Shawn Michaels Names New Interim NXT General Manager Following Ava's WWE Departure

There's a new top authority figure on NXT, at least on a temporary basis.

Simone Johnson, formerly known as Ava, suddenly departed WWE last week after spending the last six years with the company. Johnson announced on social media that she had decided not to sign a contract extension, despite attempts being made by WWE management to keep her on NXT programming.

Ava was an integral part of the show every Tuesday night on The CW Network, and someone had to step in to fill the void. Tuesday night's episode of NXT started off with head of creative Shawn Michaels promoting Ava's former assistant Robert Stone to the role of Interim General Manger.

.@ShawnMichaels has named @MrStoneWWE the new INTERIM General Manager of NXT! 🤩 pic.twitter.com/Q9fGJozcoU
— WWE (@WWE) February 4, 2026

Michaels did not mention Ava by name, nor did he reference her decision to leave WWE. He simply thanked Stone for his past seven years of loyal service to the brand and awarded him the interim position.

Outside of some online speculation, it's still not known why Johnson chose to walk away from WWE. The Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer reported what he had heard over the weekend.

“I’ve talked to and heard from several people and the general thing was just she didn’t want to do it anymore. There was no compelling reason,” Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Radio.
“It was just one of those things where her parents own a studio and they thought that she’s probably going to end up working there. She doesn’t have to do it.”

It was also noted by Meltzer that Johnson's partner Tatyanna Dumas was recently cut by WWE, but it's not been confirmed if that factored into her decision to depart the company in any way.

Robert Stone is ready to take over for Ava

Robert Stone has spent the past 25 years in professional wrestling as an in-ring competitor, commentator, manager and on-screen authority figure.

Following a lengthy tenure in TNA Wrestling, Stone signed with WWE in 2019 and worked his way onto television as manager for talents like Chelsea Green, Riddick Moss and several others before he found himself working in the NXT front office.

It is interesting that Stone has only been name as the Interim General Manager of NXT. That could be a sign that the company would like to bring someone else in to fill the role on a permanent basis. Former NXT Women's Champion Shayna Baszler has publicly expressed interest in the job, but it's not clear if she was being genuine with her social media post.

Regardless, Stone now has his opportunity to run with the ball. Time will tell if he's able to transform this into his new full-time role in WWE.

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