Simone Alexandra Johnson is an American media personality and former professional wrestler, best known for performing in WWE under the ring name Ava.
The eldest child of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and his first wife, Dany Garcia, Simone made history in 2020 as WWE’s first-ever fourth-generation performer, following her father, grandfather Rocky Johnson, and great-grandfather Peter Maivia into the family business.
After rising from WWE Performance Center trainee to NXT General Manager, the youngest in WWE history, Simone announced in January 2026 that she was leaving the company after six years, closing one chapter of her career and opening a new, still-unfolding one.
Simone Alexandra Johnson Biography
She was born on August 14, 2001, in Davie, Florida. Simone Alexandra Garcia Johnson is the only child of Dwayne Johnson and his first wife, Dany Garcia, a businesswoman and talent manager who was married to Dwayne from 1997 to 2008.
She has two younger half-sisters, Jasmine and Tiana Gia Johnson, from her father’s second marriage to Lauren Hashian.
Despite having different mothers, the Johnson children have maintained a close relationship, and Dwayne has spoken publicly about being an actively involved father to all three of his daughters.
Simone comes from a genuinely historic wrestling lineage. Her great-grandfather, Peter Maivia, known as “High Chief,” was a pioneering Samoan professional wrestler.
Her grandfather, Rocky Johnson, was a WWE Hall of Famer and one half of the first Black tag team champions in WWE history.
Her father, Dwayne Johnson, went on to become one of the most successful WWE Superstars of all time before transitioning into a major Hollywood film career.
Dwayne Johnson’s Daughter
Simone Alexandra Johnson is the eldest of Dwayne Johnson’s three daughters and, by his own account, one of the most important relationships in his life.
Johnson has spoken repeatedly and publicly about his devotion to fatherhood, once telling journalist Sebastian Junger on The Joe Rogan Experience that he believes the universe did him a favor by giving him only daughters, reflecting on his perspective of raising girls rather than boys.
Johnson has also spoken candidly about the closeness of his bond with Simone, dating back to her adolescence.
During a 2012 appearance on The Rosie Show, he described his relationship with his then-15-year-old daughter in strikingly warm terms, referring to her not just as a daughter but as a true friend.
He credited that closeness to a deliberate effort to foster open communication between them, even on difficult topics, by actively listening and ensuring she always felt heard within the family. That closeness carried directly into Simone’s wrestling career.
Johnson personally helped train her at the WWE Performance Center, giving her guidance that few WWE trainees could receive from a parent with his level of experience in the business. He has spoken proudly about watching her career develop.
Their shared connection to WWE, first through his decades as a performer and now as a member of the Board of Directors of TKO Group Holdings, the company that owns WWE, has extended their bond beyond a typical parent-child relationship into a shared professional world that few families can claim across four generations.
Even after Simone departed from WWE in 2026, Johnson has remained closely connected to the same institution that shaped both of their careers, giving their father-daughter relationship an unusually direct and enduring connection to the wrestling business that first brought the Johnson family into the public eye through Simone’s great-grandfather decades earlier.
Career
Simone Alexandra Johnson signed with WWE in 2020 at 18 years old, becoming the promotion’s first-ever fourth-generation wrestler, a genuinely unique distinction in company history.
She trained at the WWE Performance Center, working to build a career independent of simply trading on her father’s name.
Simone made her television debut in 2022, revealing herself as a member of Joe Gacy’s villainous faction, Schism, on NXT and performing under the ring name Ava Raine, which was later shortened to Ava.
She made her official in-ring debut on April 1, 2023, at NXT Stand & Deliver, teaming with her Schism stablemates in an eight-person tag team match. She made her main roster debut just days later on SmackDown, assisting the brand’s general manager.
Following Schism’s disbandment in 2023, Simone transitioned from active in-ring competition to an on-screen authority role.
In January 2024, she was promoted to General Manager of NXT, becoming the youngest General Manager in WWE history.
She held the position for roughly two years, appearing across numerous NXT premium live events, including NXT Deadline, Halloween Havoc, Stand & Deliver, and WWE Evolution.
Departure from WWE
In late January 2026, Simone Alexandra Johnson announced on Instagram that she would not be renewing her contract with WWE, writing that her most recent appearance on NXT had been her last with the company.
She thanked fans for their support throughout her run and described the moment as both an honor and a new turning point in her life, adding that it had been a privilege to portray Ava.
WWE issued its own statement thanking Simone for her work, noting her passion, dedication, and impact across the NXT and broader WWE community, a notable gesture given that the company does not typically comment publicly on departing talent. Simone’s exit drew additional attention for a separate reason shortly afterward.
In early February 2026, she posted a message on social media criticizing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Trump administration amid national backlash following ICE-involved shooting deaths in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the previous month. She subsequently deactivated her account.
The timing drew commentary because of WWE’s close institutional ties to the current administration, including WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque’s role on the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition.
Simone has not publicly elaborated on the post beyond what she shared at the time. Months later, in June 2026, Simone gave her first interview since leaving WWE, appearing on comedian Gianmarco Soresi’s podcast The Downside.
She said there was no single reason behind her decision to leave. She reflected that she was not certain she wanted another public-facing role like the one she held as Ava, suggesting her next chapter might look considerably different from her time in wrestling.
Beyond wrestling, Simone Alexandra Johnson has worked as a model, signing with IMG Models, one of the world’s leading modeling agencies. The partnership has given her a career presence in fashion and brand work independent of WWE.
She has also made select television and film appearances over the years, building a broader entertainment profile alongside her wrestling career.
