, like I'm done. And then he's, you know, right, like Rick Flair's retired 19 times. Exactly. Yeah, like, definitely for now. Never say never, but like right now I feel at peace with that. I'm not going to lie. And I haven't said this, but it almost. is like an open wound and if I think about wrestling somewhere else it's like I was so loyal

to the company you know like you said it was my only home from 21 years old to 31 like I do I'm like a ride or die type of person in general so like it's weird to even think about doing that but not there well they trained you they brought you up you were not a pro wrestler before that correct and so yeah that still in my mind. So I don't know what the future holds exactly, but I, one thing I feel confident in is that the path I'm currently on feels so genuine to what I've always wanted in my life. So you're out here in L.A. right now because you're filming a movie. Yeah. So this is, you've filmed a few movies since you left W.A. Yeah, I was in Nashville two days ago,

filming another movie and then L.A. this week. And then right after my release, I actually filmed a movie like the week after. Don't you have a tattoo that says Hollywood on your arm? It does. On this arm? Yeah, this arm. Okay. Yeah. Well, that sign is about a mile from where we're sitting right now. I know. Wow. You should take a picture holding your arm up to that sign. Next to the Hollywood sign. That's a good idea. Photo op. But does Hollywood, does acting have a special place in your heart? Yeah. I might probably my first dream was to be an actress. I was 12 years old. My mom found an acting school like 45 minutes from our house and she would take me every Tuesday and Thursday night for three hours. And it was in this woman's basement, which sounds really creepy. But my mom would sit outside and

wait for me and take me home because I wasn't, obviously, old enough to drive. And I was obsessed. My dad took me to Vegas for this acting convention where I was, you know, doing monologues on stage. Like, that was always what I wanted to do. And then I fell in love with MMA. as well. And so I was like, when I was 19, I moved to L.A. and I was like, oh, I can, I can pursue my acting career here and I can fight MMA here. And so that's what I was doing when WWB found me. So everybody has an L.A. story. Like everyone comes out to L.A. with a purpose, with a goal, with a dream. Yes. What was yours in 19? 19 was to be a movie star and fight M.A. Simultaneously. Those are two very separate dreams, though. They are, but they were both equally my passion. It's just

MMA was more tangible and, you know, if you want to fight MMA, you just go do it. Yeah. I mean, you might not be good, but you can just go do it. Well, I mean, by the same token, you can go act in some student film and you might not be good. True. True. And no one will ever see it. That's valid. I've done a few of those. But someone will find them someday and I'll be mortified.

But yeah, no, I was just out here bartending to pay the bills and pursuing my dreams. What part of the city were you living in? I originally, so it's a funny story. So I literally packed everything that I owned into my two-seater car. I had a Camaro at the time. And whatever fit in that Camaro is what was coming to L.A. And so I drove across the country. Okay.

And yeah, I mean, I literally had like a couple bags of clothes. And I think I maybe fit like one TV, one small TV in the backseat. And I drove out here and I got here and I drove around and would run in buildings that had for lease signs. on it for rent. You didn't have a plan. No. Nope. I saved up $5,000 bartending. I was bartending Hoboken, New Jersey, which illegally wasn't supposed to because I think in Jersey have to be 21. But I was waitressing. Don't worry. We won't tell anyone. Yeah, it's past the time, right? Statue of limitations. Statue of limitations is over, right? And so yeah, so I saved up like five grand. I drove out here, and I just knocked on doors and found an apartment, ran on Hollywood and

Wilcox. Wow. Right by Hollywood Boulevard where Madam Tussauds and all that stuff was. Not the greatest area probably to live in. But is an in and out really close to there. Yeah. Yeah. That's, yeah.

That one on orange. I was always dieting, though, because I was fighting. Sure. So I never got the in and out. But you can get it today. I can get it now. I'm retired, remember? That's right.

What was your plan? Where were you going to sleep that first night? I would get a hotel last resort, but I did sleep in a hotel for one night. And then I found an apartment. on Hollywood and Wilcox, and it was like, I think, 1150 a month. And I was like, okay, if I get a bartending job immediately, I have enough for the deposit in the first month's rent rate now. And then I should be okay.

And I ended up not being able to get a waitressing or bartending job for like months and months. So I got hired at Armani Exchange in the Beverly Center. And I was a salesperson in the store. That's like the most tourist hotel ever. Literally. I'm sorry, a mall ever. Mall ever. And I hated it because retail is not for me. It's not busy enough. Like, I like to be, like,

nonstop. Like, waitressing was perfect because, like, you're hustling, you're bustling. You know, you're not, you're going. You're working. But like with retail, like, sometimes for hours, you're just sitting there, like, twiddling your thumbs. And I would drive me nuts. Um, but that somewhat paid the bills. And then finally, I got a waitressing job in Los Pheles, which I never know how to say that still. Los Feliz, Los Pheles. I think it, I don't, I don't know. Zeus, how is it? Los Felice. Los Feliz. See, he says it so nice. Los Felice. Zeus speaks Spanish. It makes sense. Fair. So then, yeah. So then I got a waitressing bartending job there, and that really helped pay the bills. And then how did Tough Enough find you? I was, okay, so I was

bartending there, actually. It all starts there. It's called Public House. So anyone that's in the L.A. area, 1739 Public House is the name of the restaurant. And one of my regulars, came in one day and he's like, don't you do that UFC stuff? And I was like, yeah, I fight MMA. And he's like, there's this UFC podcast on this network called AfterBuzz TV and the host queer or whatever. And they're looking for a new host. Like, would you want to host like an MMA show?

And I was like, fuck yeah. I was just doing anything to get a real started or get TV time or air time. And I was like, hell yeah, I'd love to do that. He's like, all right, cool. Like, I'll bring you, I'll give you the guy's info and you can meet up with him and go down to studio and audition. Okay, cool. So I meet up with the guy.

and my audition was to go to Rich Franklin's juice shop in Beverly Hills that he just opened and interview him. Cool. So now I'm like, you know, obviously a huge fan of the game. Huge fan of MMA. Rich Franklin's awesome. Rich Franklin's the man.

Yeah. And so I'm like, holy shit. Okay, whatever. Fuck it. So fake it until I make it. So I go to this juice shop. I interview him afterwards. The guy's like, you got the job.

Like whatever. Every Sunday you're going to come to this studio up in the valley and we're going to watch the UFC card, and then you're just going to break it down on a podcast after. And I was like, amazing. This sounds like a dream. Yeah. And I did it with these two guys, and we had so much fun.

