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Topics: Sport, Dwayne Johnson, WWE, Wrestling
Emily Brown
Dwayne Johnson's daughter Simone made history this weekend as she followed in her father's footsteps with a live WWE event debut.
The Rock's WWE legacy has lived on for years after he made his own debut in the 1996 Survivor Series, with the wrestler having wracked up eight WWE Championships before he became more involved with his acting career.
Johnson himself made history when he became the first third-generation Superstar in WWE history, but now his 20-year-old daughter has a record of her own as she became WWE's first ever fourth-generation star.
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The tradition began with Johnson's grandfather Peter Maivia, who began wrestling in the 1960s as Prince Peter Maivia before becoming known as the High Chief.
Maivia's son, Rocky Johnson, then took up the sport and became a WWE Hall of Famer, paving the way for his son, Johnson, to become known as The Rock.
Simone's first live event debut was not televised, but took place on Saturday (9 July) when she appeared with the pro wrestling name Ava Raine. The 20-year-old is said to have referred to herself as the Final Girl, a name also used on her Twitter bio, and trash-talked other competitors at the event.
Her debut comes after she signed with WWE in 2020, saying at the time the opportunity 'means the world' to her.
She continued: "To know that my family has such a personal connection to wrestling is really special to me and I feel grateful to have the opportunity, not only to wrestle, but to carry on that legacy."
Johnson himself has expressed pride in watching his daughter carry on the traditions of himself and his father and grandfather, with a post shared on social media congratulating Simon on getting involved with WWE.
He wrote: "Dreams ain’t just for dreamers. Congrats to my #1 born, Simone Johnson on officially signing her wrestling contract with @wwe @wwenxt and on her way to becoming the first ever 4th generation WWE athlete.
"Carry our family name proudly, but your road will always be yours to create, earn & own. So proud. Live your dream. Let’s work."
Simone has previously discussed her decision not to use her family name when performing with WWE, with a post on Twitter pointing out she would likely be criticised whether she used it or not.
The 20-year-old wrote: "I probably sound like a broken record and hopefully this is the last I’ll mention this, but I don’t understand why people being portrayed as separate individuals from their family name is such a heated topic.
"A name doesn’t discredit any prior accomplishments from any family.”
Though Simone is yet to perform on TV, it's likely only a matter of time before fans see her in action.
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