Wrestling royaltySimone Johnsonhas officially announced her in-ring name.The 20-year-old daughter ofDwayne “The Rock” Johnsonconfirmed on Sunday that she will compete in the ring for the WWE as Ava Raine. Simone even updated her official Twitter account to@AvaRaineWWE, to reflect her new WWE NXT persona.Fans on Twitter expressed disappointment that her ring name isn’t a nod to her father, who debuted in the WWE back in 1996 and spent years with the company full-time, but Simone isn’t bending for social media criticism.“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.““I could build my entire career around my father & people would still bash me anyway,” sheadded in another tweet, before explaining to followers that she pretty much wants to stay away from all rock-related nicknames.She wrote, “I beg of you guys to find a new joke. anything.“The WWE signed Simone as a trainee in 2020. The organization announced that she’d begun training, but according toUSA Today, her ring debut was delayed due to a knee injury.“To the little girl who fell in love with wrestling & said ‘this will be my life one day,’ this is for you. I’m humbled, grateful & ready to work. Let’s do this,” shewrote in the captionof her 2020 post announcing she’d signed with WWE.Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.And Simone’s legendary father couldn’t be more proud of her.During a 2020 appearance onThe Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon,Dwayne, 50, said, “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 so important.”
Wrestling royaltySimone Johnsonhas officially announced her in-ring name.
The 20-year-old daughter ofDwayne “The Rock” Johnsonconfirmed on Sunday that she will compete in the ring for the WWE as Ava Raine. Simone even updated her official Twitter account to@AvaRaineWWE, to reflect her new WWE NXT persona.
Fans on Twitter expressed disappointment that her ring name isn’t a nod to her father, who debuted in the WWE back in 1996 and spent years with the company full-time, but Simone isn’t bending for social media criticism.
“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.”
“I could build my entire career around my father & people would still bash me anyway,” sheadded in another tweet, before explaining to followers that she pretty much wants to stay away from all rock-related nicknames.
She wrote, “I beg of you guys to find a new joke. anything.”
The WWE signed Simone as a trainee in 2020. The organization announced that she’d begun training, but according toUSA Today, her ring debut was delayed due to a knee injury.
“To the little girl who fell in love with wrestling & said ‘this will be my life one day,’ this is for you. I’m humbled, grateful & ready to work. Let’s do this,” shewrote in the captionof her 2020 post announcing she’d signed with WWE.
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
And Simone’s legendary father couldn’t be more proud of her.
During a 2020 appearance onThe Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon,Dwayne, 50, said, “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 so important.”
source: people.com