And that was my Sunday every Sunday. And it was an unpaid gig, but it was, you know, good for reps and stuff. And then from there, Maria Menuno's owned that network and her husband. And so I got to meet them going in and out of the studio every Sunday. And they did this thing where they were like, pitch us an idea for the shows. I went in there with like this PowerPoint slide and I pitched them this whole presentation of how we can make our show better and they were kind of blown away by it and they were like, what do you want to do? And I was like, well, I want to be an actress and I want to fight. Okay. So they came to my last MMA fight, which was like a very close decision loss, my only loss. And it was very bloody. My eyes were both like swollen shut. My nose was really fat. Like the other girl looked the same way to be fair. And they were like, ooh, you sure you want to do this? And I was like, yeah, fuck yeah. Like, this is my life. Yeah.

And they, two months later, WWE had called Maria and been like, hey, do you want to do this tough enough show? And Maria was like, absolutely not. Like Maria was going to be a contestant? I don't know if they wanted her to be a contestant or maybe like a host or something.

Hosting, it would make sense. It would make more sense. But she made it seem like they wanted her for the show. I don't know. She did have a WrestleMania match. She did have a WrestleMania match. And had done a bunch of, you know,

little guest spots. So whatever, they called her to do it. And she was like, absolutely not. But I have the perfect girl. So her husband called me the next day and was like, what do you think about WWE? And I was like, well, isn't that the fake stuff?

Like, I'm a fighter. And I was so deep into the fight thing. Like, that's all I wanted to do. And I had had three fights at that point. I was just getting started. And he's like, listen, it's a reality show. It's going to be good. It's a competition show.

And I was like, oh, it's a competition show. He's like, yeah. You're going to be competing. The winner gets a contract into the WW. All right. Like, I'll take the call. Let's do it. I take the call and one thing leads to another.

I end up at the physical portion of the trial in Orlando and the rest was history. And got on the show. So then when you get eliminated from the show, did they immediately say, hey. So it's funny. We got a contract for you. Yeah. In the three weeks I was there, I had fallen in love with it, right? Because obviously I got to know what the sport was about.

And I was like, wait a second. I want to be an actress. I want to be a fighter. This is, my world's come together. Yeah. So I really was like, this is what I'm meant to do. And so when I got eliminated, I was kind of like devastated. So I was like hounding them.

You know, it was, who was it at the time? Canyon Seaman was like the hiring agent at the time. And I was like, yo, I got to get back there. And he's like, oh, no, we're hiring you. He's like, just go back to L.A. And train with Brian Kendrick. We'll pay for it. And we're going to come back out and scout you in a couple months.

And I was like, oh, Okay, but I, like, didn't believe them, you know? So I went back to my bartending job and I was working at a different bar now. And I'll never forget. I was, like, waiting the cocktail tables and these two guys were at the table and they were like, weren't you just tough enough last night? You were my wife's favorite. Because it was like, I landed and I went right to work because I still had bills to pay.

Sure. And the show didn't pay very much if you didn't win. So that happened. And I had like a moment of like, I got to fucking get back there. Like, this can't be it for me. I wanted to do so much more with my life. And so, yeah, a couple months later, after training with Kendrick, they sent William Regal down to scout me and showed him I could do a back bump and a front bump

and a couple other things. And they were like, okay, you have two weeks to move to Orlando. It's hard to believe that as we sit here right now, there are only 14 dates left on John Cena's retirement tour. Crazy. One of them is right around the corner with SummerSlam. And that's why I want to give a big shout out to today's sponsor, Seekek. With over 28 million downloads,

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and have the code automatically be applied to your account so you can use it later. Big shout out to Seek for sponsoring this episode. You guys know that when it comes to health and well-being, I'm always looking for an edge. And that's why I've been taking mitopure for months now. Because I want to be the healthiest version of myself for as long as possible. Like, I want to be in my 90s and still going on hikes or like still playing with the grandkids. Or I guess at that point in time, it might be great grandkids.

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after a workout. I start to feel myself getting stronger with more energy and experiencing less inflammation. I think it's worth you checking out as well. Timeline is offering 10% off your first order of mitopure. Just go to timeline.com slash insight. That's timeline.com slash insight. Is the dream still to fight an MMA? Would you fight again now? So I like can't say no because it has such is like a spot in my heart, but I will say acting feels more true to what I want in this very moment. What about, and maybe this is crazy? What if BKFC came around and said, would you have a fight?

They have quite a few big names there. They do. And I do think Barronaucle is badass. Wait, have they already talked to you? No. Oh, I don't know. No. No, I do think it's badass.

So, yeah, I can't say never. I have a really great relationship with Invicta and Shannon Knapp, the owner of Invicta, which is like the only longstanding, all-female MMA promotion. So I've been doing a lot of fun stuff with them. Yeah. And I will say being around the girls and being like in that atmosphere again gives me some crazy nostalgia. Are you training again? I will be training while I'm out here.

Okay. I will say that. Yeah, I am training well. And when you go back home? We'll see. I haven't scouted the, I never, the only time I trained MFETA, MMA in New Jersey was when I was, when I first started when I was like 15. There's someone that has a training facility in and around your area.

The Miller brothers. Jim Miller. Jim Miller, yes. So? I will say I did take my daughter there a few weeks ago to train. Okay. Yeah. So never say never.

This might be happening. Yeah. I'm just, I'm blown away when I first met you. I said, oh, my wife's from New Jersey. Yeah. You said, where from? and I told you, you said, shut up.

I know. I live there. It's so weird. Because Jersey's, like, it's a big, small state. Right. Like, to drive from one end to the other is, like, three hours. Most people haven't even heard of where my wife's from. I know.

I know. I live up in the woods, yeah. Which is amazing. But also, like, you're close enough to go into the city. It's the perfect spot. Yeah. You know, it's like 45 minutes you're in the city. What took you to New Jersey?

Because you lived in L.A. You also lived in New York, right? Yeah. I lived in Hoboken, right outside of the city. Right. grew up in Jersey, lived in L.A., lived in Orlando, lived in Tampa, lived in Fort Lauderdale. I was all over, literally.

But then I met my wife. I met my wife, and she was living in Jersey, and she had her two beautiful girls, and they became mine. And so it was like, what makes sense for our family? I was living in Florida at the time. So it was like, we didn't have anybody in Florida to help with the kids.

It just was, like, more sustainable for our lifestyle, I think, to, like, take it back to Jersey. And so then we started looking at houses and I really liked, like, being back in, like, the small town feel. And it felt right for where I was in my life and where we are in our lives. How long after that scary incident of your house with the attempted kidnapping did you go, I can't live here anymore? In that house? Yeah.

Immediately. Well, it's funny because so me and Mandy are, like, sitting on the front lawn being, like, interviewed by the police. And then once we were done, they were like, why don't you take some stuff that you need and, you know, go find somewhere else to stay because it's a crime scene now. That's crazy. Yeah, it was insane. And so I'm like, okay. So me and Mandy went in and I packed a bag and then we, you know, we talked to WWE and they were great and they were like, we'll book you hotel. And I was like, I want to sleep in my bed.

