Should You Be Allowed to Bet on Pro Wrestling Events? | Smark Out Moment

Should You Be Allowed to Bet on Pro Wrestling Events?

Posted by Anthony Mango Wednesday, January 2, 2013
The gambling industry is a tricky thing. Since money rules the world, a concept that revolves around people playing with it and potentially gaining/losing large sums of it means it quickly becomes complicated due to the amount of rules and regulations put into place. I would never profess to be an expert on either side of the coin - gambling or economics in general - but everyone's got their opinions and they're pretty diversified. An issue that is brought up once in a while is whether or not you should be allowed to gamble on the fixed sport of professional wrestling.

Unlike Mixed Martial Arts services like UFC or Strikeforce, or other legitimate sporting events like boxing, football, golf, so on and so forth, pro wrestling doesn't have as much unpredictability. Granted, there can be vast amounts of unpredictability due to the scripted nature and how companies try to keep their angles a secret, but that in itself causes some problems. Who is to say that they wouldn't skew results to look a certain way and then book the outcome as the complete opposite just to influence bets? Example, for WWE fans, the smart money is always to bet that someone like Triple H or John Cena will win their match. If you're watching an Undertaker WrestleMania match, you're going to bet that he'll come out as a victor. But what about the lesser matches of the year? It's so easy to write a twist or go unconventional for the sake of a shock value that it completely rules out fairness in a lot of ways.

As if that wasn't unfair enough, what about the possibility of flat out leaking the outcomes to sources that are betting in your favor? You can attempt to throw a game in a legitimate sport, but you're more than likely fighting an uphill battle with the rest of your team or organization. You can be paid to screw someone (such as a ref making bad calls) but you run the risk of being fired and sued if you're caught. In wrestling, who would be held responsible for this? It's far too hard to regulate when you can get any of your friends to claim to have known nothing about the storyline and bet for you.

That being said, even if professional wrestling was never legitimized for gambling en masse, that doesn't prevent people from doing it that are outside of the loop. I myself could have fun bets going on with my friends and you the average reader of mine and nothing would stop it from being a perfectly rational betting system. We all have access to the same information essentially, we can all be made to look like fools if plans change (then again, WWE looks like fools sometimes when things change as well) and since we don't have any direct contact with someone like Vince McMahon, none of us could really cheat. It would be the same as if you paid attention to the latest injuries going on in baseball and they affected the outcome of a game. Wouldn't you bet against the team with the pitcher that has a broken hand? I'd equally bet against the pro wrestler who is rumored to be leaving the company after their pay-per-view match because of their contract expiring.

With any other form of gambling process, it's up to the skill level of the individual, the others that are betting alongside him to weigh in on the stakes, and finally the blind luck of the situation. When it comes to betting on a sporting event, the skill level pretty much goes out the window and is replaced by research. When it comes to betting on pro wrestling, the research is tainted because the entirety of setting up to a storyline could be changed instantaneously if the writer changes his mind that particular day of execution (or, let's be frank, is persuaded to change the outcome due to bets). In the grand scheme of things, in my opinion it would make it too easy to manipulate the outcome of the bets and render the whole thing rigged.

What is your opinion on gambling in regards to pro wrestling? Do you have any funny or interesting stories that have to do with this that you'd like to share? Leave us a comment below and tell us your thoughts.

AUTHOR OF THIS POST: ANTHONY MANGO

The founder, editor-in-chief, head writer, podcast host, and more for Smark Out Moment and all branches under A Mango Tree including Fanboys Anonymous. Tony Mango is not just a pundit/analyst, but also a creative director/consultant, media manager and more. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

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