With decades of backstories and moves that require years of perfecting and practice, wrestling is a sport and art form that gets a big reaction from its fans. In fact, it has some of the most diehard fans of any sport in the world.
Today, we’re going to be looking at a lesser-examined aspect of wrestling: the culture of its sports betting. Aspects like community engagement and technology have been key factors in establishing a betting culture in sports entertainment. There is even AI sports betting now, which is an extremely interesting development. This demonstrates just how far we’ve come. And for sports fans who love betting, it’s a fascinating new area to explore.
How Sports Betting Works in Wrestling
You might be asking yourself how sports betting works in wrestling compared to a more “normal” sporting activity like soccer or football. While a lot of talent and hard work is required to become a professional wrestler, the outcomes aren’t usually dictated by skill but by storyline and hype. Does this affect how sports betting works here?
So far, the answer seems to be no. Though there are behind-the-scenes factors that the audience is not aware of, people have been betting on wrestling matches and outcomes for some time now, and it seems to work about as well as any other sports betting category.
Even if the majority of the matches are scripted, it doesn’t really make a difference to the bettors if they don’t know the outcome themselves. If people can bet on the outcome of a series finale to a major television program, that’s outcome is also scripted and pre-determined; why can’t wrestling fans get in on the action, too?
What Differentiates Sports Betting in Wrestling from Other Sports?
Because wrestling is mostly scripted, it does need to have a different culture from other sports betting to account for this.
One such aspect is the protection of the outcome. When it comes to production, the team needs to be extra careful not to leak any news of the outcome of any matches. This can lead to a lot of betting fraud and biased numbers affecting the odds, especially since earlier this year, the WWE was considering legalizing betting on their biggest scripted events.
While football managers and executives of the NBA don’t need to worry about this stuff, the WWE does, and any mishaps on their part can and will have an impact on the culture of wrestling at large.
When it comes to the fans’ side of things, betting might feel a little off at first, since even diehard wrestling fans know the events are normally scripted. This can lead to a different mindset when it comes to placing a bet, as well as different strategies to use when choosing a victor.
Like with normal sports betting, being good at reading data comes in handy. It can help lead you to a more accurate decision, but reading data is more straightforward with regular sports since you can examine and analyze trends of performance and other similar metrics. Such metrics are much less relevant in the world of wrestling.
Instead of thinking in terms of performance, a wrestling sports bettor must think in terms of writing, because it is a team of writers who dictate the outcome of wrestling matches, not performance. A proper wrestling sports bettor, instead of asking “Who is the best at suplexing?”, will ask more inventive and creative questions that a writer would ask, like “Which outcome will be more entertaining, surprising, or upsetting?”.
If one considers wrestling outcomes as a narrativized experience, it can help lead people to improved betting odds.
The Types of Bets in Wrestling
So far, wrestling sports betting is not as elaborate as other kinds of sports betting. There are only three types of bets that prevail in this culture, though hopefully, things will continue to grow and evolve over time.
The first type is match-win wagers. These are the most simple and common form of bets in wrestling sports betting, in which you simply decide who you think will win the match.
The second type is brand winner wagers, a specialty of the WWE. These are bets where you decide which major wrestling organization, Raw or Smackdown, will win a specific event, usually a major summer tournament, a major pay-per-view event, or WrestleMania.
The final type are retain title wagers, in which people bet if a returning wrestling champion will keep his title in a deciding match. These are major bets, and the outcomes always have a big impact on the culture and world of wrestling, making them especially exciting to place bets on.
Last but not least, it’s vital to budget your money when gambling. Always gamble responsibly and never spend more than you can afford.
