A familiar face returned to WWE NXT on Tuesday night (Feb. 3, 2026), and she sassed Shawn Michaels.
Daria Rae (aka Sonya Deville) was in NXT on TNA business. Over on Impact, Rae was brought in as Director of Operations to keep an eye on Santino Marella as Director of Authority. She appeared in NXT last night to monitor the Knockouts Tag Team Championship match between the Elegance Brand and Zaruca. That was the first time that Rae has been on a WWE screen since being released in February of last year.
Heather and M were flanked by Ash (aka Dana Brooke) and the Personal Concierge, and their presence proved valuable to help the champs retain. The challengers had momentum down the stretch, but the Personal Concierge distracted referee Victoria D’Errico. That allowed Ash to save Heather, and M shoved Zaria into the Sol Snatcher from Ruca. Ash smashed Ruca into the steel steps, and the Elegance Brand double-teamed Zaria for a bow and arrow flying stomp combo to win.
That wasn’t too interesting in terms of Rae’s appearance. The interesting part came backstage in clips posted on social media.
Rae celebrated the TNA wrestlers keeping their titles away from NXT. As Rae passed Shawn Michaels, she rubbed the win in his face by sassing, “Take notes, buddy.”
Rae also addressed the new interim general manager of NXT, Robert Stone. The Suit, as she calls herself, had tension with Mr. Stone as he mispronounced her name. Nonetheless, the working relationship between NXT and TNA will continue.
From a TNA perspective, it will be interesting to see how Stone’s role ties into their storylines. He already had a power struggle angle trying to take Santino’s job, however, Santino sent Sheriff Stone packing by beating him in a match. We might have to wait a bit for the new general manager drama to take effect. TNA already taped a few episodes of Impact before the surprising announcement that former NXT GM Ava departed the company. TNA’s next live date is February 13 for the No Surrender event. In the meantime, Stone is part of the Diamond Collective faction featuring Tessa Blanchard, Victoria Crawford (aka Alicia Fox), and Mila Moore.
Share your thoughts on Daria Rae’s appearance in NXT. How would you like to see the power dynamics play out on screen between NXT and TNA?
