Ronda Rousey’s WWE Signing Forced Ex-Champion To Change Character

Ronda Rousey made her WWE debut as a full-time wrestler at WrestleMania 34 on April 8, 2018, after a surprise entrance at the 2018 Royal Rumble.

She quickly became a main-event star, won the Raw Women’s Championship, and brought her MMA style and “Baddest Woman on the Planet” persona to WWE, making her a top attraction.​ Like Rousey, Sonya Deville also had an MMA-inspired fighter character in WWE.

However, when Rousey arrived, WWE shifted focus to Rousey as the premier MMA crossover star, which led the ex-WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion to gradually move away from her authentic fighter persona and more toward other character roles.

Sonya Deville Had To Change Her MMA-Fighter Character Because of Ronda Rousey.

Speaking in a recent interview on Identity Crisis with WWE legend Lana, aka CJ Perry, Deville revealed that Rousey’s signing was a key reason she had to change her MMA-focused character, as WWE wanted to make Rousey’s background stand out and felt two similar characters would conflict or be redundant.

The writing’s on the wall. Let me kick ass. I don’t need to say much right now. But then, when the four horsewomen came in and they, you know, who’s going to take the fighter gimmick over Ronda Rousey? Nobody. She’s Ronda Rousey.

So I’m like, okay, well, let’s zip this up and throw it away and let’s try something else. And so then I started leaning more into my femininity and my, you know, um, just kind of organically changing my look and finding a character that could work for something. And it all happened in the Mandy storyline during the pandemic. (From 11:31)

Sonya Deville left WWE in February 2025 when WWE decided not to renew her contract after nearly a decade with the company. Since leaving WWE, Deville officially retired from professional wrestling as of mid-2025, but has not ruled out a possible return in the future.

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