Sonya Deville was part of the sixth season of "WWE Tough Enough," transitioning from MMA to pro wrestling.
Deville didn't last long, being the third competitor eliminated in the competition, but she was signed to WWE after the show was over.
"You get paid while you are on the show weekly," Sonya recalled on Trading Secrets. "I don't remember exactly what it was; I want to say $1,000 a week or something while you are there. Once you are gone, you're gone. I flew home the day I got eliminated, and I went back to training wrestling the next day. I called WWE and asked, 'Where can I train in professional wrestling in LA?' They gave me a school. I went to the school, and that's where I trained every single day while blowing up WWE's email, 'Hire me. Hire me.' They told me as soon as I got eliminated that they were going to hire me, but I didn't believe them. I was like, 'I'm going to fly back home, I'm gonna go back to bartending and reality, and the dream is going to be over. The thing that I just fell in love with is going to be over.' I was adamant about staying on top of learning how to wrestle and staying on top of them to hire me. Sure enough, three months later, I got the call."
Josh Bredl and Sara Lee won season six of Tough Enough.
Mandy Rose and Chelsea Green were also part of the show.
Fans can see a breakdown of what various wrestlers have disclosed about their pay through the years in Fightful's resources section.
If you use any of the quotes above, please credit and link to the original source with a h/t and link back to Fightful for the transcription.
