WWE had major plans for Rob Gronkowski before the perennial Pro Bowler and superstar tight end decided to reunite with Tom Brady in Tampa Bay.
In 2020, WWE announced that they had signed Gronkowski to a contract. He was the host for WrestleMania 36 weekend (the event was taped before airing because of the COVID-19 pandemic), and the four-time Super Bowl Champion even held the WWE 24/7 Championship for two months.
But two weeks after WrestleMania, Gronkowski ended his football retirement and orchestrated a trade to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Gronk wanted to reunite with Brady, who had signed with Tampa Bay as a free agent one month earlier.
According to one of Gronkowski’s closest friends, former WWE superstar Mojo Rawley, WWE had major plans for the two at the major SummerSlam 2020 event. The show was scheduled to take place in Boston, Massachusetts before the pandemic canceled those plans.
Rawley detailed the plans WWE had for Gronkowski before his return to football during an interview with Steve Fall from WrestlingNews.Co on “The 10 Count”” (h/t WrestlingInc.com):
“The plan was to do a tag match with me and him at SummerSlam because it was in Boston that year. Man, that would have been ridiculous!”
From Boston, I think I was going to turn on him and I think we were going to have the one-on-one No DQ match in Saudi Arabia, where my dad’s whole side of the family lives.”
You can watch Rawley’s full interview in the video below.
Click on ‘Follow Us’ and get notified of the most viral NFL stories via Google! Follow Us
Gronkowski’s return to the NFL certainly proved to be worthwhile. He and Brady helped the Buccaneers to a Super Bowl 55 championship in the 2020 season, with Gronk even catching two touchdowns in the big game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Despite missing five games in 2021, Gronkowski had another strong statistical season by racking up 55 catches for 802 yards and six touchdowns. Tampa Bay went on to win their first NFC South division title in 14 years, but they were eliminated by the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Divisional Round.
After mulling over his options, Gronkowski retired a second time in June. As for the 45-year-old Brady, he’s in the final season of his contract with the Buccaneers. He has not yet revealed if he plans to play in 2023 or simply call it quits.
