Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson attended the London premiere of his biographical sports drama The Smashing Machine on Wednesday, Sept. 24, where he was joined by a very special guest.
Appearing on the red carpet alongside her famous dad was Johnson’s 24-year-old daughter, Simone Johnson, who goes by the WWE ring name Ava Raine.
The 53-year-old looked dapper in a dark blue slim-fitting suit with a white, unbuttoned shirt underneath, while Simone dazzled in a black strapless gown with embroidered flowers, which she paired with a choker-style necklace and magenta eyeshadow.
Simone officially began her training with the WWE in early 2020, making her the first fourth-generation wrestler to sign with the wrestling promotion. In addition to her father, the 24-year-old is preceded by her grandfather, Rocky “Soul Man” Johnson and her great-grandfather, Prince Peter Maivia.
During a May 2020 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Johnson was every bit the proud papa when discussing his daughter’s professional wresting career. However, the Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle star wanted to make it clear that Simone isn’t simply following in the family footsteps.
“She signed her contract with the WWE and you know, it just blows my mind,” Johnson said, when Fallon congratulated him on Simone’s achievement. “I mean, first of all, what an honor that my daughter wants to follow in my footsteps, but more importantly ‘follow in my footsteps’ sounds cliché. She actually wants to create and blaze her own path, which is just so important.”
“And she ended up being the youngest signee in the history of the company—by the way, so she’s 18 today—at 16, she was working her ass off quietly under the radar, in the ring, getting thrown around, and you know, all the bumps and bruises that go with pro wrestling,” he continued. “And she hung in there and I’m very, very proud of her.”
In addition to her involvement in the WWE, Simone also serves as the on-screen general manager of the WWE NXT brand. In other words, her dad has plenty of reason to be proud of her.
Johnson shares Simone with his ex-wife, Dany Garcia. He likewise has two younger daughters, Jasmine and Tiana, with his current wife Lauren Hashian, whom he married in Hawaii in 2019.
While it’s unclear whether his younger daughters will eventually get into wrestling, they’ve already had a brush with fame as they both provided voices for his 2024 film, Moana 2.
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