Like I was under the impression that I would be right back in that house. and then nightfall came and we ran back there for something. And I, like, couldn't even open the front door. And it was like, it took me by surprise because earlier that day when my adrenaline was high and I was still like probably in fight or flight mode, I was under the impression I would go right back to my house as soon as the caution tape was down. And then, yeah, nightfall came and I couldn't even go on my front door. It was too close to home.

I think a lot of people read the headline of like, you know, this was a stalker. But when you read a little deeper into it, like, this could have gone really bad. Yeah, I'm the luckiest person on the planet. I tell people all the time. And when I retell the story, people often have the opinion of, wow, you got really lucky. Because if one thing went differently, me or Mandy or both of us would not be here right now. So this guy was there to kidnap you, harm you. Yeah.

Maybe worse? Yeah. His whole thing was he wanted to be my boyfriend, I guess, and he was mad that I wasn't into his gender as a whole. And so he had no shot. He had no shot. And he was angry about that. Had you ever corresponded with this guy? No, never.

Well, okay, so funny story. So, I guess it's not funny, but I think it's funny now. Hindsight's always true. Sure, he's in jail. Yeah, he's in jail. So essentially, my ex-girlfriend at the time had gotten some creepy messages from a fan. And she was able to see her messages

because, you know, she wasn't getting a ton of fan messages. He was deep in my request folder. Like, I had never seen his messages to me, which he had been sending for three, four years. But she saw a message and she was like, hey, Dariah, this is concerning. He has my address. He had her address, her mother's house.

And he had sent the address and said, I know where you live, I'm coming to get Daria, and I'm going to kill you. Whoa. So I saw that, and I actually sent it over to WWE and was like, hey, like, this is concerning. And, you know, I guess tried to trace it back and nothing came of it. And so we all kind of thought nothing of it. This is another, you know, scary fan. And then two months later, he was in my living room.

He was in your living room? Like, he didn't knock on the door. No, like the break-in, I mean. Wow. Like the break-in happened two months later. To my house. Yeah. So I had responded.

And you were home. Yeah. Oh, yeah. So I had responded back to him on my ex's account saying, you have the wrong address, idiot. Because I was so scared that this guy was going to show up at her house and try to hurt her. But by doing that, I let him know that he had the wrong address. So when he broke in two months later, it was to my address.

and yet Mandy slept over that night. We were filming in Tampa or Orlando at the time. It was during the pandemic. I forget for a period of time we were in Tampa and the other period of time we were in Orlando. So we were close by and so Mandy slept over and we went out to dinner. We went to Ocean Prime.

We had a great night. We come back to my house and we're watching Bates Motel on the couch, which was not the greatest show to be watching right before that. But we were just hanging and Mandy fell asleep on the couch. It was like 1 a.m. or something like that, maybe like midnight. And I was dozing off on the couch. And I was about to just let us both sleep on the couch because it was very comfy couch and we were so tired.

I was like, no, let me wake Mandy up and tell her to go to the guest bedroom. I'm like, get up, friend. Like, go to the guest bedroom. I went to my bedroom. Thank God. I grabbed my phone. As I'm falling asleep, I turn on the alarm system from my phone. I throw my phone in the bed and it was pitch black.

2.43 a.m. I think it was. I hear my alarm system going off. And I'm like, what the fuck. Now, my room's pitch black. My phone is somewhere in the bed and I can't find it. I'm freaking out. So I get up and I run to the alarm panel on the wall outside of my room. And it says living room door open. And so my immediate thought was Mandy must have went outside. She must have not thought I set the alarm. Maybe her boyfriend called or something and she ran outside. So I run into her room and she's fucking dead asleep. And I'm like, okay, well, if Mandy's not outside and it says living room door open, what the fuck is going on? So I started screaming. I'm like, Mandy, get up, get up. And she's like coming to and she's like, what? And I'm like, stay there. So I leave her there because it's at the back

of the house. And I run to the living room by myself. I turn on all the lights and my blinds are drawn over the two sliding glass doors. So I don't know which one's open. There's two different doors. They're kind of like perpendicular. So I'm like, fuck, well, let me check the one that I always use. that's probably the one that's open. So I go to the small one and I peel back the curtain and the door shut, and I'm just like checking the lock. What I didn't realize, and I have interior cameras at the time, so you can see this footage online, but when I ran,

oh, I'm sorry, I missed a barb. When I'm going to check the lock, I look up and the man is standing right at the door, like as close as you are to me right now. Wow. So he has a black mask on, a black backpack, all black clothes. And I'm looking at him and I'm like, I scream.

I'm like, what the fuck do you want? Like I'm thinking like, first, you know, you're thinking like, did a neighbor lose its dog? Like, then I see the mask and I'm like something's off. And then he advances towards the door. And if it was a burglar, it was a robbery, like alarms going off. The homeowner's there. Like, you would run, right? You don't want to get caught.

Yeah. I'm like, well, it can't be a robbery. Like, so I, as soon as he advances, I run to grab Mandy to tell her like, holy shit, there's someone in the house. We run out the garage door next to Mandy's bedroom and take off in her car that was parked behind my car. Come to find out. And you call the police at that point?

The ADT system called the cops automatically. Okay. But we also did call the cops. They were there within like three minutes. So we circled around the neighborhood and then we saw all the cop cars come. But they came in like lights off, sirens off, like quiet. Now, I don't know where this guy is at the time. The whole time I'm running to Mandy's room and out the garage door, I'm like waiting

to get hit over at the car's. back of the head with like a bat or something. Like, I don't know what's happening. Well, what actually happened was when I ran, he already had the other door open, but he had a little blind spot when he had to cross through the curtain. So he thought I ran up the staircase, but I ran behind the staircase to Mandy's room and out the garage. So when the cops got there two minutes later, he was waiting at the bottom of staircase with a knife in one hand, pepper spray in the other hand looking up, and they fucking tackled him and got him out. So when they asked him, like, why were you waiting at the bottom of the staircase, his response was, I thought she went up there and I know she has

MMA training and I didn't want to get my ass kicked. So I was going to wait until she came down in pepper spray her. Oh, man. So like this whole thing's unfolding. I'm still not understanding what's happening. So the cops come up to me and they're like, what do you do, who are you? Because they didn't know anything about wrestling. It's like, oh, I wrestle. Do you know this guy saying he knows you. And I'm like, no. And they're like, what he's saying? He messages you on Instagram. So then they're having me look up his name. And then I find his messages. And it's like four years worth of obviously unresponded to scary DMs all the way to the extent the last message was that night when he was on my patio. And it said, I'm here, baby girl. I'm finally here. Look outside. While me and Mandy are

watching Bates Motel, he said, look outside, baby. He's watching you. He's on. the screened in Lanai that he cut a hole in and crawled in, watching us through the blinds so, like, you can't really see out, but you can see in kind of gimmick. He's watching us through the blinds watch TV. That is terrifying. So, yeah, crazy story. You are both so lucky.

