The Rock tears up as he reveals the truth about Ava's WWE career

The Rock recently teared up while talking about his daughter, Ava's, WWE career. Ava, whose real name is Simone Johnson, signed with WWE in 2020 and made her debut on NXT two years later.

Currently, she serves as the on-screen General Manager on NXT and has embraced the role. During an interview with MTV UK at the special screening of The Smashing Machine, The Rock was asked how proud he was of his daughter.

The Brahma Bull said he was very proud of Ava before tearing up and taking a pause. He then revealed why he felt that way.

"I grew up in wrestling, she was born into it too, just like I was and when she said, 'I wanna do what you do'...but the difference is, it's why I get emotional, she's like, 'I wanna do what you do, but I wanna carve my own path.' That's a difference," he said.

The decorated WWE star then said that this was a "big deal" when he heard it.

"You know it's easy for any kid who wants to come up and do what their parents are doing maybe it's not overt, but to utilize the influence. It never happened, I never got that call. Like, 'Hey could you call someone?' I never got that call, and that's the truth, and that's the thing that makes me proud," he added.

You can watch the video below:

There have been accusations against Ava that she used her father's influence to kickstart her career in WWE. But according to The Great One, that was never the case, as she wanted to blaze her own trail.

The Rock's last WWE appearance

The Rock was a big part of WWE's programming last year heading into WrestleMania XL. He even teamed up with Roman Reigns to compete in a tag team match on the Show of Shows against Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins.

Then, earlier this year, he appeared at Elimination Chamber and oversaw John Cena's heel turn while beating down Rhodes. It was expected that he would again play a big role at WrestleMania and in the overall story of Cena being a heel.

However, the WWE icon didn't show up at WrestleMania 41 and has been away from TV since then. With him recently shedding weight for a new Hollywood role, it remains to be seen whether fans will get to see The Rock in WWE anytime soon.

If you use quotes from this article, please credit MTV UK and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.

About the author

Sherjeel Malik is a writer at Sportskeeda and covers pro wrestling. He was hooked on the product from the moment he saw The Hardy Boyz jumping off ladders during the Attitude Era. While he comes from an engineering background, Sherjeel’s love for pro wrestling and content writing led him to pursue a career in sports journalism. Before assuming his current role at Sportskeeda, Sherjeel worked at other reputable organizations for five years.

While writing articles, he ensures that he only relies on credible sources for information and covers relevant subjects that do not project an agenda against a particular person or association. WWE legend Paul Heyman once shared Sherjeel’s work on his social media handle.

Sherjeel’s earliest memory of pro wrestling is watching Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Undertaker square off for the WWE Title in the main event of a pay-per-view in 1998. His favorite wrestlers are Randy Orton and Jeff Hardy. While he admires Orton for his character work as a heel, he looks up to Jeff because of his unique wrestling style and risk-taking ability.

If he could go back to the Attitude Era, Sherjeel would like to manage Ken Shamrock and be his mouthpiece. He feels Shamrock’s promo skills prevented him from becoming a main event-level act in WWE. Hence, he would like to help the UFC Hall of Famer get over with fans.

When not writing about pro wrestling, he likes to read classics and fiction books.

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Edited by Sherjeel Malik