Simone Alexandra Garcia Johnson (born August 14, 2001) is an American

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

. She is signed to

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

under the

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name or nickname used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons ...

Ava and appears as the on-screen general manager of the NXT

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...

. Johnson is a fourth-generation wrestler, being the daughter of

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor and professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on a part-time basis. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional w ...

, connecting her to the

Anoaʻi family The Anoai family ( ) is a family of professional wrestlers originating from the Samoan Islands. Family members have comprised several tag teams and stables within a variety of promotions, most notably WWE. Famous members of the family include Roma ...

of Samoan origin.

Early and personal life

Johnson was born in

Davie, Florida Davie is a town in Broward County, Florida, United States, approximately north of Miami. The town's population was 110,320 at the 2020 census, making it the largest town in Florida by population. Davie is a principal town of the Miami metropol ...

on August 14, 2001. She is the first daughter of professional wrestler and entertainer

(through whom she has two younger sisters from his second marriage) and

Dany Garcia Dany Garcia Rienzi (born November 29, 1968) is an American film producer and businesswoman. She is the founder of GSTQ and the CEO and chair of The Garcia Companies overseeing a portfolio of brands in business, entertainment, and food, including ...

, a Cuban-American businesswoman, IFBB professional bodybuilder and producer. Johnson's parents announced their separation on June 1, 2007 and divorced in May 2008. From her father's side, Johnson is the granddaughter of Ata (''

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

'' Maivia) and

Rocky Johnson Rocky Johnson (born Wayde Douglas Bowles; August 24, 1944 – January 15, 2020) was a Canadian professional wrestler. Among many National Wrestling Alliance titles, he was the first Black NWA Georgia Heavyweight Champion as well as the NWA Tel ...

, a Samoan and

Black Nova Scotian Black Nova Scotians (also known as African Nova Scotians, Afro-Nova Scotians, and Africadians) are Black Canadians whose ancestors primarily date back to the Colonial United States as slaves or freemen, later arriving in Nova Scotia, Canada dur ...

respectively. Through her paternal grandmother, she is a non-blood relative of the Anoaʻi wrestling family. In January 2018, Johnson was a Golden Globe Ambassador for the

75th Golden Globe Awards The 75th Golden Globe Awards honored film and American television of 2017, and was broadcast live on January 7, 2018, from The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California beginning at 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time Zone, PST / 8:00 p.m. Easter ...

. She attended the

private high school A private school or independent school is a school A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of ...

NSU University School The NSU University School, commonly known as University School or simply U-School, is an independent college preparatory school in Davie, Florida, that educates children in grades pre-K through grade 12. The school is on the Nova Southeastern Uni ...

, where she graduated and earned her

diploma A diploma is a document awarded by an educational institution (such as a college or university) testifying the recipient has graduated by successfully completing their courses of studies. Historically, it has also referred to a charter or offi ...

in May 2019. After graduating, Johnson had initially planned to take up her

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

studies at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

in August 2019, but when she suffered a knee injury a month prior in July, she decided to stay in

Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...

to pursue her professional wrestling career. She has cited her grandmother as the person who got her into wrestling.

Professional wrestling career

WWE

In-ring career (2017–2023)

In November 2017, Johnson expressed her interest in becoming a professional wrestler. In February 2020,

announced that Johnson had reported to the

WWE Performance Center WWE Performance Center (WWE PC) is a group of professional wrestling schools owned by American company WWE. They serve as tryout and training facilities for WWE, and also contain sports science and medical facilities as well as live events and ...

and had begun her training, making her the first fourth-generation wrestler to sign a contract with the company. On the October 25, 2022, episode of '' NXT'', Johnson made her first televised appearance, revealing herself to be a member of

Joe Gacy Joseph Ruby (born August 8, 1987) is an American professional wrestler. As of August 2020, he is signed to WWE, on the WWE SmackDown, SmackDown brand, where he performs under the ring name Joe Gacy and is a member of The Wyatt Sicks faction. Gac ...

's villainous faction,

Schism A schism ( , , or, less commonly, ) is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization, movement, or religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a split in what had previously been a single religious body, suc ...

. She debuted under the

Ava Raine, (later shortened to Ava) on February 14, 2023. Ava made her in-ring debut on April 1 at NXT Stand & Deliver with Schism, losing to

Chase University Chase University, formally known as Andre Chase University and usually shortened as Chase U, is a professional wrestling stable that performs in WWE on the NXT brand. The stable's gimmick is that of an educational university, with stable founder ...

. Schism would slowly begin to disband in September 2023, starting with the expiration of

The Dyad Grizzled Young Veterans (also shortened as GYV) are an English professional wrestling tag team consisting of James Drake and Zack Gibson. Primarily touring the independent circuit, they also appear on All Elite Wrestling (AEW), its sister promo ...

's contracts on September 14, and culminating in a backstage segment in October where Gacy declared that Schism is dead.

General manager (2023–present)

After Schism, Ava became the on-screen assistant of Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative

Shawn Michaels Shawn Michaels (born Michael Shawn Hickenbottom on July 22, 1965) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he is the Senior Vice President of Talent Development, Creative, and oversees the creative aspects of th ...

. On January 23, 2024, she was promoted to become the new

General Manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

of NXT, becoming the youngest general manager in WWE. Ava made her main roster debut appearance three days later on ''

SmackDown ''WWE SmackDown'', also known as ''Friday Night SmackDown'' or simply ''SmackDown'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE. It airs live every Friday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on USA Network in the United ...

'' where she assisted SmackDown General Manager

Nick Aldis Nicholas Harry Aldis (born 6 November 1986) is an English professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he is a producer and the on-screen general manager of the SmackDown brand. He is best known for his tenure in Total Nonstop Action Wres ...

with the

Royal Rumble The Royal Rumble is a professional wrestling event, produced annually since 1988 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. It is named after, and centered on, the Royal Rumble match, a modified Battle royal (professional wre ...

entry draw. At NXT Stand & Deliver on April 6, she announced the creation of the

NXT Women's North American Championship The NXT Women's North American Championship is a professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It is the secondary women's championship of the company's development brand, NXT. Established on April 6, 20 ...

as the equivalent to its male counterpart, making the title the first women's secondary championship in WWE. On the March 5, 2025 episode of '' Evolve'', Michaels announced that Ava will be in charge to direct the newly revived Evolve brand. Three weeks later, Ava announced that

Stevie Turner Lucy Bridge (born 15 December 1996) is an English professional wrestler. She is signed to WWE, where she serves as the on-screen co-assistant general manager of the NXT brand and the on-screen general manager of the Evolve brand under the ring ...

, her co-Assistant General Manager of NXT, will take on an additional role as the new General Manager of Evolve.

References

External links

* * {{Dwayne Johnson 2001 births 21st-century female professional wrestlers 21st-century American professional wrestlers American female professional wrestlers American professional wrestlers of Samoan descent American people of Samoan descent American people of Black Nova Scotian descent American people of Cuban descent Anoaʻi family Female models from Florida Living people LGBTQ professional wrestlers LGBTQ people from Florida People from Davie, Florida Professional wrestling authority figures Professional wrestling managers and valets NSU University School alumni Professional wrestlers from Florida 21st-century American sportswomen