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American professional wrestler (born 2001) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Simone Garcia Johnson[7] (born August 14, 2001)[8] is an American professional wrestler. She is currently signed to WWE under the ring name Ava (shortened from her previous ring name Ava Raine) and appears as the on-screen general manager of the NXT brand, making her the youngest on-screen general manager in the company’s history. Johnson is a fourth-generation wrestler, being the daughter of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, connecting her to the Anoaʻi family of Samoan wrestlers.
| Ava | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Ava in 2024 | |
| Birth name | Simone Garcia Johnson[1] |
| Born | August 14, 2001 Davie, Florida, U.S |
| Parent(s) | Dwayne Johnson Dany Garcia |
| Family | Anoaʻi |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Ava[2] Ava Raine[3][4] |
| Billed height | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)[5] |
| Billed weight | 143 lb (65 kg) |
| Trained by | WWE Performance Center[6] Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson |
| Debut | April 1, 2023 |
Johnson was born in Davie, Florida[9] on August 14, 2001.[10] She is the first daughter of professional wrestler and entertainer Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (through whom she has two younger sisters from his second marriage)[11] and Dany Garcia, a Cuban-American businesswoman, IFBB professional bodybuilder and producer.[12][13][14] Johnson's parents announced their separation on June 1, 2007[15][16] and divorced in May 2008.[17] From her father's side, Johnson is the granddaughter of Ata (née Maivia) and Rocky Johnson, a Samoan and Black Nova Scotian respectively. Through her paternal grandmother, she is a non-blood relative of the Anoaʻi wrestling family.
In January 2018, Johnson was at the inaugural Golden Globes Ambassador for the ceremony's 75th Anniversary.[18][19][20][21] She attended the private high school of NSU University School, where she graduated and earned her diploma in May 2019.[22][23] After graduating, Johnson had initially planned to take up her college studies at New York University in August 2019, but when she suffered a knee injury a month prior in July, she decided to stay in Orlando, Florida to pursue her professional wrestling career.[24][25] She has cited her grandmother as the person who got her in to wrestling.[26]
In November 2017, Johnson expressed her interest in becoming a professional wrestler.[27][28] In February 2020, WWE announced that Johnson had reported to the WWE Performance Center and had begun her training, making her the first fourth-generation wrestler to sign a contract with the company.[29][30][31][32]
On the October 25, 2022, episode of NXT, Johnson made her first televised appearance, revealing herself to be a member of Joe Gacy's villainous faction, Schism.[33][34][35] She debuted under the ring name Ava Raine, but this was later shortened to Ava on February 14, 2023.[36][37] Ava made her in-ring debut on April 1 at Stand & Deliver with Schism, losing to Chase University.[38][39][40] Schism would slowly begin to disband in September 2023, starting with the expiration of The Dyad's contracts on September 14,[41] and culminating in a backstage segment in October where Gacy declared that Schism is dead. After Schism, she became the on-screen assistant of Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative Shawn Michaels.[42] On January 23, 2024, she was promoted to become the new General Manager of NXT, becoming the youngest general manager in WWE.[43] Ava made her main roster debut appearance three days later on SmackDown where she assisted General Manager Nick Aldis with the Royal Rumble entry draw.[44] At NXT Stand & Deliver on April 6, she announced the creation of the NXT Women's North American Championship. The title was introduced as the equivalent to its male counterpart, making the title the first women's secondary championship in WWE.[45]
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