Sonya Deville Should Win The WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal

If WWE wants to ensure that this year’s WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal is a success, then Sonya Deville should be the superstar to come out on top.

Another day, another multi-person match gets added to WrestleMania. This time, it was announced that the women’s equivalent of the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal would return at this year’s “Showcase of the Immortals.”

While admittedly I do question the value of the men’s battle royal, I have higher hopes for what’s being referred to again as the WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal.

You see, unlike the men’s equivalent, the women’s battle royal does not have that long history of mediocrity to fight against. The men’s battle royal has been stuck on WrestleMania as little more than a way to primarily cram lower-card superstars onto the show for years.

Through a series of underwhelming storylines for winners, along with uninspiring groups of entrants, the men’s battle royal has yet to have any storyline purpose or intrigue built into it.

On the other hand, the WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal has only been in existent for a single year thus far. In that year, WWE filled the match with main-event level talent like Bayley, Becky Lynch, and the ultimate winner Naomi.

Unfortunately, Naomi’s win didn’t do much for her spot on the card, but there’s not that same dramatic history of wasting the winners of this match like there is for the men’s match yet.

In other words, there’s far more realistic hope for change, especially considering the level of talent featured, before this match could be written off like it’s male counterpart.

Change in the perceived value of this match, however, would have to come a little bit more symbolically than any purposed changes to fix the disastrous Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal.

The women’s division doesn’t currently have a mid-card title to chase after. A fact which should arguably change if WWE unifies the Women’s Championships at WrestleMania, but that’s a story for another time.

Without that mid-card belt, it would be much harder to add some stakes to this match. Sure, a number 1 conteder’s opportunity at the Women’s Championship could be on the table, but that seems highly doubtful considering WrestleMania’s proximity to the Royal Rumble match that already awards such a prize.

No, to ensure that the Women’s WrestleMania Battle Royal becomes a spot on the card to be held in esteem, WWE should make certain that the winner receives a permanent boost into the women’s main event scene.

Right now, there’s several competitors who would be worthy of such a push in this year’s match, but perhaps none more worthy than Sonya Deville.

Deville’s impressive efforts have flown a bit under-the-radar on SmackDown Live, despite the fact that it’s fairly clearly been main-event caliber work.

In her recent matches with the likes of Asuka and Charlotte Flair primarily as part of Fire and Desire, Deville has shown off some great in-ring work.

Her unique mix of MMA sensibilities and more traditional wrestling moves is something which makes her stand-out from most any other competitor not named Ronda Rousey on the main roster.

With a distinctive and well-executed in-ring style and gimmick, not to mention one of the best and least-talked about finishers on the main roster today, Deville should already be positioned as a potential main event superstar.

If that somehow wasn’t enough though, as you can also see in the video above as well, she’s even been able to pick up some actual victories here and there against that high level of opposition.

Typically, holding wins over former champions like Flair and Naomi would also be another indicator of the worthiness of a main event push.

Instead, Deville has been stuck in what seems like the world’s longest tag team break-up with Mandy Rose.

Fire and Desire may provide some needed depth to the women’s tag team division right now, but that shouldn’t come at the expense of excessively drawing out an angle which is holding back a pair of competitors who are ready and able to reach that next level.

As such, Sonya Deville has already shown time and again she has the tools necessary to be one of the top stars in the women’s division. She’s just missing that opportunity to reach the next level.

A win in the WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal, if presented the right way, could easily be that opportunity though.

If Deville were to win, say by eliminating Asuka in impressive fashion for example, then she could arguably go on to stake a claim for a future women’s title opportunity.

While that opportunity wouldn’t have to come immediately or directly as a result of winning the battle royal, perhaps she could enter into a more extended rivalry with someone like Asuka to earn her way into a women’s title shot after a few singles match wins.

Additionally, if along the way the official break-up of Fire and Desire were to occur as a result of some professional jealousy or another botched interference, then even better.

All the elements are there for WWE to make this year’s WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal the right stepping stone for one of their underutilized superstars to “grab the brass ring.”

WWE just needs to faithfully execute a solid strategy like that, and not only will they have practically guaranteed themselves another main event star, but also a battle royal that’s inclusion people may actually look forward to on the WrestleMania card once they’ve seen the push that could be in store for the winner.