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It has been confirmed that Rob Gronkowski will be the host of WrestleMania 36, which will take place over two nights from different locations.
Hosting a WrestleMania is an intriguing concept, one that has a varied amount of success from occasion to occasion. Over the years, quite a few Superstars, both past and present, were tasked with hosting the Show of Shows.
Their task is usually to open the main show and welcome the WWE Universe to WrestleMania, before partaking in some backstage shenanigans throughout the night. In some cases, the hosts have played a bigger part than that in the show.
It is not an annual thing, but it does serve it's purpose every time. Whether it was for the return of The Rock or Hulk Hogan, or a creative way to have Alexa Bliss or The New Day on the card, being the host of WrestleMania has yielded some memorable moments on the Grandest Stage of Them All.
The Gronk has his work cut out for him. Let's see what he can come up with, although hosting this year's 'Mania will be a bit more challenging as there will be no fans in attendance.
Here are the five most memorable moments involving the Host of WrestleMania.
#5 The New Day open the show (WrestleMania 33)
After their record-breaking 483-day run as the WWE Tag Team Champions, The New Day was shifted out of the tag team title picture for a while in early 2017. They were chosen to host WrestleMania 33, cutting anticipatory promos throughout the build to the Show of Shows.
Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods kicked off 'Mania 33 straight from the opening video package, coming down the long ramp with their ice cream bike, dressed as characters from Final Fantasy.
Their appearance was unique, serving as the perfect hype for a huge night filled with twists, turns, and surprises. It was short and effective, more so than The Rock's 15-minute monologue to kick off WrestleMania 27.
#4 Paul Heyman interrupts Alexa Bliss and Hulk Hogan (WrestleMania 35)
Alexa Bliss was last year's WrestleMania host, sporting a number of different outfits over the course of the show. Her first order of business was to create a WrestleMania moment at the "snap of her finger". As soon as she snapped her fingers, out came Hulk Hogan.
The WWE Hall of Famer cut a standard promo and mistakenly called MetLife Stadium the MetLife Center. Alexa Bliss did get to pose with Hogan. It was a decent way to fire up the WWE Universe, but the most memorable part of that opening segment did not come courtesy of Bliss or Hogan.
Paul Heyman quietly interrupted their posing session, as he sauntered to the ring to declare Brock Lesnar's intention of not waiting all night for his Universal Championship match against Seth Rollins. It was genuinely shocking, fresh and creative.
While the main purpose of this segment did not directly concern the host of WrestleMania, it still served as a transition from Alexa Bliss' show-opening promo into Lesnar vs Rollins for the Universal Championship.
#3 The Rock costs John Cena the WWE Championship (WrestleMania 27)
The Rock was heavily featured in the promotion of WrestleMania 27, serving as the host of the entire event. He had a heated war of words with John Cena, spanning the entire Road To WrestleMania. It completely overshadowed Cena's WWE Championship match against The Miz.
The Great One was a constant presence throughout the show. He cut a really long promo at the start which featured some gems like him drinking "the people's water" and "When I say Yabba, you say Dabba".
The Rock also took part in some uncharacteristically unfunny backstage segments with the likes of Mae Young and Pee-Wee Herman. But his most significant contribution to WrestleMania 27 came at the very end after Cena and The Miz fought to a double count-out.
He restarted the match and immediately hit the Leader of the Cenation with a Rock Bottom, causing Miz to cover him and retain his WWE Title. The Rock ended up standing tall at the end of WrestleMania, as he took out The Miz as well.
It certainly was memorable, but some other hosts have been part of bigger and better moments. One of them included the People's Champion himself.
#2 Hulk Hogan shares the ring with 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin and The Rock (WrestleMania 30)
Yes, The Rock's appearance at WrestleMania 30 surpassed everything he did as the host of WrestleMania 27. This was a milestone of a moment, with the three biggest stars in WrestleMania history celebrating three decades of the greatest live event in sports and entertainment.
Hulk Hogan was the host of the event and managed to confuse himself by calling the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, the Silverdome. This was probably one of the most famous botches in 'Mania history and Hogan called back to it in his appearance at WrestleMania 35. A rare instance of a botch enhancing a segment.
He was interrupted by 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin and The Rock, whose mere presence sparked a "This is awesome" chant from the giddy WWE Universe. The three shared the ring, bigging up the legacy of WrestleMania and hyping up the biggest matches on the card.
Hogan, Rock, and Austin proceeded to share multiple beers after getting WrestleMania 30 off to a hot start. It was simple, yet so effective. This promo was one of the greatest non-wrestling segments in WrestleMania history, if not the greatest.
The emotions were running high for this segment, and the entire event, brother!
#1 The New Day bring out the returning Hardy Boyz (WrestleMania 33)
The host of WrestleMania has had varied roles over the years and while opening the show is the bare minimum for each of them, only a couple have gone above and beyond to create a true WrestleMania moment.
The Rock's involvement in the 'Mania main event in 2011 only served the purpose of setting up the following year's headliner, while Hulk Hogan's WrestleMania involvement in 2014 peaked at the start. But The New Day took part in one more huge moment after their show-opening promo.
As the RAW Tag Team Championship ladder match was about to begin, The New Day came out and announced that the triple threat match was now a Fatal-4-Way. It was the perfect tease, coupled with some loud "Who?" chants from the crowd.
As Kingston, Big E and Woods seemed to slowly make their way to the ring, the iconic Hardy Boyz theme song hit the speakers and sent the WWE Universe into a frenzy. The pop was bone-chilling, as Matt and Jeff Hardy came out to a thunderous reaction.
Of course, the Hardys ended up winning the match and the titles. It was one of the greatest 'Mania moments in recent history and it was brought to us by the hosts of WrestleMania, The New Day. Their role in delivering this massive moment was stellar, not giving the surprise away until the big reveal.
Rob Gronkowski will do extremely well to have a moment half as exciting as this, considering the limited circumstances surrounding this year's WrestleMania. But it is unlikely that this moment from The New Day and the Hardy Boyz will be topped by a WrestleMania host in the future.