So fucking lucky. Like, one thing happened differently. Like, had we slept on the couch, he had the door open, the doors right behind the couch. He would have, we would have both been maced before we could even wake up. had I not set my alarm that night because I was being lazy and just went to sleep, which I've done many nights, we would be dead. Like, one different move in any scenario, we wouldn't have made it. So now the guy's locked up for 15 years. 15 years.

And I'm sure this is something you think about a lot. So the couple years following this situation, like, yeah, I thought about it all the time. It was like it controlled my entire life. But now, you know, I feel like I've moved on. That is just crazy. Yeah. So is that part of the reason where you're like, I'm kind of glad to leave Florida behind? Yeah, like that house specifically, like I kept the house for a little while.

I rented it out and then I sold it. But it didn't leave a whole estate on Florida itself because the guy was from South Carolina. That's also crazy. He drove from South Carolina. Yeah. He drove from South Carolina to Florida after his shifted Applebee's got done. Parked in a church a mile from my house and army crawled through the wetlands behind my gated community. So like, it really wasn't Florida.

It was him. He was going to find me wherever. You know what I mean? Like, it was that type of thing. But yeah, like, being where we are now, I've never felt more secure. The dogs help, you know. We've put a lot of precautions in place to live a different lifestyle and feel safe. I'm so glad that story has that ending.

Me too. Yeah, me too. I'm very grateful. I'm very lucky. And I think about it all the time. You know, I, I often feel bad for victims of stalking that don't have that ending because some people, you know, stalking is a serious issue in the United States specifically where these women specifically

are hounded and stalked by these people for years. But if they don't cross a certain legal threshold, you can't get them detained. So they're leaving stuff in their mailbox. They're showing up at their front door. You've heard the stories even with other women wrestlers, like, but you can't do anything about it. unless I know it's weird to say, but like him breaking into my home and actually attempting something allowed me to put him in prison for 15 years. Yeah, then he broke all of these other laws, right?

Right. It allowed for that to happen. Some of these women deal with the threat and the fear of this for years. Man. You know, so it's like it's a double-edged short, but. Well, this makes for a great story on your podcast. Congrats on that. Yes, thank you.

Very exciting. Yes. It's funny because it kind of rolled out right after I got released and people were like, how did you do that so fast? And I'm like, no, no, no. I was, we were already setting up the podcast

before I didn't renew my contract with WWE. I was just going to do it as like an Instagram podcast. We were going to do it just on Instagram because there's, you know, at WWE, if you do a podcast, you have to go through them. They have to allow you to do it. And it gets crazy. So we were just going to do it on Instagram for fun.

And then I got released and I was like, well, we're going live with it. What's the idea behind your podcast? So it's just supposed to be a modern lifestyle, relatable podcast, but with two women. So the irony is like, we aren't so traditional, but at the same time, we are so normal. And so we talk about parenting. We talk about our chickens and our ducks and our homesteading. You have chickens and ducks?

Yeah. You got to tune into the podcast. And, you know, we talk about relationships and love and marriage and sex and all the things that people I think have been wondering about me for years because I think I'm still a bit of like a phenomenon to some people like, oh, she's in this lesbian relationship, especially in the wrestling world. It's not that prevalent. And so we're answering a lot of the questions people have been asking for years. Did you think it was a big deal when you were on tough enough and you were openly gay? No, I was scared at first because I was like, oh, are they going to want a lesbian in the WWE? Like, I was so naive at the time. And, um, young and I just didn't know what it meant when they asked me the question on tough enough like are you in a relationship? I was kind of like shitting bricks because I was like is there a wrong answer here? You know, like I wasn't comfortable with myself at that point so I didn't know if it was going to like tarnish my chances. But then it became just this thing that was a big deal to a lot of people and it didn't feel like a big deal to me.

You know, I was like, oh like, okay, it's cool. And I'm getting all these amazing messages and people feel seen and I'm now becoming unintentionally this, you know, safe spot for other wrestlers or other, you know, younger people watching me. But none of that was, it was a very unintentional path. You know, it was kind of just me starting to become confident with myself, but it happened to be in front of, you know, live cameras. So. Well, at your core, I mean, you're a badass. Like I think that right. That's what people see. Right. They just see you being a badass. I don't think anything else really matters beyond. That's how I feel. That's strongly how I feel. And so, yeah, it kind of became my identity for a little while because of the coming out and being public and stuff. And then as

I got older, I really started to try to just be seen as Dari or Sonia DeVille. You know, I didn't, I was proud to represent the community, but at the same time, I didn't want my sexuality to, like, identify my career, you know? The United States Soccer Federation present the U.S. Soccer Podcast. David Goss, and I'm joined by my co-host, Megan Clevenberg. And now we're giving people an inside look at the World Cup. Time's ticking. I think you can feel the intensity.

All the guys are wanting to really stake their claim, and they want to be on that World Cup roster. There's no doubt about it. Hosting the World Cup on the home soil comes with its pressures, but we're just really excited just as the people are. The U.S. Soccer podcast, presented by Henco. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. When you're speaking about just like being, having this identity,

I feel like when you first came into WWE, it was like, she used to be an MMA fighter. That's the character that you're going to play now. Yeah, it very much was so. And because it was the natural fit, right? And the notion behind my hiring was kind of, it was kind of explained to me like, we're legitimizing the women's division. And with that, we want athletes and fighters. And so I was kind of the first female MMA fighter to be brought on.

So I was like, oh, I just got to be me. and that's what I did in NXT. And then when I got to the main roster and kind of felt like I had done it and it was time for a change and so I slowly started getting in touch with the different side of myself and kind of creating the Sony DeVille character

that you came to see. But really, it was funny because when I got hired, I was this ass kicker, right? And there was no need to give me a mic because I was just there to kick ass. And then I started asking for promos because I knew

I had taken acting classes and, you know, that side of it was actually where I was more comfortable. And so I was like, I want to do that. Like, I want to be a character. And so Vince finally gave me the opportunity when, during the pandemic era, in the Mandy storyline. And I was able to cut some, you know, lengthy promos. And that was kind of when Vince gave me the nod of approval and was like, oh, she can talk. There was a lot of depth to the Mandy Rose storyline.

Yeah. So you guys were going to have a hair versus hair match. Who was going to get their head shaved? Me. Really? Yeah. Yeah. Bruce Pritchard pitched it to me, and he's like, we're going to do hair versus hair.

You and Mandy. You're going to shave your head. You're going to turn into like this G.I. Jane character, and you're going to just plow through the division. How did you feel about shaving your head? I was scared. I just didn't want to be ugly. I was like, I don't know what I'm going to look like.

like with no hair. I was like using like, this is before AI was that big, but I was using like this editing software to like edit a bald head on myself. And it, it was all very traumatizing. But I was down. I told him yes. I was like, let's go. Let's do it. So instead what we got was you chopped quite a bit of Mandy's hair off. I did. Or maybe her extensions. Some real hair got in there. She ended up with the soccer mom haircut. As they said, soccer mom Mandy was trending. But that was the build to the hair versus hair. So, you know, that was to antagonize her so that when she got her retribution on me and shaped my head, it was kind of full circle. So that was one take when you cut her hair.

Yeah. Like, well, we did have to start over, but it was before I cut the hair because Mandy had a nip slip. Her whole boot came out. And we, thank God. Oh, my gosh. I actually yelled cut because had I not yelled cut and had I cut her hair, we couldn't have used the take. I don't know what we would have done,

maybe put more extensions in or something, but it would have been a shit show. But I was, like, being aggressive with her, of course, and, like, roughing her up, and I took her top off somehow with my arm. What a wardrobe malfunction. Yeah, and then I was like, oh, my God, her boobs out. And so I yelled cut, and I was like,

thank God we were able to restart it before the hair was cut, because that would have been a nightmare. Yeah. So we did, it was two takes, but only one of the hair. She says the match you guys had at SummerSlam was her most embarrassing moment ever. How do you feel about that match?

She said that? She couldn't set up the table and she's struggling. Yeah, yeah. She's struggling so hard to get the table set up. Yeah, it's not my favorite match. It's, it pisses me off still because it's my favorite storyline I've ever been a part of. And I think it's some of the best work I've ever done with promo and character work. And even the whole lead up.

But yeah, we were a fucking mess. Not to make excuses, but the attempted kidnapping happened two nights before SummerSlam. Vince wanted to scrap the match on our behalf. I told him absolutely not. Like, we worked this hard and this motherfucker's not going to ruin our moment. And so we scrapped the hair versus hair because I had to go to court and testify the next day. And I was like, I'm probably not in the right frame of mind to be bald right now during all this. Like I was, there was too much to process.

And he agreed and he was like, well, it's kind of a crazy story. He was like, well, what do you want to do? And I was like, I don't know. I got to think of something equally as, you know, high state. Another stipulation. Another stipulation. So I came up with the loser leaves town. And so we get to work that day and producers come out to us and they're like, okay, it's now

a loser leaves town match, but Darius is going to go over. And it's weird because. the producer and Mandy felt like that wasn't the right move because Mandy was supposed to be the baby face coming out of this. I was obviously the heel. And I had been kind of kicking her ass the whole angle. And so I agreed with them. And so I actually went to Vince and Bruce and got the ending changed. I said, sir, I think Mandy should win because I have a way to get me back from a loser leaves much better than we could get Mandy back.

I said, why don't I come back as like a schizophrenic the next week? And you're trying to tell me that, you know, I don't work here anymore and I lost, but I'm under the impression that I'm somebody else. And we go with this whole angle. And Vince's exact words were, I fucking love it. God damn it. You can be hanging from my chandelier in the office, swinging around. And I was like, okay. How come everybody can do events?

He's so easy to imitate because it's just such a signature voice. But yeah, and I was like, okay, I don't, I didn't see it like that. I didn't see me hanging from your chandelier, but sure. And so we were on the same page. It was all good. Mandy was going to get her comeuppance. I was going to get an amazing character arc out of it. And all was going to be well. And then the loser leaves happens. And I'm not needed for TVs like one week, two weeks, three weeks, four weeks, a month, two months. Like all this time's going by and I'm texting Bruce. I'm texting Vince. I'm like, hey, guys, what's the deal? I thought I was coming back right after. It's the only reason I agreed to lose was because we had this cool angle to come back and bring me back.

Yeah. And they were like, just stay tight, hang tight, hang tight, hang tight, hang tight. And then all of a sudden, finally Bruce says, you know, after a second thought, you lose a loser leaves, we have to honor the stipulation. So you have to stay gone for a while. And I was like, oh, why don't you tell me that when we discussed this? And I would have much rather have won then and gone on, you know, but I kind of kicked my myself in the, that's, I don't have many regrets in life, but booking myself to lose that match is

probably my only one. Um, and it was like a running joke when I came back in the writer's room, uh, with like the headwriters, they kind of busted my chops and we're like, remember that time you booked yourself to lose a match that when we were trying to push you? And I was like, so much like you don't know behind the scenes because they're not, you know, you're not having these conversations like, hey, when you win this one, we're going to push you and we want Mandy to, you know, like she's going to go in a different direction. You're going to go in a different direction. So it wasn't that transparent. So I didn't really know what I was doing to myself at the time. So I ended up sitting home for five months. Then I come back, Vince, I go into Vince's office.

I'm like, hey, sir, what are we doing? Like, what do we do now? He's like, what do you want to do? And I was like, I don't know. I have these really cool suits in my hotel room. And I think it'd be cool to have like a boss vibe to me. He kind of looked at me and was like, wear the suits. And I was like, they're in my hotel room. He's like, send a runner to go get him. I was like, okay. What about what's going on?

He didn't tell me anything. He's like, you're going to walk down the hallway in a suit, and superstars lined on both sides, and they're going to be clapping for you. And he just walked down. And I'm like, and then what? That's it. Okay?

So I put my suit on, getting hair and makeup, and if you go watch it back, my return was, I walked down the hallway, in a suit with superstars lined on both sides. And then that slowly evolved into the GM character with Pierce. I think we got the best work from you when you were the authority figure. I agree. I agree.

It was probably the highlight of my career. You were just so effortless on the mic. Yeah. And it all makes sense when you know that you had a dream of being an actress when you were 12 and you were going to acting school. It all makes sense. Yeah. It's where I felt most confident. Yeah.

100%. We just got some really good stuff. And, like, you had the freedom to really, like, take some chances with that character. Yeah. It was cool. I had so many crazy pitches for that character. And Vince would always say, we're not booking Adam Pierce versus Sonia DeVille at WrestleMania. So, because I always wanted to, like, push the limit with Adam.

But there was no payoff for him. You know, there was no, like, he couldn't get comeback. So we couldn't go too far with it. But I did get to slap him that one time. And what a slap. Yeah. Like, he took it, like. a champ. You put a lot into that. He put some mustard on that. I did. He's tough. He was like, lay it in.

