Simone Johnson Addresses Why She Quit WWE

Simone Johnson - who previously performed for WWE as Ava/Ava Raine - has explained why she decided to quit the organisation earlier this year.

Johnson told The Downside with Gianmarco Soresi:

"There wasn't one particular thing, unfortunately. It was like a lot of things and had been something that was on my mind for a while. And I am so grateful for my time at WWE. I wouldn't change it for the world. I got to live out the dream that [younger] me always wanted to. But I think it was just - it was time for something new. It was time for something different. And I really - I don't regret leaving, and I'm really happy now."

Ava, the daughter of The Rock, signed with WWE in 2020 and became the company's first fourth-generation wrestler. She was initially a wrestler on NXT before transitioning to an authority figure role as NXT general manager.

Johnson departed WWE in January 2026 after deciding not to renew her contract with the company, even turning down a pay rise as she simply decided now was the right time to leave WWE.

Johnson later addressed whether she wanted to remain in the public sphere following her WWE departure.

"I think to a certain degree, but I do feel like so much of my life was public for so long. I'm not sure if I would want to participate in entertainment in the scale that I did when I was at WWE. But I feel like I love the outlet that I have now of being able to like make cute travel vlogs and do that. Because obviously it's still public and being here [on the podcast] is still public, but it's just not to the same degree [as] at WWE," Johnson stated.

H/T F4WOnline