Legendary wrestler and actor Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s daughter, Ava Raine, recently made her WWE TV debut.
According to Sports Illustrated, Ava, whose real name is Simone Johnson, made her TV debut via WWE’s developmental brand NXT on Oct. 25. That evening, she was announced as the latest member of Schism wrestling team led by Joe Gacy. She’s reportedly the fourth member and only woman alongside Gacy and wrestlers Rip Fowler and Jagger Reid.
Back in February 2020, WWE announced that Johnson had signed with the company and begun training at the WWE Performance Center. In September of that year, she reportedly underwent knee surgery–the third one she’s ever gotten. However, she eventually recovered, and now she’s back on the scene.
Before her TV debut, Ava did the first promo of her career at an untelevised NXT event in July. After the promo, her dad spoke to ET, saying he was “very, very proud” of Simone.
“She’s made history [becoming WWE’s first fourth-generation wrestler]. Very, very proud of her,” Dwayne told the outlet. “She is fiercely independent. It’s very important for her to make her own way, blaze her own trail, blaze her own path. She doesn’t come to me looking for a lot, which I respect that. And I’m here watching and supporting.”
As Dwayne mentioned, his daughter is the first fourth-generation wrestler in WWE history, as she’s following in the footsteps of him, her grandfather, and great-grandfather. Her grandfather was American pro wrestler Rocky “Soul Man” Johnson, who, along with “Mr. USA” Tony Atlas, became the first Black champions in WWE history circa 1983. That year, they won the World Tag Team Championship, and Rocky was later inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Ava’s great-grandfather, American Samoan pro wrestler Peter Maivia, was also inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by Dwayne. Her great-grandmother Lia Maivia was even one of wrestling’s first female promoters.
The 21-year-old’s mother–whose also Dwayne’s business partner–celebrated her daughter’s NXT debut via Twitter.
“A moment for me celebrating @AvaRaineWWE’s TV debut on @WWENXT tonight,” a proud Dany Garcia wrote on Oct. 25.
https://twitter.com/DanyGarciaCo/status/1585093436067414016?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1585093436067414016%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=safari-reader%3A%2F%2Fwww.blackenterprise.com%2Fdwayne-johnsons-daughter-ava-raine-makes-television-wwe-debut%2F
