WWE news: Simone Johnson recalls catching flak after The Rock took Cody Rhodes' WrestleMania spot

A few years ago, Cody Rhodes almost missed out on finishing his story at WWE WrestleMania 40 . Despite winning his second Royal Rumble in a row, Rhodes was almost kicked out of his WrestleMania 40 spot against Roman Reigns when "The Rock" returned and seemingly hijacked it.

While Dwayne Johnson's WWE return was appreciated, fans were strongly against him taking Rhodes' hard-earned spot . Fans across the globe hijacked WWE's social media and let their frustrations known. However, the flak also spread to Johnson's daughter, Simone Johnson, aka Ava Raine, who also received major hate on her socials.

Recently appearing on Cody Rhodes' Cody on What Do You Want To Talk About? podcast, Johnson recalled the flak she received after her father potentially took "The American Nightmare's" chance of finishing his story . (via Fightful)

Watch sports LIVE with fuboTV (free trial)

"Dad [The Rock] came back; he shook your hand; he took your spot. That was Friday. That Sunday was a NXT pay-per-view, Vengeance Day. It was the first time there was WWE programming since that Friday. I will never forget this. I was sitting in makeup. I finished my makeup, and our head writer, Johnny Russo, came up to me and was like, 'Can I talk to you for a minute?' 'Sure.' I don't think I had filmed the promo that I was doing that day; we were about to film it.

"He was like, 'Just so you know, when we play your promo, please don't be surprised if they boo you.' 'Okay.' I can understand that. That did happen. All of the hate online happened. That day, it changed the way I looked at fans overall and changed the way that I looked at the wrestling business. For a while, I thought about it in a very negative way. It was quite negative at the time," she recalled.

However, despite receiving the hate, Johnson revealed that she was grateful that it happened, because it helped her become more confident. "All these external factors are happening, and everyone can have an opinion because of who I am or what my dad has done. It made me be a little selfish in my journey and what I was doing, but it was necessary," she added.

However, things later worked out, and Rhodes was able to finish his story against Reigns at WrestleMania 40, while "The Rock" main-evented WrestleMania 40 Night One.

Raine was a part of the WWE NXT roster from 2020 to 2026, where she worked as both an in-ring talent and the brand's general manager in her final reign. In Jan. 2026, Raine decided to not renew her WWE contract and willingly let it expire.