Cody Rhodes right after winning the 2023 Men’s Royal Rumble announced then-Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Romans as his WrestleMania 40 opponent. In a shocking turn of events, he then stepped aside notion that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will instead challenge The OTC’s main event.
The move led to a massive online uproar, with fans overwhelmingly supporting Rhodes and admonishing The Rock. The Rock’s daughter, Simone Johnson, even found herself in the feud.
According to Simone, she first heard of the protest while sitting backstage at the WWE NXT Vengeance Day 2024 live premium event, which took place just two days after The Rock appeared to replace Rhodes. Less than two weeks before that, WWE had Simone (also known as Ava) has been named the new GM of the NXT screen as well as
“Dad’s back. You guys shook hands, he took your place,” Simon recalled “What do you want to talk about?“It was Friday. That Sunday was the NXT pay-per-view, Day of Vengeance. I remember it was the first time there was WWE programming since that Friday Night SmackDown. I will never forget this. I was sitting in my makeup… I finished my makeup and Johnny Russo, our head writer, came up to me and said, “Hey, can I just talk to you for a minute?” I said “Sure.” I think I hadn’t shot the promo I was doing that day, or we were going to shoot. He used to say: “Hey, just so you know, when we play your promo, please don’t be surprised if you get yelled at.” I was like, “Okay.” I can understand that.”
Simone’s reaction to The Boos changed over time
Unsurprisingly, the audience did welcome Simone’s appearance on Day of Revenge with a series of boos. His reaction to it, however, changed over time.
“It really happened. All the hate happened online. That day it changed the way I looked at fans in general and just changed the way I looked at the business of wrestling,” Simone said. “For a while I thought about it in a very negative way. It was pretty negative at the time. Then I think in a way I’m incredibly grateful that it happened because it made me double down and be a lot more sure about what I was doing and why I was doing it.
“It made me realize that all these outside factors can happen and anyone can have an opinion about who I am or something my dad did,” she continued. “It made me a little selfish about my journey and what I was doing, but I think it was necessary.”
Due to the overwhelming negative response to his booking decision, The WWE creative team later returned to the Rhodes-Raines program. Rhodes confirmed as such At the WrestleMania 40 press conference in Las Vegas, when he told Reigns and the world that he would challenge The Tribe for his title at the big PLE. Along the way, The Rock stayed involved in the storyline, most notably turning around and siding with Reigns.
Meanwhile, Simon settled into his new role as General Manager of NXT. He eventually In January 2026, left the brand and WWE altogether.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, write “What Do You Wanna Talk About” ah/t Wrestling Inc. for a transcript.