I was like, okay. Careful what you asked for. I love his reaction because it was like, oh. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's so great. He does such a great job at the GM character too. When you were about to deliver that slap, where you're like, this is it. I got one shot, better be great. I told him. And he said it too. He's like, lay it in. And I was like, I'm gonna. Like, are you sure? And he's like, yeah. And I was like, okay. And for some reason, people forget he's a former NWA world's heavyweight champion. Yeah, he's tough. He's fine.

There's a lot of fans that just know him as the GM. And like, that's it. Right. And they don't know that he has this incredible career in the ring. Yeah, no, he's great. This is not the first time he's been slapped. No, but there's something about a slap still in pro wrestling that's just like, it just sucks. It's never good.

Yeah. You know, there are some people that are probably better at delivering them delicately, but I like it's a little, you know, I want it to be good. I don't think anybody is delivering slaps delicately. Some people, like, check them. I feel like, but yeah, no. I mean, I feel like the way to do it, you just gotta fucking slap them. But there's no working it.

You know what I mean? Like, you're getting slapped. Yeah. Yeah. You had some great work with Liv as well. Yeah. I do love my matches with Liv. Are those your favorites?

Yeah. They are my favorite. I, you know, when it comes to, like, getting my footing on the wrestling end, I felt like the five months off after the kidnapping, and then the year with the ACL, and then almost two years as GM, I probably, I don't think I ever did the best that I could do. Like, I feel like I was still on the precipice of getting into my athletic prime.

Like, I don't think that I delivered on what I could deliver on. But maybe I'm just stubborn and maybe I'm just like... Untap potential. Yeah, I do think. And I do think, I say like the best is yet to. come because I do think there is something left there. But yeah, I feel like it was kind of a series of unfortunate events. But at the end of the day, too, like, I do feel like my natural calling is a performer.

You know, I think being on the mic and developing the characters and the acting portion of it was probably always going to be more for me. You won the tag team championship with Chelsea Green. I did. You got injured. So now you're out of that. Yeah. How was that never revisited? Like if you were her tag team partner

When you come back and you're healthy again How are you not her tag team partner anymore? They just didn't want to go back to it They didn't want to go back to it And I had pitched that You know, it would be a natural An angle to go after Piper And you know and be like, what the hell?

Yeah, bitch. That's my champion. That's my fucking championship. Like very natural angle But they had this idea For this faction And so that was where we were going to go And I did pitch, I will say,

while I was out, I did pitch coming back in my MMA gimmick. And, or like a modified version, but I did pitch going back to my roots. And I think Triple H had the same kind of idea. And he was like, yeah, that's what I was thinking. Let's do this group. And when he told me the group, I was like, okay, interesting. Like, I didn't know how the three of us were going to blend together. I think.

Who was it? Me, Zoe, and Shana. Yeah. In PFC. Okay. So I was open-minded to it, and of course, like, whatever he wants was to sue. Three badasses. Yeah.

And, you know, I saw myself more as, like, the mouthpiece in that scenario. And I was like, okay. But we can't get our footing. And then we were given the name Pure Fusion Collective. And I thought that was, yeah. I don't think it was ever going to be the thing. But we tried to make it work. Yeah.

Well, and that's all you can do. You can just try to make the best of what you're given. 100%. And I feel like you've been really good at that throughout your career. Thank you. I try. So if wrestling's behind you, at least for now, is the focus completely on acting? Yeah.

It's what feels, it's what I want to do right now. And being on set of these few movies that I've been filming and, you know, that's why I'm here in L.A., it's like very full circle and it's very obvious that it's where my heart's out right now. What's the dream role for you one day? Probably like an action thriller, femme fatale, you know, Circa, Angelina Jolie, like Mr. and Mrs. Smith vibes. Well, look, you can do your own stunts. Yes, I can. Someone's going to be watching this.

I'm not going to lie. Yes. That is making a movie, producing a movie, directing a movie, looking for a co-star in their movie. Facts. So they'll just reach out to your people. That's it. Maybe there'll be a script waiting in your inbox.

That would be amazing. Let's manifest it. I actually did my first stunt yesterday on set. Or two days ago? What was it? Two days ago. And can you tell us? So I can't tell you about this film.

This one's not, this one's under wraps right now. But I will say I had to, this guy was like 6'3, 300 pounds. And I had to take him down and essentially arrest him. So that was really fun. Okay. We had the stunt coordinator on set. It was really fun. So that was kind of like blending the old world with the new world.

A little bit. What is the movie you can tell us about? I can, the one I can. So I'm doing, yeah, there was a deadline, so I can talk about it. Doing a holiday film. You might see a fellow WWE legend in his own right, Mick Foley in there. Wow. So, yeah, Mick Foley and Sonia DeVille in a holiday film together.

Who would have thought? For this Christmas? So I don't know if it'll get out before this Christmas, actually. I don't know. But we just filmed it. I was just in Nashville filming it. Really, really fun. Nobody loves Christmas more than Mickville.

Nobody loves Christmas more than Mickville. And he's sitting there and he's showing me like the homemade Christmas cards he makes for people. I mean, he's just incredible. He's one of the nicest, most genuine human beings I've ever met. And so to hang out with him on set for the day was awesome. Can you tell us the title of this? Yeah, I think the title is, yeah, it's fine. The title that's out there, maybe the title changes.

It's the heartbreak. Yeah. Yeah. It's really cute. What? Heartbreak kid? No, no. Oh, my God.

Yeah. And there's some really funny, like, if you know, you know, things in there that I think wrestling fans are really going to like. So it's all in right now on acting. Yeah. And maybe dipping the toe into MMA? Maybe. But that's just for, like, a good workout?

Right now. Yeah. I'm doing something with a fighter in L.A. this week. So we'll see after I feel after that training session. I think that'll be the disturbing factor. Like, when you get bit by the MMA bug, it doesn't go away. No. really, like, it really is, like, such a big part of, like, who I am in my heart and shaped,

you know, I was training when I was 15 and I put a pause when I was 20, but. Do you still watch? I do. Like UFC 318 was last night. I didn't. No, I didn't. I was sound asleep, because I filmed the day before, but it, uh... It is very late.

Yeah, it is, right? It's like, I was 10 o'clock East Coast time. It starts. I'm not that cool anymore. Yeah, yeah. I feel you. I'm like, I got to go to bed. I also have kids.

You do. Yeah. So it's like, you get it. Oh, it's like, you got to go to bed. I bet. 845 comes around and we're like, it's time to go to sleep. Yeah. You watch the highlights on YouTube or on TikTok. Absolutely. That's where I'm at. But yeah, I keep up. But I've been doing some commentary at Invicta. So I watch those girls a lot and try to keep track of the girls. I just appreciate how you follow your passions. Because a lot of people have a dream when they're 12 years old. And it's just a dream. Right. And they don't ever even take the first step towards it.

