The Gronk era of WWE is officially here!!!
Rob Gronkowski made his first appearance on SmackDown on Friday ... and the dude went BONKERS right out of the gate!!
Gronk's BFF Mojo Rawley grabbed the mic at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando and gave Rob one of the greatest, most hype intros ever ... despite the fact there were no fans in the stands (because of the COVID-19 pandemic).
The music came on, Gronk busted out into the arena ... AND DANCED HIS ASS OFF!
He even grinded on one of the turnbuckles!!
Once the former New England Patriots tight end made it inside the ring, he took the mic and got even MORE turned up!
"Let me tell you something," Gronk said to the empty arena ... "I've been watching [WWE] since 2nd grade!"
Gronk even joked that despite "zero" people in the stands, "I'm still hype baby!!"
Later on, there was some good ol' fashioned trash talk from Baron Corbin -- who roasted Gronk for being injury-prone ... "I know you know something about getting hurt."
The gloves are off, baby!!!
Next up for Gronk ... he's hosting "WrestleMania 36" -- a 2-night event starting on April 4th which will also take place at multiple locations -- including WWE's training center in Orlando -- with only essential personnel in attendance.
By the way, Orlando is only 85 miles from Tampa Bay ... where Gronk's buddy Tom Brady is starting his new job. Maybe he'll pop over and say hi? Sign a new contract maybe?