On one of the more surreal nights in WWE history Friday, there was some “real” news out of SmackDown.
The show was broadcast on FOX in its usual time slot. What was atypical was the matches took place before an empty WWE Performance Center in Orlando, FL, necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic.
So, WWE’s Superstars went through their matches and promos for two hours as if nothing was missing despite the absence of the WWE Universe for a card slated to be held in Detroit.
The news that came out of the show is former New England Patriots star tight end Rob Gronkowski will appear on the March 20 edition of the show. It is scheduled for New Orleans, however, it could also take place in the Performance Center if bans are not lifted.
Gronk’s friend Mojo Rawley made the announcement, though he would not go as far as saying Gronk had signed with WWE. Rawley said, “The rumors are true and Rob Gronkowski will be in the house next Friday. Get hyped, baby.”
Mojo Rawley confirms that @RobGronkowski will be on WWE SmackDown! next week 👀
(via @WWE)pic.twitter.com/LdDktIRH8Z
— B/R Wrestling (@BRWrestling) March 14, 2020
The news caught the eyes and ears of one of the nation’s top NFL insiders.
WWE’s Mojo Rawley confirms that Rob Gronkowski will appear on SmackDown next Friday night.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 14, 2020
Meanwhile, Vegas is getting on-board with the Gronk-WWE train, listing odds on who could be the FOX football analyst’s first opponent.