Simone Johnson, daughter of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and former “WWE NXT” General Manager, as well as in-ring performer and member of The Schism, shocked fans who frequent the Performance Center when she announced her departure from WWE at the end of January.
According to Dave Meltzer at the time, the general consensus within the company was that Johnson “didn’t want to do it anymore.” On an episode of Cody Rhodes’ “What Do You Want to Talk About?” podcast, however, the star got to explain more about her decision in her own words. She called it incredibly difficult.
“It was something I had been thinking about for, I think about a year prior,” Johnson explained. “I knew that my contract was up in February. A couple things had been happening, there’s a lot of different reasons why I chose to leave, and it was incredibly hard. But, I felt like it was time. I really, really wanted to grow and I didn’t feel like I was in a position at WWE to where I could grow. I’m incredibly grateful for my time there, I would not change it for the world, but I just think I knew. I was like, ‘I need to do something else. I need to learn and grow and see what’s on the other side.'”
Earlier in the podcast, Johnson spoke about a time where she was booed by fans at “NXT” Vengeance Day, in the backlash regarding Rhodes nearly giving up his place at WrestleMania 40 to The Rock, and the storyline WWE wove around it. Johnson said that it changed the way she felt about her journey, and fans in general, for a while.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit “What Do You Want to Talk About?” and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
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