The Rock ‘so proud’ of daughter Ava for carving own path in WWE
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is so proud of how is daughter Ava has managed to follow in his footsteps while simultaneously carving out her own path.
With Ava standing beside him, Johnson got emotional while speaking to MTV UK about his daughter’s WWE career. It means a lot to have Ava in the family business, but Johnson is especially proud that she has never once asked him to use his influence to help her get ahead.
“I am so proud of her. Because it’s what I did, you know? And I love what I did. And I love wrestling, I grew up in wrestling. She was born into it too, just like I was. And when she said, ‘Hey, I want to do what you do.’ But the difference is — it’s why I get emotional — because she’s like, ‘I want to do what you do, but I want to carve my own path.’ And that’s the difference,” Johnson said. “That was a big deal when I heard that.
“Because it’s easy, I think, for any kid who wants to come up and do what their parents are doing to — maybe it’s not overt, but to utilize the influence. I’m telling you, it never happened. I never got that call. Like, ‘Hey, can you call someone?’ I never got that call, and that’s the truth. And that’s the thing that makes me proud. When you don’t get that call — look, I would have been there anyway, I would have made that call. But when you don’t get it, it gave me a profound sense of pride, because, oh, I helped, with her mom, raise an amazing human being.”
Ava (Simone Johnson) first joined the WWE Performance Center in 2020. Performing in the ring was her initial path, but she’s since transitioned into a different role as the on-screen general manager of NXT. She was not present on this week’s episode due to being in Europe, where her father is promoting his upcoming movie “The Smashing Machine” — a biopic on MMA legend Mark Kerr that is set to be released in theaters on October 3.