Ava didn’t impress 21-time WWE champion

Ava has failed to impress a 21-time WWE champion. The Rock’s daughter left WWE last week after announcing that she chose not to renew her contract bringing an end to her six-year stay with the company.

After joining NXT in 2022, she appeared on programming with the Schism. She wrestled a few matches but after the faction disbanded, she transitioned into the role of the on-screen authority figure.

She became the NXT GM in January 2024 and held the role till last week. However, fans often questioned her appearance on the shows and called her out for a bland character.

Former 21-time WWE Hardcore Champion Stevie Richards criticized Ava‘s run in the company. Speaking on The Stevie Richards Show, he said her character was vanilla. He said he could hardly recall anything memorable from her time as NXT GM.

“It was a pretty vanilla character. Did she really do anything? Anytime I tuned in NXT and it wasn’t very often and she was there. The only time I think that she grabbed any kind of attention in the backstage pretape which was I think Gorilla position was Ethan Page and she was there with her dad. That was about the only memorable type thing right there that I could recall,” he said.

He said it is a shame that Ava didn’t succeed as a wrestler because WWE would’ve seen it as a money making opportunity given that she is The Rock’s daughter and a fourth generation.

“But quite frankly, it doesn’t matter if she got in there and she performed. No matter what gets you in there when you’re there, that’s where she fell flat. She didn’t succeed as a wrestler at all. And as a GM, she never stood out. In other words, she stayed in NXT just because probably to keep The Rock happy,” he added.

Jim Cornette called Ava a “nepo hire”

Jim Cornette wasn’t also convinced by Ava’s WWE run. During the episode 618 of the Jim Cornette Experience, the legendary manager questioned her spot on WWE TV.

He said Ava had no business being on a wrestling show and said that she was obviously a “nepo hire.”

Cornette also mentioned it was not fair on Ava that she was put in this position due to being The Rock‘s daughter.

If you use quotes from this article, please credit The Stevie Richards Show, and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.