Yeah. What at that age allowed you to go, I love this thing. I'm going to see how far this is. take me. I wish I could say it's some like beautiful thing, but I just like, I can't imagine living life in a way that I wasn't like fulfilled in terms of like my passion and my dream. Like I can't imagine clocking into work and not loving what I do. And I think the risk for me of not making it, you know, was worth the reward of living out my true dreams. And I, I have this like stubbornness to me where I don't know if it's, I don't know if I'm naive or ignorant, but I think that the only difference between succeeding and not succeeding is just not giving up. Like, I do think at some point anybody could succeed at what they want to do.

Yeah. I think it's just a matter of outlasting the failures and like the bumps in the road. Have you heard this that like discipline and regret? Right. They both weigh something. Yes. Right? And you're going to have them.

They're both painful. Yes. But discipline weighs ounces. regret weighs tons. 100%. Right? It's like, go for it.

I love that. No, it's so true. It's like, quality of life is everything. Like, if you have the, you know, I'm so blessed to,

to be in this country and to be in the position I am where I can, like, I'm going to be okay if things don't work out. And so, and I know not everybody has that luxury,

but what's the worst that can happen? You know, and even with the acting thing, like, I think about it all the time. Like, I could easily go on the Indies

right now and wrestle all over and make a great living and with the likes of Matt Cardona and Shotsie. And I'm not saying I would never do that, but like my heart wants to act right now. And so although the easier path would be continued on the wrestling world, it's like I'm trying really hard to stay true to what I want. Have you done the autograph signings yet? I've done a few. Yeah, I have.

I'm sure the fans are excited to see you. They are. Especially if you don't do it a lot. Yeah. The question is like, when are you going to wrestle again? And I also like, I want that for them to an extent too, but I think it's time to like, for the first time, do what like Daria wants to do, you know. What was this random match you have with John Sina?

Oh my God, that's really funny. This is the craziest fucking story. So we're at Madison Square Garden for an unpevised live event. And the card was Bailey and Elias versus John. seen and Nikki Bella. And I was in some other like six woman tag match or something. And so we get to the arena and we get to the venue. And something happens. I forget why Pam couldn't perform that night. Bailey couldn't perform that night. I don't know if it was like an injury or like something happened where she couldn't perform that night. She was all upset because she was excited to wrestle

John Cena and Nikki Bella at Madison Square Garden. Of course. And so I'm just like bopping around the ring and producer comes up to me, or no, Nikki comes up to me, I think, and was like, girl, I'm so excited to wrestle you tonight. And I was like, what? She was like, you're wrestling me and John tonight? And I was like, shut the fuck up. So I went and found the producer and I was like, I'm wrestling Johnson and Nikki Bell tonight. And they were like, oh, yeah, it was just coming to find you and tell you. And I was like, well, Nikki already found me. And I was so fucking nervous. So nervous. I was like, oh my God, I cannot, I was two years into wrestling. I mean, maybe three. And I'm wrestling John Sina and Nikki Bell at the Madison Square Garden. Like, my whole family was

in attendance. And so I was walking around and waiting for them to, you know, tell me what they wanted me to do or needed me to do. And he's like, hey, um, what's your top five biggest moves? And I was like, uh, a high kick. And I'm like telling my, my stuff. And he's like, like, like, okay, cool. Just listen to me out there. And I was like, do I need to know anything? He's like, nope. Just listen. I was like, what the fuck is going on? And I had heard that like, he doesn't plan a lot and, you know, he just talks in the ring. And of course, you know, I knew that. And I was like, but I don't need to know anything. Like, I don't need to be prepped for anything. And he's like, and Nikki's like, you know how to take my finisher? And I was like,

of course, like I've been watching it, like Alabama Slam, you know, it's all good. So I was like, that's it. That's it. Sure enough, I make my entrance. I'm standing on the apron, it was known that they were going to start. John and Elias were going to start. And sure enough, he's working with Elias. He gets him in a headlock. And he goes, Sonia, just like that. Like, clear his day. Hey, when I tell you, you're going to knock Nicole off the apron. And I was like, okay. And I'm like on the apron, like a puppy dog. Like, yes, sir. Yes, sir, John Cena. And he like, he like throws him off. And he goes, now. And I'm like, okay. And so I run across the ring and I hit Nicole. off and come back and he's like, we're going to do that again. And he gets him in a headlock

again. He's talking to me again. He's like, we're going to do that one more time. I'm like, okay, we do it three times. And then the end was, I think I took her comeback. And he called that to me. And she kind of told me in the back, like maybe a couple clotheslines and then this, but we'll tell you. And, you know, so then he was telling me. And then he's calling him from the apron as you're wrestling. He's in for the hot tag. I'm on the apron. And then he's telling me there. And then she's talking to me. Wow. So then I'm taking Nikki's come back and then we did a little thing at the end. I took her finisher and yeah, that was the story of me wrestling John and Nicky and Matt's Gregor. That's crazy that you went into it, not knowing

the structure of the match at all. It actually, I'm not going to lie, I took the pressure off because I was like, I can't fuck up and not remember something. Like, he's going to just tell me what's do. All I have to do is listen. But then is there not pressure of like if he tells me to do something and I don't do it in the way that he expected me to do it? Yeah, he's pretty direct and he's pretty, like he's a smart guy and so he knows how to say things so that you can't mess him up. He's a pretty foolproof person. So he, there's been a lot of clips online of like John Cena calls matches very loud.

Calls moves very loud. He does. But like, it works. Like, he's John Cena. Like, it's incredible.

He keeps it simple and he's very direct and clear when he's talking to you and the crowd goes fucking nuts. And he does it for a reason. Like, obviously he's listening to the crowd, not just pre-planning a bunch of spots. Man, that's a lot of things. going on in his head then.

Like listening to the crowd being present as I'm doing this move, but thinking about what this person is standing on the apron, what they're going to do. He's next level. I mean, there's a reason why he's the top of the top. He's John Cena. He's so intelligent. I heard this in an interview once and it's so true.

Like, John doesn't waste a word. He doesn't say anything he doesn't mean and he doesn't like, he's not the kind of guy that's going to sit here and ramble and say, you know, I mean, you've interviewed him, I'm sure. He doesn't, there's no wasted words. I'm blown away by the, the way he texts too. Oh, interesting.

Right. He's a good texter. Well, it's just, it's not like one word or two words. It's like an extremely well thought out paragraph. That tracks. Right. That makes sense. Like, it could have just been like, good job, man.

Thumbs up. Good to see you. It's like a paragraph of like. No, he's so good. You're like, this guy is, he's John Cena. 100%. He has no time to be sending me this message. He does, though.

