Credit: ABCDwayne Johnson is one of the most widely recognizable figures in the world today, and he has an image unlike any other.
Dwayne The Rock Johnson got his start in the WWF (now WWE) wrestling under the name “Rocky Mavia.” He later transitioned to the name “The Rock,” and the monicker has stuck with him ever since. The Rock would go on to have feuds with the likes of Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Undertaker, and Mick Foley before essentially hanging up his boots to pursue a Hollywood career.
His first full-length movie was none other than The Mummy Returns (2001), where he played the Scorpion King alongside Brendan Fraser. From there, the actor saw a spinoff, The Scorpion King (2002), the subsequent year, and his career was off and running. Since that point, Dwayne Johnson has gone on to star in numerous blockbusters, including the Jumanji franchise and Central Intelligence (2016) alongside his good friend Kevin Hart, the Fast & Furious franchise, San Andreas (2015), and many others.
Johnson’s success paved the way for other wrestlers– like John Cena and Dave Bautista– to make their way from sports entertainment to Hollywood, as well. But, recently, the news hasn’t been all perfect for Dwayne Johnson. He starred in Black Adam (2022) this past fall, and it seemed that there were plans for his character to be a major part of the DC Universe moving forward. That, unfortunately, was pulled. In addition, Johnson’s hit NBC sitcom, Young Rock, was not renewed, putting an end to the story in which he narrated.
In a recent report from Essentially Sports, we got a glimpse inside Johnson’s family life. His daughter Simone Johnson, also known through her ring name Ava Raine, has followed in her father’s footsteps. Though some say that The Rock didn’t necessarily want her to move forward with wrestling, she has quickly jumped up through the ranks and, at just 21 years old, is already on WWE’s NXT roster, which is the company’s developmental show.
Former WWE manager Dutch Mantell recently gave his opinion on Raine’s wrestling performance. He said that she is still developing, and will need some time. In addition, Mantell said that it would be several years before she would be considered for the main WWE roster, mostly because of the expectations that would come from her being The Rock’s daughter.
“I think Rock wouldn’t allow her to be on TV right now because it reflects poorly on him and the family,” he said. “Again, this is no knock on her. She is learning, and, in her own head, she may be saying she’d know a certain level of expertise is expected of her, and she knows she’s not there.”
Whatever the reason, the star is essentially trying to “lay low” and stay out of the limelight as she learns her craft. It’s unclear if she has imposed this ban on herself, or if this is coming from the higher-ups in WWE, or even her own father, but many have noted that it’s for her own good. There have been examples of wrestlers breaking into the business because of their father or grandfather, and not living up to the hype.
Instead, it seems that Simone Johnson (Ava Raine) is content with taking her time, continuing to train, and moving up the ladder slowly, rather than making a huge jump knowing how high the expectations will be. She won’t be “banned” from TV forever, and there’s no doubt that the plan is for her to one day be the next WWE superstar. For now, though, she’ll continue to learn from some of the best in the business and figure out how she can pay tribute to her family, while also building her own name and notoriety. For those who didn’t know, The Rock was actually a third-generation wrestler– his father was the great Rocky Johnson– making Simone Johnson a fourth-generation wrestler.
This past month, Dwayne Johnson announced that he’d be returning to his role as the shapeshifter demigod Maui for a live-action version of Moana. The movie is set to begin filming this October and is scheduled to be released in June 2025.
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