The 20-year-old fourth-generation wrestler, Simone Johnson, recently roused some reactions as she revealed her pro-wrestling name on Twitter. She signed with the WWE in 2020, at the age of 18. As they say, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree; her father, known as The Rock, was a professional wrestler for eight years before going into acting full time.
Also, her grandfather and her great-grandfather were both wrestlers during their lifetime. Her grandfather was called Rocky “Soul Man” Johnson, and her great-grandfather, “High Chief” Peter Maivia. Two years after her signing, Simone Johnson has finally settled with a stage name that she has made public.
On Twitter, she changed her handle to AvaRaineWWE, after which she uploaded a GIF of Nancy Downs, a character from The Craft, smiling directly into the camera. This subtle reveal brought some positive reactions; however, some fans wonder why she did not pick a stage name familiar with her father’s.
“I’m slightly disappointed she won’t be known as The Pebble.” This was one of the comments Simone Johnson received on her stage name choice on Twitter, to which she responded, “I beg of you guys to find a new joke. Anything.”
To her dislike, many fans do not seem to separate the young wrestler from her celebrity dad. The first daughter of Dwayne, and his ex-wife Dany Garcia, expresses how she feels about the not-so-encouraging reactions to her creating her legacy, apart from her dad.
“I probably sound like a broken record & hopefully, this is the last I’ll mention, but I don’t understand why people being portrayed as separate individuals from their family name is such a heated topic,” she tweeted. “A name doesn’t discredit any prior accomplishments from any family.” Many fans also defended her desire to have her professional career be treated uniquely from her father’s own, just as he did by her grandfather.
“What is the issue with her wanting to create her own legacy?” a follower asked in her defense. “Her father literally did the same thing to separate himself from his father’s legacy. He went from Rocky Maivia to The Rock.”
“You are playing a role. It’s like if you got a movie part & someone said ‘well her character should have the same last name as her famous father’ no one would ever do that.” another added.
Simone Johnson, aka Ava Raine, showed appreciation to her supporters and fans for their encouraging words amid the criticism; “I’m not trying to ignore or undermine all the sweet comments & support I get, thank you guys,” she tweeted in appreciation.
The proud father expressed his joy over his daughter’s blooming wrestling career on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, in 2020. “It blows my mind. First of all, what an honor that my daughter wants to follow in my footsteps but more importantly- follow in my footsteps sounds cliché – but she actually wants to create and blaze her own path, which is just so important,” he gushed to the show host.
He also shared that she had been working hard towards her wrestling career since she was 16. We look forward to her creating her legacy in the wrestling industry.
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