Shawn Michaels: Ava Raine Is Getting Comfortable And Having Fun

Shawn Michaels discusses the progress of Ava Raine. 

Ava Raine is the daughter of The Rock, but didn’t use her real name Simone Johnson upon appearing on NXT television. Instead, she aligned herself with Joe Gacy and Schism (Jagger Reid & Rip Fowler) as he new family. 

Speaking on the NXT Deadline media call, Michaels was asked for his thoughts on how Raine has been doing since she made her TV debut on the October 25 episode of NXT.

“From a character standpoint, she’s been a huge ‘kick in the shorts’ for the Schism and I think she’s doing fantastic. We were just talking about it the other day. Her facials, she looks fantastic, she’s really getting comfortable, and that’s the most important thing. She’s really beginning to get into this character and enjoying the process. From an in-ring standpoint, I would have to ask one of the coaches on that. With everybody, she’s developing and working at an absolutely great pace. I always go back to the ‘no news is good news’ and from every report that I read, it’s fantastic and successful. For us, it’s very exciting to have her plugged into the Schism and for her to be enjoying that role, getting comfortable, looking natural, it’s not looking difficult for her to do. She doesn’t seem to be struggling. I think she’s really gaining confidence as well, and that’s so important to this. We are very excited for her and her development. The biggest thing for us is she’s having some fun. We always want to do our jobs and do it well, at the same time, this is a very young group and I’d really love for them to enjoy it and have fun while they’re doing it because I think that makes this job a lot easier to do. It’s a pretty tough gig and it’s a lot easier to do if you’re enjoying the entire process, and she’s definitely doing that,” said Michaels. 

Raine has yet to make her in-ring debut on television. 

Gacy will be in action at NXT Deadline as he competes in the Iron Survivor Challenge against Carmelo Hayes, JD McDonagh, Grayson Waller, and Axiom. Fightful will have live coverage of the event beginning at 8 p.m. ET. 

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