Simone Johnson didn’t leave WWE just to sit around and figure out her next move. The former NXT General Manager has already jumped into a completely different side of the entertainment business, and now she’s working directly alongside her parents, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Dany Garcia.
While appearing on Cody Rhodes’ What Do You Wanna Talk About?, Johnson opened up about life after WWE and revealed that she’s now working at Seven Bucks Productions. The career move comes after Johnson chose not to renew her WWE contract earlier this year, ending a run that saw her go from an in-ring performer to the youngest General Manager in WWE history. Johnson explained that leaving WWE has also given her a chance to work much more closely with her mother, Dany Garcia, something she says has already strengthened their relationship.
“Now that I’m not at WWE, I’m actually working much more closely with her. And one of my favorite things about having this new job is that it’s definitely brought me and my mom so much closer together and I’m spending so much more time with her and I love it.”
Johnson then revealed that she’s actually working for both of her parents now and has landed a junior executive position with Seven Bucks Productions.
“I work with both my parents now. So I work under Seven Bucks Productions now, and I think my official title is junior executive, I believe, which is just a fancy way to say that I get to read scripts and take notes and sit in on so many meetings with incredible writers and producers and directors, and I feel so lucky.”
This isn’t just Simone hanging around her dad’s production company either. She explained that she’s actively learning how projects are developed, reading scripts and getting an inside look at how major film and television productions actually come together.
“And there’s so much that I thought I knew about the entertainment industry, and then getting to learn so much more has been so eye-opening. And they’re not lying when they say making a movie is the hardest thing in the world. Truly.”
Cody pointed out that despite the “junior executive” title, Johnson is already doing legitimate executive work. She agreed and said every meeting gives her another chance to understand how Seven Bucks evaluates projects and makes creative decisions.
“Every time that I get to sit in on a meeting, whether it’s internal meeting at Seven Bucks, or we’re taking meetings with other directors or producers, I always feel like I learn so much. I leave those meetings and I’m like, okay, where do we go from this or what does this look like or now what does this look like?”
The move also gives a lot more context to Johnson recently admitting that she left WWE because she didn’t feel like she could continue growing there. She had been considering leaving for roughly a year before finally deciding not to renew her contract, and now it’s clear exactly where at least part of that next chapter has taken her.
Wrestling isn’t necessarily gone forever either. Johnson has also admitted that she still misses wrestling and wants to return to the ring once she gets several lingering injuries sorted out, meaning her new Hollywood job may not completely close the door on another run between the ropes.
For now, Simone Johnson has traded running NXT on television for reading scripts and sitting in production meetings with some major players in Hollywood. Walking away from WWE was a massive gamble, but instead of disappearing from the entertainment world, she went straight into learning the business from an entirely different side.
What do you think about Simone Johnson joining Seven Bucks Productions after leaving WWE, and would you rather see her continue down the Hollywood executive path or eventually get back into wrestling? Let us know what you think in the comments.
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