"I've had the honor" - Top WWE heel opens up on learning about wrestling from Paige (Exclusive)

Paige is no longer an active performer but is still as popular as ever amongst WWE fans. The former Divas Champion's career was sadly cut short due to a neck injury, but she still contributed to shaping the evolution of women's wrestling in WWE.

Sonya Deville recently spoke to Sportskeeda Wrestling and opened up on the valuable lessons she learned from her former Absolution stablemate.

Deville looked back on her rise in the company and was grateful to have worked alongside Paige. Sonya Deville specifically credited the retired superstar for helping build the women's division, which currently features some of the best talents in the world.

Sonya told Sportskeeda's Kevin Kellam that Paige and the current crop of female stars inspire her to improve every day:

"I've had the honor of learning from a lot of really cool people. Coming up in Absolution with Paige and Mandy, it was so cool being with my best friend, but it was also learning from Paige, someone who really has put a fingerprint on the women's division, helped make it what it is and just being able to be in the division that I'm in now with so many athletic talents, physical girls. They just inspire me and teach me every day," said Sonya Deville. [7:36 - 8:02]

Sonya Deville looks back at her seven-year WWE run

Sonya Deville joined WWE in 2015 after her impressive showing as a contestant in the Tough Enough reality series. The former Mixed Martial Artist admitted that she didn't even watch wrestling growing up and came to WWE with an open mind.

It didn't take long for Sonya Deville to fall in love with the business, which was surprising as she initially never imagined leaving MMA for professional wrestling. Sonya quickly realized she had a bright future in the squared circle and put a lot of effort into honing her skills.

Seven years have passed since she signed a WWE contract, and Sonya Deville is one of the company's most promising female performers.

"I instantly saw the future, and I instantly became obsessed and passionate about it. I just trusted my gut, like this is what I'm here, and this is what I'm meant to do, and so, every day was a learning experience. I was trying to figure out what this world was about," explained Sonya. "How to succeed in it and how to stay true to myself and integrate MMA with the wrestling. So it was kind of just on the fly, hang on by the skin of my coattails and try and figure it out day by day. I couldn't imagine being seven years ago thinking where I'd be today." [7:00 - 732]

Absolution

PAIGE 💫 MANDY 💫 SONYA https://t.co/GE0g8rlh1K

Sonya Deville has experienced a downfall of late on WWE TV as she was fired from her on-air authority position.

During her chat with Sportskeeda Wrestling, Deville sent a massive message to Alexa Bliss, and you can read what she had to say right here.

WWE Saturday Night's Main Event will feature the superstars of Smackdown in action at the BMO Harris Bank Center in Rockford, IL on Saturday. Tickets are on sale now through Ticketmaster and you can win your way in with 104.9 'the X' at this link: THEXROCKFORD.COM

Please credit Sportskeeda Wrestling and embed the video if you use quotes from this article.