Simone Johnson (Ava) Says Her Worst Online Backlash Didn’t Come From WWE Fans

Simone Johnson, formerly known as Ava, followed in her father, The Rock's, footsteps and tried her hand at wrestling when she joined WWE.

Her in-ring career didn't last long, primarily seeing her work alongside Joe Gacy and the Schism faction, before she took an on-screen general manager role in NXT.

Back in January of this year, Johnson confirmed she would not renew her contract, ending her six-year career with the company.

Backlash during WWE career

Johnson made an appearance on The Downside with Gianmarco Soresi and spoke quite a bit about her career. She particularly mentioned that the backlash she received after making comments stemming from the assassination of Charlie Kirk in 2025, saying she still gets comments about it today.

"I was quite used to getting hated on by wrestling fans, and I was like, ‘All right, whatever. Fine.’ I’m used to that, blah blah, s---ting on me because of who my dad is. They’d be calling me every type of slur, but that’s from wrestling fans. However, there were so many angry conservative men that I was like, ‘You don’t even know who I am'"
Simone Johnson

Simone Johnson also pointed out during the podcast appearance that she initially wanted to earn a degree in Political Science before following her father's footsteps into professional wrestling.

Simone on what made her leave WWE

Rumors floated around quite a bit once Johnson confirmed she wouldn't be resigning with WWE. Some believed that politics and WWE's relationship with the current administration in the White House played a factor in her decision.

When asked about her decision and the reason for her not staying with the company, Johnson said it was a lot of different things.

"There wasn’t one particular thing, unfortunately. It was like a lot of things and had been something that was on my mind for a while. I am so grateful for my time in WWE. I wouldn’t change it for the world. I got to live out the dream. It was time for something new and different. I really don’t regret leaving and I’m really happy now."
Simone Johnson

Since leaving professional wrestling, Johnson has been creating vlog content with her partner, Tatyanna Dumas, on their accounts BIGUPs. Dumas would work in WWE, primarily wrestling on NXT live events and WWE LFG before leaving the company as well.

A recent post on social media showed Dumas returning to the ring for the 1FW promotion.

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