Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson's Daughter Simone Defends New WWE Name From Critics

By Brian Jones

Simone Johnson, the daughter of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, recently announced her new WWE name, which is Ava Raine. That led to fans on Twitter expressing their disappointment in the new name because they wanted it to be associated with her family. Simone Johnson went to Twitter to defend the new name. 

"I probably sound like a broken record & hopefully this is the last I'll mention this but I don't understand why people being portrayed as separate individuals from their family name is such a heated topic," she wrote. "A name doesn't discredit any prior accomplishments from any family."  In another tweet, Johnson wrote: "I could build my entire career around my father & people would still bash me anyway."

Johnson signed with WWE in 2020 and has been training ever since. According to multiple reports, Johnson's WWE debut has been delayed due to a knee injury. Shortly after signing with WWE, her father reacted to her taking a big step in her wrestling career. "You know, it blows my mind," Dwayne Johnson said. "First of all, what an honor that my daughter wants to follow in my footsteps but more importantly — follow in my footsteps sounds cliche — but she actually wants to create and blaze her own path, which is just so important."

Before signing her contract, Simone Johnson appeared on the Swerve City podcast and talked about following in her father's footsteps. "He basically just told me what I just said, 'You are your own person," Johnson said. "Regardless if other people compare you to your parents or to anyone else, or if you compare yourself to your parents or to anyone else, you are still your own person."

"I just have to remind myself, that pressure only exists when I start comparing myself to my parents," Simone continued at the time. "... this idea that I want to keep getting into my head is that I'm not my parents. No one is their parents. And Individuality is a gift and I just have to keep remind myself of that, that no matter what pressure, not matter what circumstances, no matter what comparisons are, I love my parents so much." Johnson will likely debut on WWE's developmental brand NXT, which recently saw an influx of new talent.  

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