The Rock’s daughter Simone Johnson signed with WWE all the way back in February 2020 and since then has been training to follow in her father’s footsteps. Unfortunately, she had to undergo knee surgery during this time, her third in total, which did hinder her progress. However, it appears she is getting ready to compete in NXT 2.0 as she has appeared on a couple of NXT house shows, even cutting a promo on one event, and while doing these, she would be called “Ava Raine,” a name WWE applied to trademark on May 13th.
Now during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live to promote his upcoming movie “DC League of Super-Pets,” the WWE legend would comment on her debut, saying how proud he is, and would call her new name “cool.” Adding that to him it means she’s going to “lay the smackdown.”
Very proud of her. Simone Johnson, my oldest daughter, the daughter I have with Dany, she made her debut in WWE, their smaller federation, NXT. So she did so good. She went out there on the microphone. You’ve gotta be poised when you go out there. She has a cool wrestling name. It’s Ava Raine.
The RockIt comes from all different areas. Usually, it’s probably a mix. What she wanted to do, what she wanted to be called. Ultimately, what the powers that be want her to be called to as well. She’s the first fourth generation of pro wrestlers in WWE. I always like to say that name Ava Raine could mean a lot of things, but to me in my mind, it means she’s going to lay the smackdown on candy asses.
The fourth-generation wrestler changing her name is somewhat surprising considering her father’s fame. Nevertheless, WWE does have a track record of doing this. In fact, it was only a few weeks ago that WWE renamed Santino Marella’s daughter Bianca Carelli to Arianna Grace. Of course, there is no comparison between Santino Marella and The Rock regarding stardom, but it demonstrates the company’s policy and desire to own names.
