Ava has reflected on one of the most volatile fan reactions surrounding WWE’s road to WrestleMania XL, explaining how the backlash connected to her father, The Rock, initially taking Cody Rhodes’ place affected her perspective on both the audience and her career.
The situation unfolded in early 2024 after Rhodes won the Men’s Royal Rumble match, seemingly securing another opportunity to challenge Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Championship. Rhodes had fallen short against Reigns at WrestleMania 39, and his Royal Rumble victory was widely viewed as the next step in the story of him attempting to finish his journey to the top of WWE.
Instead, a SmackDown segment saw Rhodes step aside and tell Reigns that he would not be coming for him at WrestleMania XL. The Rock then confronted Reigns and shook Rhodes’ hand, positioning himself for a match with his cousin. The immediate reaction was enormous. Fans who had spent much of the previous year invested in Rhodes’ chase voiced their displeasure across social media and in WWE arenas, with “We Want Cody” quickly becoming a prominent rallying cry.
The plans ultimately changed. Rhodes did face Reigns in the main event of WrestleMania XL, defeating him in the Bloodline Rules match to win the Undisputed WWE Championship. Before that resolution arrived, however, the reaction extended beyond the performers directly involved in the WrestleMania storyline.
For more background on this topic, read Mason Rook Wins Triple Threat to Earn WWE NXT Championship Opportunity.
Ava, whose real name is Simone Johnson and who is The Rock’s daughter, was serving as NXT General Manager at the time. She became the first member of her family to appear on WWE programming after the controversial SmackDown segment. NXT Vengeance Day took place that Sunday, and Ava has recalled being warned before one of her on-screen appearances that the live crowd might react negatively to her because of what had happened two days earlier.
Speaking with Rhodes on What Do You Want To Talk About?, Ava described the sequence of events and the difficult realization that came with it.
“Dad 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.’”
Ava said she understood why the audience could respond that way in the building. The larger wave of hostility online, though, made the moment more complicated. She was not the person who made the WrestleMania decision, nor was she involved in the central Reigns-Rhodes-Rock storyline as an on-screen character. Yet her association with The Rock made her a target for fans who were frustrated by the apparent detour from Rhodes’ long-awaited championship opportunity.
“Okay. I can understand that,” Ava said. “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.”
The incident illustrated the intensity of modern WWE fan engagement, particularly when a story connects with a performer’s real career history. Rhodes’ pursuit of the championship carried years of narrative weight. His return to WWE in 2022, his loss to Reigns at WrestleMania 39, his recovery from adversity, and his 2024 Royal Rumble victory had all contributed to widespread belief that WrestleMania XL was meant to be the culmination of that arc.
When The Rock appeared to take that spot, many fans treated it not simply as a standard storyline development but as a disruption of an emotional payoff they believed Rhodes had earned. That passion soon helped reshape WWE’s direction. The eventual WrestleMania build incorporated the audience reaction, with Rhodes reasserting his claim to challenge Reigns and The Rock embracing a villainous role alongside The Bloodline.
For Ava, however, the personal impact arrived before the revised direction had fully played out. As a member of one of wrestling’s most famous families, she has long existed under a unique spotlight. Her path in WWE has included training as an in-ring talent before moving into the authority-figure position of NXT General Manager. That role has made her a regular presence on NXT television, responsible for presenting matches, addressing roster issues, and presiding over major developments within the brand.
The Vengeance Day reaction reminded her that audiences can bring real-world associations into their responses to a character, especially in an era when fan discussion moves rapidly from television to social platforms. Ava said the experience forced her to think more deeply about where she fit in the industry and what she wanted from her own journey.
“In a way, I’m incredibly grateful that it happened because it kind of made me double down and made me more confident in what I was doing and why I was doing it,” Ava said. “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. That Vengeance Day pay-per-view changed so much about how I thought about wrestling and my journey and my place.”
That distinction is especially significant for a talent whose surname naturally invites comparisons and assumptions. The Rock’s legacy is unmatched: he is a multi-time WWE Champion, a central figure in the history of the company, and one of the most recognizable names to emerge from professional wrestling. Ava also belongs to the broader Anoa’i family, whose influence has been central to WWE for generations.
At the same time, Ava’s WWE role has been separate from her father’s headline programs. Her position in NXT requires her to establish a television identity with its own responsibilities and relationships, while her career decisions and performances are naturally examined through the lens of her family connections. Her comments indicate that the Vengeance Day experience pushed her to place greater emphasis on that individual identity rather than allowing outside conversation to define her purpose.
The WrestleMania XL outcome ultimately delivered the conclusion many fans had wanted. Rhodes defeated Reigns to end his historic championship reign and capture the Undisputed WWE Championship. The match featured the expected chaos of Bloodline Rules, as well as appearances from several figures connected to Rhodes’ WWE story. The Rock was also a key factor during the closing stretch, adding another chapter to his rivalry with Rhodes and the changing dynamics of The Bloodline.
In the aftermath, Rhodes’ victory became one of WWE’s defining moments of 2024. It also demonstrated how quickly the landscape can shift when fan reaction becomes impossible to ignore. The “We Want Cody” response did not merely remain an online trend; it became a vocal part of the television presentation and, eventually, a crucial ingredient in the final WrestleMania narrative.
Ava’s recollection offers a different view of that period. While the broader story is remembered for Rhodes’ eventual triumph and The Rock’s return to a major WWE program, she experienced the initial backlash from a more personal position. Her appearance at Vengeance Day became a moment in which the anger directed at the storyline reached someone outside its central conflict.
Rather than allowing that response to permanently sour her on the industry, Ava now sees value in the challenge. She acknowledged that the period was negative and changed her view of fans for a time. But she also believes it encouraged a necessary sense of independence, making her more determined to concentrate on what she is building in WWE.
For Ava, Vengeance Day 2024 was therefore more than an NXT premium live event held during an unusually turbulent WrestleMania season. It was a turning point in how she approached her place in wrestling: aware of the attention that comes with her family name, but more resolved to pursue a career defined by her own work and direction.
Darryl Polo
Darryl Polo is a passionate wrestling fan covering WWE, AEW, TNA and beyond. He loves great rivalries, breakout stars and the moments that keep fans talking long after the bell. How we work.