Cody Rhodes has revealed an intriguing storyline idea he considered involving Ava during his feud with her father, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
Ava, real name Simone Johnson, served as NXT General Manager from January 2024 until January 2026. During an appearance on Rhodes’ podcast, the two discussed The Rock’s storyline demand for Cody’s “soul” and an alternative direction Rhodes envisioned for the angle.
Rather than giving his soul to The Rock, Rhodes thought it would have been entertaining to give it to Ava instead. His idea would have also seen Ava become his voice, with Rhodes no longer speaking for himself.
The two recalled:
Cody: “When he asked me for my soul, I thought, you know, what would have been funny is to relent and give my soul, but not to him. And this is at the time when you were the NXT General Manager, too. And I thought, ‘That’s got legs.’ I’ll never say a word again. She’ll speak.”
Simone: “I think we would have crushed that. I would have loved to have done that.”
Cody: “How would he have felt?”
Simone: “I think he would have been all for it. Absolutely.”
Cody: “I can’t believe you never told him.”
Simone: “I don’t think it ever came up because I think he was, you know, beating you up, asking you for your soul. I don’t think I knew he was coming back that day. Like, I had no context of what the promo would be. And then I just saw it, and I was like, ‘Well, soul is crazy.’”
Cody: “I think we might have had something. Who knows? We might still have something. You never know. But I thought such a fun spin. My soul goes to you and we would’ve wreaked havoc. Sold out every night. That was our idea. It never happened.”
Ava said she believed her father would have supported the idea, although she never discussed it with him at the time.
While the storyline never made it to WWE television, Rhodes notably left the door open to potentially doing something with Ava in the future, remarking that they “might still have something.”
