Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson teared up during an interview promoting his new movie The Smashing Machine while speaking to MTV UK regarding his daughter’s WWE journey.
With the NXT GM by his side, he said he’s so proud of her, before he had to take a step back to contain his emotions.
“I am so proud of her. Because it’s what I did, you know? And I love what I did. And I love wrestling, I grew up in wrestling…she was born into it too, just like I was,” Johnson explained.
He said that the fact that she wanted to do what he did but with a difference that she wanted to carve her own path without having his influence behind it, is what makes it a big deal for him and what makes him emotional.
“Because it’s easy, I think…for any kid who wants to come up and do what their parents are doing to, maybe it’s not overt, but to utilize the influence,” Johnson continued. “I’m telling you, it never happened. I never got that call. Like, ‘Hey, can you call someone?’ I never got that call, and that’s the truth.”
Johnson said that had he got that call, he would have been there and he would have made that call, but when he didn’t get it, it gave him a sense of pride because he knows he and her mom raised an amazing human being.
Ava, real name Simone Johnson, started on NXT television in late 2022 as part of The Schism faction and eventually transitioned to an on-screen assistant to Shawn Michaels and then NXT General Manager.
Colin Vassallo has been editor of Wrestling-Online since 1996