WWE Rumors: Rob Gronkowski Reportedly Had Backstage Heat Over Incident At ‘WrestleMania 36’ Rehearsals
On Tuesday, it was reported that Rob Gronkowski had officially left WWE after exercising the release clause in his contract, thus freeing him from any obligations with the company that might interfere with his NFL comeback. The latest rumors, however, suggest that not too many WWE superstars will be missing “Gronk,” now that he’s preparing to suit up for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Citing a subscriber-only report from Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select, WrestlingNews.co on Tuesday offered details on Gronkowski’s brief WWE stint, noting that per Sapp’s sources, the tight end was largely “considered a SmackDown guy” as most Monday Night Raw superstars weren’t too aware of his status with the promotion. That said, most of the wrestlers Gronkowski interacted with allegedly found him difficult to work with, especially after an incident that took place during rehearsals for WrestleMania 36, which was taped several days in advance of its April 4 and April 5 air dates.
“Even those with a reputation of being easy, helpful, and good to work with, all had negative things to say about working with Gronk after his WrestleMania fiasco,” Sapp wrote, as quoted by WrestlingNews.co.
In addition, one “top name” in WWE was reportedly so upset with Gronkowski that they called him a “F*ckin’ clown who we are so much better off without.”
GOT 'EM.@RonKillings managed to find @RobGronkowski earlier today and win BACK his BABY!!! #WWERaw #247Championship pic.twitter.com/lyCkFYU4m1
— WWE (@WWE) June 2, 2020
Last month, Fightful reported on what happened with Gronkowski at WrestleMania rehearsals, noting that the NFL star was “nervous” about a dive he was supposed to do as he battled for the 24/7 Championship and was still “terrified” even as “a dozen of the biggest” wrestlers on NXT were there to catch him. The outlet alleged that it got to a point where WWE chairman Vince McMahon, at 74 years old, performed that very same move to prove to the five-time Pro Bowler that it was safe.
“Even after Vince McMahon did the spot, it took a significant amount of time to convince Gronkowski,” Fightful added.
Per Tuesday’s update, Gronkowski’s reluctance to perform the dive in question caused taping for WrestleMania 36 to fall two hours behind schedule, thus resulting in the aforementioned backstage heat.
Although it appears that Gronkowski rubbed a number of WWE performers the wrong way during his time in the company, he did enjoy some success in his initial foray into professional wrestling. He won the 24/7 Championship at WrestleMania and officially held on to the title for close to two months before losing it to R-Truth in a segment that aired on this week’s episode of Monday Night Raw.
