Simone Johnson has opened up about her decision to leave WWE, revealing she spent around a year considering her future before deciding she needed a new opportunity to grow.

Johnson, who appeared as NXT General Manager Ava, departed in January. Speaking with Cody Rhodes on What Do You Wanna Talk About, she admitted walking away was far from easy.

“Incredibly,” she said. “It was something that I had been thinking about for, I think, about a year prior. And I knew that my contract was up in February, and a couple of things had been happening. There’s a lot of different reasons why I chose to leave, and it was incredibly hard.”

While Johnson did not explain each of those reasons, she made it clear that personal growth played a major part.

“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,” Johnson said. “And I’m incredibly grateful for my time there. I would not change it for the world. But I knew I needed to do something else. I need to learn and grow and see what’s on the other side.”

Rhodes, who left WWE in 2016 before eventually returning, offered his perspective on making such a personal decision when family ties run deep in wrestling.

“Family is going to tell you their experience. This is your experience,” he said.

Johnson is now exploring a different side of entertainment at Seven Bucks Productions, the company founded by her parents, Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia. Her new role gives her the chance to learn how projects take shape behind the scenes.

“My official title is Junior Executive, I believe. Which is a fancy way to say that I get to read scripts and take notes and sit in on so many meetings with incredible writers and producers and directors, and I feel so lucky,” she said. “There’s so much that I thought I knew about the entertainment industry, and then getting to learn so much more has been so eye opening. They’re not lying when they say making a movie is the hardest thing in the world.”

For Johnson, the biggest reward is the experience she gains from the people around her.

“Every time that I get to sit in on a meeting, whether it’s an internal meeting at Seven Bucks or we’re taking meetings with other directors or producers, I always feel like I learn so much,” Johnson said. “I leave those meetings and I’m like, okay, where do we go from this, or what does this look like now.”

Johnson joined WWE in February 2020 as its first fourth-generation wrestler. She made her television debut in 2022 as Ava Raine alongside Joe Gacy’s Schism faction, before becoming NXT General Manager in January 2024. Her responsibilities later expanded to include the revived Evolve brand in March 2025.

She confirmed her departure on Instagram in January, explaining that she had chosen not to renew her contract. Robert Stone subsequently stepped into the role of interim NXT General Manager.

During an earlier appearance on The Downside with Gianmarco Soresi in June, Johnson said her exit came down to several factors and that she had no regrets. Her conversation with Rhodes offers a clearer picture of how long she considered the move and what she hoped to find beyond WWE.

For now, Johnson appears to be enjoying the opportunity to learn away from the weekly television spotlight.