If you ever needed an example of how passionate pro-wrestling fans can be, look no further.
Following a controversial move by Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson amid his return to WWE, his daughter has spoken out about allegedly receiving death threats from fans.
For those unaware, Simone Johnson is also a signed performer in the WWE, currently acting as the on-screen general manager for the company's developmental brand, NXT.
The 22-year-old performs under the ring name Ava, and followed in her father's footsteps by picking up her first in-ring victory back in June 2023.
However, tensions have recently spilled out of the ring after her father - a former 10-time world champion - recently returned to WWE TV to announce his intentions of challenging current Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns (Rock's real-life cousin) to a headline match at WrestleMania 40 in April.
Although this would be a dream match for many WWE fans, it is a case of "right match at the wrong time" for Dwayne, as many viewers had hoped to see popular star Cody Rhodes headline the biggest event of the year against Reigns. (Honestly, if you don't follow WWE, trying to convey the backlash in words is no easy task.)
Essentially, part of Reigns' ongoing storyline has been that he is the 'Head of the Table' for his famous wrestling family, and he has reigned with the world championship for over 1300 days to prove it. And after Rhodes won the 2024 men's Royal Rumble match - which would guarantee him a title match of his choosing - it seemed set in stone that he would target Reigns and the two stars would have a rematch from last year's WrestleMania main event.
A victory for Cody in April would have seen Roman's now-stale title reign come to an end and see Rhodes finally "finish the story" and win the title his father never could. Sounds great, right?
Enter Dwayne.
As well as recently being granted full ownership of 'The Rock' name and being appointed to the board of the TKO Group - the company that owns both the WWE and UFC - the 51-year-old 'People's Champ' returned to SmackDown on Friday and seemingly challenged Roman - after Rhodes announced that he would not be challenging for Reigns' title.
The result? The hashtag #WeWantCody has been trending on social media for days, Rock's Instagram posts have been flooded with comments slating the booking decision, and the WWE YouTube video of Johnson's return was the most-disliked video in the channel's history. Oh, and last night on Monday Night Raw, the crowd loudly chanted "Rocky Sucks".
However, it looks like some fans have gone way too far in their vitriol over the storyline change.
Ava recently took to X to address the backlash she has been receiving, writing: "Can ya'll just leave me out of this ffs I'm busy running a SHOW". She then tweeted: "Death threats over a situation I have nothing to do with ... bffr [be f***ing for real]".
It's great to be passionate about something you love, but clearly some fans have crossed a line. There's never a need to send anybody death threats, let alone an individual who has nothing to do with the decisions that are playing out on-screen.
That being said, we'll just have to wait and see how WWE and The Rock responds to this heated backlash.
