Dwayne Johnson’s daughter Simone hits back against criticism over her chosen pro wrestling name

Twenty-year-old Simone signed with WWE two years ago

Dwayne Johnson’s daughter Simone Johnson has shared her professional wrestling name ahead of her WWE debut.

Johnson’s 20-year-old daughter has been preparing to make her first World Wrestling Entertainment appearance for two years.

Following in the footsteps of her father, Simone signed her deal with WWE in early 2020. Her debut was postponed after she suffered injuries that required surgery.

Simone shared her wrestling moniker, “Ava Raine”, in a post on social media.

She is a fourth-generation wrestler. Before her father’s career in the sport, Simone’s grandfather and great-grandfather were also pro wrestlers.

Some people have criticised Simone for not making it clearer that she is connected to the Rock with her chosen moniker.

“Giving Simone Johnson, the daughter of THE ROCK, a new name is completely nonsensical,” wrote one person.

“Will hold judgement until she debuts, but if WWE doesn’t acknowledge her dad is The Rock that’s ridiculous.”

(Ava Raine Twitter)

On Sunday (29 May), Simone responded to the tweet: “I probably sound like a broken record & hopefully this is the last I’ll mention this but I don’t understand why people being portrayed as separate individuals from their family name is such a heated topic.

“A name doesn’t discredit any prior accomplishments from any family.”

Simone later tweeted: “I could build my entire career around my father & people would still bash me anyway.”

Johnson has previously praised Simone for wanting to “create and blaze her own path”.

Responding to his daughter’s deal with WWE, the actor said: “First of all, what an honour that my daughter wants to follow in my footsteps but more importantly, follow in my footsteps sounds cliché, but she actually wants to create and blaze her own path, which is so important.”

Simone is the daughter of Johnson and his ex-wife Dany Garcia.