The Rock’s Daughter Shares The Hidden Reason She Chose To Leave WWE
The Rock’s daughter has opened up about leaving WWE after four years, revealing why she felt it was time to move on. Her past comments about an unreleased promo also add another twist to her wrestling story.
Simone Johnson, better known to WWE fans as Ava, has finally opened up about her decision to leave WWE. The former NXT General Manager revealed that walking away had been on her mind for about a year, but the reason was not just one thing. She wanted to grow, learn something new, and find out what life looked like outside the wrestling company.
Her comments came during an appearance on What Do You Wanna Talk About? with Cody Rhodes, where she discussed her WWE departure and what led her to that decision. Ava had joined WWE in 2020 and became known for her work as NXT General Manager. Now, The Rock's daughter works as a junior executive at Seven Bucks Productions, the film and television production company co-founded by her father.
Why The Rock's Daughter Decided To Leave WWE
The greatest detail from her explanation is that leaving WWE was not a sudden decision. She knew her contract was coming up in February and had already been thinking about what she wanted to do next.
“There are a lot of different reasons why I chose to leave,” she said, explaining that the decision was “incredibly hard.”
Ava also made it clear that she still appreciated her time with WWE. She said she “would not change it for the world,” but felt she needed to step away because she did not believe she was in a position to grow there.
What Ava said about her next chapter
The former NXT General Manager explained that she wanted to see what was on the other side of wrestling.
“I needed to learn and grow and see what's on the other side,” she said.
That is where her current work comes into the picture. Ava is now a junior executive at Seven Bucks Productions, giving her a different professional direction after leaving WWE.
The WWE Promo Ava Said Would Never Be Released
Ava had also previously shared a wild story about an unreleased WWE promo during an appearance on The Downside podcast.
She described watching a promo on WWE's internal website in which one wrestler made a dark joke about Donald Trump and an opponent who had been associated with Trump-supporting allegations. The promo included the line, “Why don't you ask your little friend Trump, because the last person who said I ran got bombed.”
Ava said she watched the clip with her partner and friend, and they “literally closed the computer and walked away.”
She later called it her favourite wrestling promo, adding, “Shakespeare himself could not put that promo together.”
The story is a separate look at her time in WWE, but it shows the kind of unusual backstage wrestling moment she has spoken about since leaving.
For now, Ava's next chapter is outside the ring, with her work at Seven Bucks Productions marking the latest known step after her WWE exit.