Simone Johnson has recalled being hated by fans after her father, The Rock, took Cody Rhodes’ spot at WrestleMania 40.
In the build-up to WrestleMania 40, Cody Rhodes won the 2024 Royal Rumble, seemingly setting him on a collision course with then Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns.
However, weeks before the event, on an episode of SmackDown, Rhodes agreed to allow The Rock to take that spot instead in a moment that angered fans who wanted to see the American Nightmare finish his story.
At the time, The Rock’s daughter, Simone Johnson, was appearing in WWE as Ava, the General Manager of NXT. With the developmental brand’s Vengeance Day PLE taking place following the change, fans directed their anger at Johnson.
During an appearance on What Do You Wanna Talk About?, Johnson recalled being warned that fans were likely to boo her promo that night.
“Dad came back, you guys shook hands, he took your spot, that was Friday. That Sunday was an NXT pay-per-view, Vengeance Day. I remember it was gonna be the first time there was WWE programming since that Friday Night SmackDown.
“Our head writer, Johnny Russo, came up to me and was like, ‘Can I talk to you for a minute?’ I don’t think I had filmed the promo that I was doing yet that day, we were about to film it. He was like, ‘Hey, just so you know, when we play your promo, please don’t be surprised if they boo you.’ I was like, ‘Okay,’ and I can understand that.”
The experience initially soured Johnson on wrestling fans, but she says it made her more confident in the longer term.
“That did happen. All of the hate online happened. That day, it changed the way that I looked at fans overall and changed the way that I looked at the wrestling business. For a while, I thought about it in a very negative way. It was quite negative at the time. In a way, I’m incredibly grateful that happened because it made me double down and made me much more confident in what I was doing and why I was doing it. All these external factors can happen, and everyone can have an opinion because of who I am or something that my dad has done.
“It made me be a little bit selfish in my journey and what I was doing, but I think it was necessary. That Vengeance Day pay-per-view changed so much about how I thought about wrestling and my journey and my place.”
Simone Johnson left WWE in January 2026 after six years with the promotion.
The Rock Unlikely To Appear At WrestleMania 43
With WrestleMania 43 taking place in Saudi Arabia in 2027, many fans thought The Rock could compete at the Showcase of the Immortals due to how lucrative WWE’s deal with the Kingdom has become in recent years.
However, it has been reported that the star’s filming schedule for Fast Forever, the final installment of the Fast & Furious franchise, will make it difficult for The Rock to train for a match at the event.
