During Friday’s broadcast of SmackDown from the empty WWE Performance Center, several appearances were promoted for next week’s edition of the show.
After the news of Rob Gronkowski’s pending arrival in WWE, it was announced that the former New England Patriots star would appear on next week’s episode – which is still listed for New Orleans, Louisiana at the Smoothie King Center.
The announcement was made by Mojo Rawley, who stated Gronkowski would appear on next week’s episode.
It was first revealed by Ryan Satin on this past week’s edition of WWE Backstage that the two sides were in talks with Tony Maglio of The Wrap reporting that Gronkowski is signed and was scheduled for a March 20th appearance on Friday Night SmackDown.
They have also announced a contract signing between WWE Universal Champion Bill Goldberg and Roman Reigns for next week ahead of their WrestleMania 36 match.
SmackDown also featured Jeff Hardy’s first match back as he defeated King Corbin in a short match with the newly named ‘Twist of Fury’ and a Swanton.
Although advertised in advance, Paige did not appear on the show with Michael Cole citing ‘travel issues’ as the cause for her absence. The performer sent out the following message:
Sorry guys travel made it very hard for me to get there for #SmackDownLIVE with everything that’s going on. Completely out of my control. ? very sorry.. But at least @itsBayleyWWE is keeping you entertained pic.twitter.com/ymY8BN9IIK
— PAIGE (@RealPaigeWWE) March 14, 2020
The show was presented as a continuation of several storylines and actively promoting WrestleMania with the mindset that the show will be happening in three weeks at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.
On Friday, WWE officially announced that Monday’s edition of Raw was moving from the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh to the WWE Performance Center and would be closed to the public.
