Ava Raine, aka Simone Johnson, has said she doesn’t understand why her new ring name is proving to be a heated topic with fans.
Recently, Johnson, the daughter of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, changed all her social media handles to use the Ava Raine name, which appears to be her ring name from now on.
The name has received criticism from fans who believe that there was nothing wrong with Johnson’s original name and that WWE is distancing her from her iconic father.
On Twitter, Johnson said that her new name does not diminish any of the success of her father or anyone in the legendary Samoan wrestling family founded by The Rock’s grandfather Peter Maivia.
She added that people could still bash her no matter what name she had, and thanked those fans who have supported her.
This name change has become the latest trope from WWE, which doesn’t want any wrestler to use any part of their real name.
WWE changes the name of Superstars to a name they can trademark, to prevent a Superstar from being able to use the name they made famous in WWE in another promotion.
Despite the significant star-power being a Johnson brings Raine, the daughter of The Rock is no exception to the rule.
Ironically, The Rock’s original WWE name ‘Rocky Maivia’ leaned heavily on his father and grandfather: Rocky Johnson and Peter Maivia.
It wouldn’t be until turning heel and making a name for himself as The Rock that fans were won over by the future Hollywood A-Lister.
Johnson signed with WWE in February 2020 but suffered a knee injury that required surgery that September.
She is yet to make her official NXT 2.0 debut but has been seen several times at the WWE Performance Center, in Orlando, Florida.
