By Alex Biese
Daria Berenato is coming home, and she’s bringing a brand-new fire with her. After a decade-long run in World Wrestling Entertainment as the formidable Sonya Deville, the Shamong, New Jersey native shocked the industry this past January by debuting for TNA Wrestling under the moniker Daria Rae.
This weekend, Berenato returns to the Garden State for a special appearance at Pandora’s Box Toys and Collectibles in Lafayette, New Jersey, meeting fans from noon to 3 p.m.
But the squared circle is only one stage for Berenato’s 2026 takeover. She is currently captivating listeners on the podcast Unwrapped with Daria and Toni, which she co-hosts with her wife, offering an unfiltered, authentic look at the woman behind the athlete. Simultaneously, she is fulfilling a childhood dream on the silver screen: Following her recent role in the 2025 Lifetime original movie His, Hers and Ours starring Taye Diggs, Berenato has proven that her “Jersey mindset” — a relentless “shut up and do it” work ethic, as she tells us — is as effective in Hollywood as it is in the ring.
In an interview with The Pop Break, Berenato reflects on the fate that led her to TNA’s collaborative creative environment and how her innate hustle, which started with childhood lemonade stands, continues to drive her across the worlds of sports, entertainment and business.
How are you feeling about getting back to Jersey this weekend?
It’s very full circle. I love coming back to my home state. It’s going to be really cool to see and hang out with some Northeast fans. I’m excited — I think this is the first signing I’ve done in 2026, so I’m ready.
You’ve worked in front of fans all over the world. As a Jersey person myself, I might be biased, but what makes fans from this area so unique?
Well, they might be the only ones to cheer me! After playing a “bad guy” for 10 years, the Northeast might be the only place I get a positive crowd reaction. But truly, it’s the best part of the country. The culture, the food, I love everything about it.
How does the Jersey ethos still fuel you today?
It’s so funny, because I’ve lived in various parts of the country and so I really have gotten to see how different parts of the country work, and there is such a difference. The Jersey mindset is very much just shut up and do it. Growing up in a strong Italian family, everything was very much like less thinking, more doing. And I think that’s such an important lesson that’s coming full circle kind of in my life right now, because I think one of the keys to success is eliminating the time between thought and execution. That’s something I learned growing up here. Also, it’s super family-oriented. Everything growing up was family Sunday night dinners, and so that’s something that’s true to the Northeast as well.
We were thrilled to see you turn up in TNA recently. What makes that company the right home base for you right now?
Honestly, it was fate in every sense of the word. It was timing. I left WWE a little over a year ago, and I needed time away, I needed time away to figure out what I wanted to do, who I was, and what was next for me. And TNA had reached out and I’d connected with the president, Carlos (Silva), at an MMA event for Invicta where I was doing commentary. We had a really good conversation and I didn’t feel like the time was then. That was almost a year ago.
And then, I just felt it in my heart one day that I missed it and I was ready to go back. And so, I called Carlos and I said, “Hey, I hope the opportunity is still there,” and he’s like, “That’s really weird you’re calling me, because tomorrow we’re announcing our new TV deal with AMC.” And so that was just solidification in my mind that I was in the right place at the right time and all the pieces were falling together as they should. And I think if you’re really operating as your true self and following your path and working hard and doing all the right things, you’re always exactly where you should be. So, it feels like home. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else right now and I’m really enjoying my time there.
What are you finding rewarding about the creative work you’re doing there?
It’s so collaborative between myself, Tommy Dreamer and Hunter (Johnston, aka Delirious), the creative team really allows you to have a say in what you’re doing and if you feel strongly about something, you’re able to move the needle there, which I find I don’t need too often because they have such amazing ideas and such a great creative team, but it’s nice knowing that that opportunity is there and that I can come with my ideas. We’ve been super collaborative on a number of things, including my debut, and so that’s just been fun for me creatively, getting to create my work and inside and out of the ring.
You’ve been stepping into the acting realm more lately, including “His, Hers and Ours” last year. What has it been like adding that to your resume?
That first dream you have when you’re a kid is always the one nearest to your heart, and that was acting for me. I was taking acting classes when I was like 11 years old in South Jersey and I always wanted to be on TV and I didn’t know in what capacity it was going to happen, but I knew that’s where I wanted to be.
And so, I had the amazing journey doing that and still doing that through professional wrestling. But now, being able to step into film and hopefully one day TV as well has been super rewarding because that’s my childhood dream. And so, I’ve been able to do quite a few movies this year and we have a few more coming up already for 2026. And I dove back into it as a student of the game as well. I’ve been taking acting classes and workshops and going back to the grassroots and trying to really learn it and become great at it. So, it’s a work in progress every day, just like wrestling is.
Let’s talk about your podcast. The world knows you through these various personas and characters that you’ve played. What’s it been like to have this platform that allows you to be unfiltered, authentic, 100% you?
It’s so much fun. And it’s so funny because you don’t know much about my wife or myself, like you said, outside of the character or outside of social media. And so, this was the first place I was really able to be Daria. And to bring my wife along with me and to do that with her, it’s super fun. We’re outrageous. And it’s so funny, because it’s become the thing now when I run into people that I know or don’t know, the first thing they bring up usually is the podcast. And so, I think that’s really cool because it’s something that I was really in the driver’s seat for, me and my wife just creating on our own and really doing it as a tool to have fun and express ourselves as a couple, so that turned into a kind of happy accident.
You have a lot of plates spinning right now between wrestling, MMA commentary, podcasting, acting. What’s next for you? Because you are always hustling and you always have one eye on the future.
I’ve been hustling since, I think, the third grade. I used to make bracelets, sell them on the beach. Lemonade stands. I mean, you name it, I always had a hustle. So, it’s just innate in me and it’s really what makes me tick. I love creating. I love being a businesswoman as well. And so, I love a lot of things and it’s really cool to be in a place in my life where I’m able to explore and pursue all these avenues, but yeah, my mind’s on the prize. I mean, I’m fully focused with TNA. I’m fully focused in the acting world and honing my craft there. So, I would say those are my two main things. And I’m looking forward to Slammiversary with TNA coming up in Boston. That’s going to be a huge night for the company and I’m looking forward to it.
