Rob Gronkowski Confirmed for March 20 WWE SmackDown amid Contract Rumors

WWE wrestler Mojo Rawley announced on SmackDown Friday that former New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski will be making an appearance on next week's edition of the show:

The news comes after a report from Ryan Satin on Tuesday's edition on WWE Backstage in which he said the ex-Patriot was "deep in talks with WWE and close to finalizing a deal."

Satin said it was possible Gronkowski showed up for WWE SmackDown on March 20, and that news is now official.

Rawley noted that "nothing is officially signed" but that Gronk will be "talking about everything that's on his mind."

Rawley and Gronkowski have history, as the three-time Super Bowl champion helped his friend win the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal during the WrestleMania 33 pre-show in 2017 by attacking Jinder Mahal.

Rawley hinted as the possibility of Gronkowski joining WWE in an interview with TMZ Sports last March.

"He's always been a wrestling fan," Rawley said. "... In the future, I'm sure at some point you'll see him inside a WWE ring in one capacity or another."

Gronkowski himself said he'd like to appear on WWE programming but didn't seem interested in a full-time wrestling career, per comments to Brent Brookhouse of CBS Sports:

"With wrestling, I don't feel like I would be a full-time wrestler, but there is one thing I'm down for. And that's to do one crazy match. Practice it for a little bit, go out there, like in a Royal Rumble, go out there, I got my friend in WWE [Rawley], practice it and do a full-on WWE match. I'm not saying when. Maybe five years. I got the rest of my life to do that. I've always dreamed about doing that, just one time, going in there and going full out. That may be a possibility, one time, down the road."

While it's unclear if Gronkowski will be wrestling, what is clear is that the ex-NFL star will be appearing on SmackDown for at least one day.