Former WWE Superstar Sonya Deville has opened up about her biggest regret in professional wrestling, her decision to book herself to lose the “Loser Leaves Town” match against Mandy Rose at SummerSlam 2020.
Appearing on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Deville revealed that she originally pitched the loss as part of a grand creative return plan that never materialized, ultimately sidelining her from WWE television for five months.
The original plan for SummerSlam 2020 was a Hair vs. Hair match between Deville and Rose. However, just two nights before the event, Deville endured a terrifying home invasion, which forced a change to the stipulation.
Vince McMahon offered to cancel the match altogether, but Deville insisted on competing. “We scrapped the hair versus hair because I had to go to court and testify the next day… Vince agreed and asked what I wanted to do. I had to think of something equally high-stakes… so I came up with the ‘Loser Leaves Town’ match,” Deville explained.
“I went to Vince and Bruce and got the ending changed…”
Deville pitched the idea of Mandy Rose winning the match so she could return under a new “schizophrenic” character shortly after. According to Deville, McMahon was fully on board: “I went to Vince and Bruce and got the ending changed… Vince’s exact words were, ‘I f*cking love it! God damn it…’”
However, plans changed behind the scenes, and WWE decided to honor the stipulation literally, forcing Deville to remain off TV. “One week, two weeks, a month… then Bruce tells me, ‘You have to stay gone for a while.’ I was like, ‘Why didn’t you tell me that when we discussed this?!’”
Deville candidly admitted that the decision still weighs on her: “I don’t have many regrets in life, but booking myself to lose that match is probably my only one… So I ended up sitting home for five months.”
What Happened After
While Deville was off television, Mandy Rose transitioned to NXT, where she reinvented herself and went on to hold the NXT Women’s Championship for a record-setting 413 days. Rose was eventually released from WWE in December 2022.
Deville would later return to WWE as an on-screen authority figure before re-entering in-ring competition. She most recently held the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship with Chelsea Green before suffering a torn ACL in mid-2023.