Even like when I'd see him backstage, like, it wasn't like high by like real quick. a can check, I'm in a rush all, it's always like, hey, Dary. How are you? You know, like, he's there. Yeah. I guess he, you know, he wants you to know he's present and he's there. That is such a superpower. It is. Because everybody, no matter who you are, you're being pulled in a thousand different directions. Right. But to be right here, right now, in this exact moment, is such a superpower. I wonder if he works on it or if it's just like natural for him. But he's very, very there. I think even just being self-aware of that, even just us talking. about it right now is allowing me to be self-aware of like be in this moment. Yeah, we're here. Yeah. And like podcasting is one of the very few times in your life when you're not checking your phone.

100% when it's not buzzing in your pocket and going, oh, that might be important. Let me see. And then you're completely out of the conversation. Like, we're here locked in for this hour. Isn't it kind of therapeutic? Do you find it therapeutic? Very. I do too. Yeah. And I'm very fortunate that I just get to sit here and listen to you guys. Right. I just get to sit and listen these great stories. Right. And like be present and go. Well, what happened after that? Yeah. Tell me more.

That's so crazy. Instead of going, oh, my phone buzzed, I wonder if that's Instagram or an email or. But you're so right. Maybe that's a text. How often are you like talking with your friends and they're like on the phone while you're trying to tell a story? Yeah. All the time.

Me too. Yeah. Because everybody. Everybody does this. Yeah. And even though my phone is face down on the table, it still sends a signal to you of like, you're not that important. 100%.

Because if this thing buzzes, I'm going to grab it and start. You're picking it up. I'm still listening to you. Yeah. The worst, right? Yeah. Why do we do that? Isn't it crazy that this take, we've gone off on a completely tangent here?

But isn't it crazy that a phone takes precedence over a human being in front of us? Oh, hold on one second. Oh, sorry. Hello? Yeah, one second. What? So true. There's a human in front of you.

No, it doesn't matter. Yeah. It's at the click of a button. You need something else. It's that like constant dopamine. I think about that all the time. I do too, to be honest. I have a family member. I won't out them, but they cannot, cannot sit here and have a conversation without being on their phone. And it drives me and my wife nuts. I'm like, come on, just put your phone down. And like, they're like, I'm listening. Just shopping on Timo. Like, they just can't.

Yeah. And it's like, it makes me sad, though, because it's like that obsession to the dopamine or the instant, you know, gratification, whatever it is. It's where we're at, and I wonder if the pendulum will swing back, just a little bit, back to, like, being in this moment at this time. I hope so. I think so. When I look on my For You page and it's like all these people like homesteading and like getting chickens and ducks, maybe that's just my algorithm. But like, I'm like, oh, we're swinging the pendulum. Like people want to be outside and, you know, present. It feels like our generation is moving out. Like I have so many friends that have bought acres of land. Yes. You live on acreage. I have so many friends that have left the like,

where you can touch your neighbor's house. 100%. And they now live where you can see your neighbor's house, but it's, you know, a ways away. I couldn't agree more. I think the same. I have half a dozen friends that have done that. Yeah.

I think it's, I think there is a strong pool. Like, I think our generation is the, we are the ones. We were on the cusp. We saw both. Right. We still had the childhood where we rode our bikes around the neighborhood

and played outside. But then now we're in this modern generation. So I think we're the ones that are like, no, we don't want to let go of what we know to be great as well, which is that past lifestyle. And maybe it's because we're so connected when we open up our phone, that we need something else that allows us to be disconnected if we want. Like you look out your window and you see trees. So true. I look out my window and I see not only the house next to me, but the house next to that and the house next to that. Right. Yeah. That's so true. Because I live in suburbia. Right. Yeah. No, I get it. We, we were on the, me and my wife were on the beach down

of Manhattan Beach yesterday. And I was just like so weirdly happy to be like sitting on the beach with my feet in the sand. And I tried as hard as I could not to be on my phone the whole time, but like sometimes just being outside in like nature. And this is so against my personality to like say that because I'm usually like, go, go, go on to the next. But like lately, I've been really like trying to ground myself more and just be outside more. Yeah. Because I think sometimes we just move too fast and then you kind of like, I think the distance between like who you really are, like your soul and you get like gets further. That's really deep.

We went really deep. That's beautiful. I just feel like we get disconnected. No, we do. Thank you for coming in here. I'm so excited for what's next for you. Thank you. Thanks for having me.

And of course, and congrats on all the film roles. Thank you. You know you're one of my favorite people to talk to? Me? Mm-hmm. You are. Because you're really good at your job. That's very kind of you.

It's very true. Well, you are also very good at your job. Oh, well, thank you. But thank you. I'm unemployed. You're retired. I'm retired. You're retired.

That's right. Yeah, retired sounds much more. No, it's always great to chat with you, whether it's on camera or off camera. Thank you. And thank you for coming in here. Speaking of kind of what we were just talking about. Yeah. Gratitude's such a huge thing for me.

Yes. You said grateful earlier on in the conversation. I went, yes. Yes. That's a good word. That's it. What are three things in your life that you're grateful for? right here right now.

The health of me and my family, because I always, every day I remind myself like, wow, we're healthy. We don't have to worry about that. The ability to spend these more still moments with my family, now that I have a little more time on my hands, it feels nice to not be in the hustle and bustle every five seconds. The ability to pursue my dreams, again, in another way.

I love that. Well, everybody needs to go listen to Unwrapped. Yes. And we'll look for your movie with McFoly. Yes. Maybe this Christmas, maybe next holiday season. Who knows? Tis the season.

This is the season. Thank you again. Thanks, Chris. All right, my friends, thank you to Darya for joining us in the studio and for hanging out with us all the way until the end. I love the stuff we were talking about at the end there. There's just, think about that stuff a lot. So I hope some of that resonated with you as well.

Go check out her podcast. is called Unwrapped. And I can't wait to see what the future holds for her with the podcast, with acting. She is all in on acting. And as soon as we find out when this movie that she's doing with Mick Foley comes out, we'll let you know because I can't wait to see it.

Snap a screenshot and tag us, let us know that you listen to this episode. She's at the Daria Ray on X. She's at the Daria Ray Baranado on Instagram. I'm at Chris Van Fleet. and with the passing of Ozzy Osbourne, I figured we'd wrap this up with a quote from him. May he rest in peace.

Maybe it's not too late to learn how to love and forget how to hate. Be great and be grateful, my friends. We'll see you on the next one for some more insight. We've got Ask CVV number 93 tomorrow. If you've got a question, leave a comment on Spotify. Send me an email, CVV at chrisfanbleat.com or send it in on social media using that hashtag AskCVV.

We'll see you right back here to wrap up the week with AskCV. The Hammer Alley podcast, an 80s flashback mockumentary. Back in the 80s, there were a thousand bands trying to make it in the world of rock, but there was one band that had it all. Hammer Alley. Whatever happened to Hammer Alley? How did they go from top of the rock? I'm looking for a music video.

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