Ronda Rousey To Appear On Rob Gronkowski's New Series, Gronk Talks Itch To Compete And Rousey

CBS' new "Game On!" celebrity competition show with WWE 24/7 Champion Rob Gronkowski looks to be a hit.

Wednesday night's "Game On!" series premiere topped the night in network TV viewership with 4.534 viewers in the 8pm hour, according to overnight numbers from Showbuzz Daily. The show also tied for #1 in the key 18-49 demographic, drawing a 0.6 rating with FOX's Ultimate Tag show.

"Game On!" features Gronkowski as a team caption. He's joined by comedian Bobby Lee and a special guest each week. The other team caption is tennis legend Venus Williams, who is joined by comedian Ian Karmel and a special guest each week. The teams compete in over-the-top physical and mental challenges. Next week's guest for Team Gronk will be former WWE RAW Women's Champion Ronda Rousey.

Gronk recently spoke with Julius Young of FOX News to promote next week's episode, and talked about Rousey's involvement. He praised her for her UFC work, but didn't mention the run in WWE. Gronk said he was overcome with shock and awe at Rousey's appearance on the show, which is an adult take on the "Double Dare" show brought over from the UK by James Corden.

"It was pretty cool when Ronda Rousey was a guest on one of the episodes and she was on my team," Gronkowski said. "And just to see, you know, throughout her career what she did for the UFC — she literally took that and made that a women's sport. And she put it on the pedestal of where the men's UFC was."

He continued about Rousey, "She brought women's UFC to a whole new level [and] into a whole new respect. And just to be that badass, and just to be able to go out there and whoop anyone's butt like she was doing was just spectacular. So it's just cool to just see her come in and you've got to be polite to her because she'll whoop any one of our butts, so it was just super neat, super cool. And you could just tell that she has that competitive side to her [and] that she's always ready to go, which is pretty neat."

Gronk, who is set to come out of retirement to play for the NFL in the next season, said he decided to take the gig of team captain because he was getting the itch to compete, and the itch to join a family. He did not say why he couldn't find that with WWE, where he is reportedly signed to a contract.

"I took off a couple of months for sure where I didn't do anything and I was getting that itch to compete," Gronk said of why he signed on for the show. "I was getting that itch to join a family, and the show felt like a family out there. I mean, from Keegan to Venus to Bobby to Ann to James being part of it ? to all the producers. That's what it's all about."

Gronk continued and said he's been looking for the type of family atmosphere he found in the NFL locker room. Again, he did not comment on being affiliated with WWE or holding the 24/7 Title. He did reveal that the show was filmed a few months back, before the coronavirus pandemic changed everything. Gronk won the 24/7 Title at WrestleMania 36 in April, but this interview was recorded last week on May 20.

"When you're in that football world you come together for all those years and each year, it's a different family you become a part of and I miss that type of atmosphere," Gronk continued. "And this was a chance that I could regain that type of atmosphere. And look, we're still laughing a couple of months later after the show is done. It's like family now. That's what's so great about it."

This week's RAW featured a pre-recorded segment where Gronk responded to a recent warning from R-Truth over the WWE 24/7 Title, but there's been no update on when we might see Gronk return to the WWE ring. There was talk of Gronk wrestling at WWE SummerSlam in August, but it could be a while before we see him wrestle again due to the NFL return to play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

For those who missed it, above is the video from RAW, and below is video from the "Game On!" premiere: