{"id":184753,"date":"2026-01-30T16:48:58","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T22:48:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/?p=184753"},"modified":"2026-01-30T16:48:58","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T22:48:58","slug":"ava-announces-her-wwe-departure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/2026\/01\/30\/ava-announces-her-wwe-departure\/","title":{"rendered":"Ava announces her WWE departure"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"prowr-330676685\" class=\"prowr-apple-podcast-button-link prowr-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/pro-wrestling-boom-podcast\/id1365989370\" aria-label=\"SUBSCRIBE IN APPLE PODCASTS\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/prowrestling.net\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/advanced_ads\/2019\/07\/Logo2019_ApplePodcasts_320wide.png?fit=320%2C78&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"SUBSCRIBE IN APPLE PODCASTS\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/prowrestling.net\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/advanced_ads\/2019\/07\/Logo2019_ApplePodcasts_320wide.png?w=320&ssl=1 320w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/prowrestling.net\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/advanced_ads\/2019\/07\/Logo2019_ApplePodcasts_320wide.png?resize=300%2C73&ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 320px) 100vw, 320px\" width=\"320\" height=\"78\"   \/><\/a><\/div><p><b>By Jason Powell<\/b>, ProWrestling.net Editor (<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/prowrestlingnet\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@prowrestlingnet<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>NXT needs a new general manager. Ava (Simone Johnson) announced via social media that she has finished her run. &#8220;This past Tuesday was my last appearance on NXT and subsequently WWE,&#8221; she wrote on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DUJjZSmkii0\/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Instagram<\/a>. &#8220;Thank you to all who have cheered, watched, and supported me through my journey. While my decision to not renew my contract was very difficult, it&#8217;s also (a) new turning point in my life. It has been an honor and a privilege to be Ava.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Powell&#8217;s POV:<\/strong><\/span> Ava started as a wrestler in NXT and surprised everyone by joining The Schism faction in October 2022. She only wrestled six times before she played the part of Shawn Michaels&#8217; assistant, which led to her becoming the NXT General Manager in January 2024. Here&#8217;s wishing her the best going forward. William Regal strikes me as the most logical choice to replace her by taking back his old role, but perhaps the creative forces have something else in mind.<\/p>\n<p><i>(Jason Powell, founder and editor of ProWrestling.net, has covered pro wrestling full-time dating back to 1997. He hosts a weekly podcast, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spreaker.com\/podcast\/pro-wrestling-boom-podcast--3275525\">Pro Wrestling Boom<\/a>, and also appears regularly on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/category\/podcasts\/wade-keller-pro-wrestling-podcast\/\">Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast<\/a>. Reach him via email at <a href=\"mailto:dotnetjason@gmail.com\">dotnetjason@gmail.com<\/a> and on social media via <a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/prowrestlingnet.bsky.social\">@prowrestlingnet.bsky.social<\/a>\u00a0or <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/prowrestlingnet\">x.com\/prowrestlingnet<\/a>. For his full bio and information on this website, click <a href=\"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/about-us\/\">here<\/a>.)<\/i><\/p>\n<div id=\"prowr-2581727050\" class=\"prowr-after-content prowr-entity-placement\"><a class=\"spreaker-player\" href=\"https:\/\/www.spreaker.com\/show\/pwboom\" data-resource=\"show_id=3275525\" data-theme=\"light\" data-playlist=\"show\" data-width=\"100%\" data-height=\"340px\">Listen to \"Pro Wrestling Boom Podcast\" on Spreaker.<\/a><script async src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/widgets.js\"><\/script><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":182320,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4],"tags":[4814,37,2573,101],"class_list":["post-184753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsticker","category-wwe_news","tag-ava","tag-nxt","tag-simone-johnson","tag-wwe"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - 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