Former NFL tight end Rob Gronkowski surprised many when he announced his retirement from the NFL after the New England Patriots’ latest Super Bowl victory.
Once he announced that retirement, speculation began swirling that Gronk would end up with WWE at one point or another. Given his history with pro wrestling already, that speculation wasn’t completely out of the blue, and raised questions as to whether or not he should go back to wrestling now that he doesn’t have a football career to get in the way.
Gronkowski’s Wrestling Career So Far
One of the best tight ends in the history of the NFL, Gronkowski racked up 80 total touchdowns in his 115 career games with the New England Patriots. His retirement will have a significant impact on the Patriots’ future, as evidenced by NFL Super Bowl odds at Betway, which have Tom Brady at -200 odds to never reach another Super Bowl as of August 30, 2019, now that his top red zone target is gone for good.
But while most will remember Gronkowski as a football player above all else, wrestling fans will remember his moment at Wrestlemania in 2017 when he helped Mojo Rawley win the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. That moment, incidentally, sparked the memorable WWE Championship run for Jinder Mahal, with Gronkowski indirectly changing the course of WWE history by interfering in Wrestlemania’s battle royal.
Gronkowski was emotional about his decision to retire from football, with his love for competition making it difficult for him to walk away even if his health concerns made it a decision he knew he needed to make. But the way that he handled his professional career made it so he does not need to pursue additional work now that he is out of the NFL. Gronkowski didn’t spend any of his salary as a player, living off of endorsement money and other funds to avoid needing to work after his career ended. As a result, he doesn’t need wrestling or anything else. But that doesn’t mean that Gronkowski wouldn’t want to wrestle one day.
Never Saying Never
When asked about a potential career in wrestling, Gronkowski has said that he would love to do one crazy match, which could mean anything at any time. Given Gronkowski’s real-life friendship with the aforementioned Rawley, it is entirely possible that he could work with Rawley to boost his profile within WWE. Or, he could be placed into a special attraction match against one of the top draws in the company if he was ever to take part in another match.
Putting Gronkowski into a match would have to happen at one of the biggest shows of the year, such as Wrestlemania or Summerslam. As for his opponent, it would be interesting to see him take on a number of challengers, although if it wasn’t Rawley it would have to be a bona fide star on the roster that wasn’t occupied by a marquee match already. A multi-man match to protect him and avoid overexposure would make sense, although Gronk’s athleticism may make him above ploys like that.
No matter what ends up happening with Gronkowski, WWE has made it clear that the door is open for him to work with them. Stephanie McMahon has tweeted at Gronkowski stating as much, with the company being likely to take Gronkowski in whenever he wants to be a part of things given the eyeballs he could bring to the product. Given that WWE has previously done business with the likes of Floyd Mayweather, Maria Menounos, and Snooki, they have shown time and time again that they are not above working with sports and pop culture stars at the risk of impacting the product. But Gronkowski’s athletic ability and personality would alleviate any concerns of him dragging down stories he was involved in.
Rob Gronkowski just retired from the only career that he has ever known, so it would make sense that he took some time to figure out where he wanted to go from here. But Gronkowski would be perfect for professional wrestling, something that he has already proven in his Wrestlemania moment in 2017. If he became a part of WWE programming yet again, he could be looking at a spot in the WWE Hall of Fame.