Dana Brooke Weighs In On Ava Raine's WWE Debut

Dana Brooke has some advice for a newly debuted "WWE NXT" Superstar. On October 25, Ava Raine officially made her onscreen arrival to "NXT," unmasking herself to reveal her alliance with Joe Gacy's Schism stable. Real-life daughter to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Raine enters WWE programming to much fanfare as a fourth-generation talent. However, current 24/7 Champion Dana Brooke believes Raine — real name Simone Johnson — should plot her own course in WWE.

"I actually knew her before she came into wrestling and she was the sweetest, sweetest, sweetest thing, and she always just wanted to wrestle," Brooke told Steve Fall of NBC Sports Boston. "Yes, it's great to have the advantage of being The Rock's daughter, but I could feel that hunger that she just wanted to do something and do it on her own." Brooke continued on to note that since Raine grew up around professional wrestling and "was involved in the business always," that it perhaps "encouraged her to get into wrestling" herself. "I feel like she needs to create her own path and just not follow in her father's footsteps," she said. Similar to former "SmackDown" Women's Champion Charlotte Flair — daughter of "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair — Brooke believes that "we shouldn't follow in someone else's footsteps."

"Charlotte Flair wanted to be her own. She wanted to come out and showcase that she's not Ric Flair's daughter. She's Charlotte Flair. Same thing with her (Ava)," Brooke said. Raine first signed with the company in February 2020, under her real name. After recovering from knee surgery, Johnson's ring-name officially changed to Ava Raine earlier this year.