Current NFL on Fox analyst Rob Gronkowski has drawn a lot of attention for event-hosting during and after his playing career, from the Gronk Cruise to the recurring Gronk Beach party.
The latter is produced in conjunction with events company Medium Rare, and has been previously held at the Super Bowl and the NFL Draft. And now, it’s coming to WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas this April as one of four “WrestleMania After Dark” late night events WWE has teamed with Medium Rare for that weekend.
“Gronk Beach: WrestleMania After Dark Edition” will take place on Sunday, April 20, starting at 10:30 p.m. local time. It will be at LIV Beach at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas, and will feature sets from Flo Rida, Valentino Khan, and DJ IRIE on its mainstage, plus appearances from WWE Superstars Damian Priest and Tiffany Stratton, and branded experiences and flavors from NÜTRL, Bud Light and Seagram’s Escapes Spiked. Tickets start at $79.99, and will go on sale Friday at 1 p.m. ET through the WrestleMania After Dark site.
It’s interesting to see Gronkowski bringing this party, which has always been around NFL events in the past, to WrestleMania. Gronkowski has significant history with WWE, including making a cameo at WrestleMania 33, hosting WrestleMania 36 (which was an unusual 2020 one at the WWE Performance Center with no fans present due to COVID-19 restrictions), and winning the 24-7 title there (which he held for a few months before losing it to R-Truth in his own backyard in a video skit).
But Gronkowski hasn’t been notably involved in wrestling lately. And his primary current media work is with Fox, which is no longer a WWE broadcaster. At the very least, though, Gronkowski is now hosting an event in official partnership with WWE. Maybe that signifies more wrestling involvement from him, either at this WrestleMania (which has plenty of excitement around it, including with John Cena’s headlining match against Cody Rhodes) or beyond. He certainly had positive things to say about WWE in the release on this:
“As a former WWE 24/7 Champion and four-time Super Bowl Champ, I know a thing or two about how to celebrate big weekends! After three Big Game Weekend editions, we have taken everything you love about Gronk Beach and turned it up to 11 with an epic night swim experience, performances from my boys Flo Rida and Valentino Khan, and that signature Gronk energy. Vegas is the perfect destination for this kind of party, and I can’t wait to see everyone there capping off the biggest weekend of the year for wrestling fans!”
The Gronk Beach party has been held in Vegas twice before, at the NFL Draft in 2022 and at Super Bowl LVIII in 2024. But the previous two editions were at Encore Beach Club at the Wynn Las Vegas, so this is a different venue. However, the Fontainebleau (WWE’s official host hotel for this WrestleMania weekend) will host all of the WWE/Medium Rare WrestleMania After Dark events here, with the other three taking place at its LIV Nightclub.
Those other events are a WrestleMania 41 Welcome Dinner & Launch Party on Thursday, April 17 (featuring appearances from WWE Superstars Bianca Belair, Rey Mysterio, and Charlotte Flair, plus performances by Valentino Khan and DJ IRIE), a WrestleMania After Dark: Hall of Fame Afterparty on Friday, April 18 (featuring appearances from Bron Breakker and Liv Morgan as well as performances from Metro Boomin and DJ IRIE), and just WrestleMania After Dark on Saturday, April 19.
That last one features appearances from Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso and performances from Machine Gun Kelly (who previously worked with Medium Rare at Travis Kelce’s Kelce Jam around the 2023 NFL Draft) and DJ IRIE. Tickets start at $49.99 for the launch party and $79.99 for the other events, and will also be available Friday at 1 p.m. ET through that WrestleMania After Dark site. Weekend combo passes (starting at $199.99) and VIP tables are also available.
On the Medium Rare side, it’s notable to see the company bringing events to WrestleMania. The events company has been particularly known for its Super Bowl parties in conjunction with Shaq, Sports Illustrated, Guy Fieri, and more, but they’ve also done those aforementioned NFL Draft events and other events such as Dave Portnoy’s One Bite Pizza Fest.
Medium Rare’s events operate under a 50/50 ownership model in partnership with the titular celebrities and brands. A big focus for them has been offering events around big sports moments for fans who don’t have access to VIP-only parties. Co-founder Joe Silberzweig told Awful Announcing in February, “We felt there was a huge hole in the market to bring fun events to Super Bowl Weekend, not your average corporate event where it’s a bunch of guys standing around in a suit jacket watching a concert.”
Now, Medium Rare is hosting similar public-facing events on WrestleMania weekend. And it’s doing so in a high-profile way, in partnership with WWE, its Superstars, and Gronkowski. We’ll see if this weekend turns into another regular destination for them, with New Orleans already announced as the host of WrestleMania 42 in 2026.
