WWE Comments On Departure Of Former NXT GM Ava, Daughter Of The Rock

Now-former "WWE NXT" General Manager Ava revealed on Friday that she was departing WWE after choosing not to re-sign another deal. The star, whose real name is Simone Garcia Johnson, daughter of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, took to Instagram to announce her decision to fans.

Following Ava's social media announcement, Fightful Select reached out to WWE and received a statement about her departure. In the statement, WWE thanked Garcia Johnson for her "stellar work" as Ava, and said her passion, dedication, and impact were felt across "NXT" and beyond. WWE wished her well in her future endeavors to cap off the statement.

Ava joined WWE and started training at the Performance Center in February 2020. She didn't make her on-screen debut as an authority figure, initially, however, but rather, alongside Joe Gacy, and the Dyad (the Grizzled Young Veterans) as Ava Raine in The Schism, in 2022. Her debut match was at Stand & Deliver 2023, in a mixed tag match lost against Chase U. She would go on to have five other matches in WWE, but only two more on television, with no televised singles victories. Her final match came at Heatwave 2023 in a loss against Ivy Nile.

Following Gacy proclaiming The Schism dead following the releases of The Dyad, she became an on-screen authority figure as an assistant to Shawn Michaels in 2023. In January 2024, Ava became the youngest-ever authority figure in WWE history when she was promoted to "NXT" general manager by William Regal. She would even once share the screen with her father, when The Rock stopped by "NXT" following its New Year's Evil special in January 2025.