Reports surfaced a few weeks ago that WWE was interested in pursuing a stake in the legalized gambling world, hoping to grab a piece of a very large pie that is traditionally reserved for sports where the outcome is not predetermined. Hoping to capitalize on the craze that is sports betting, speculation was they would alter the way they undergo their creative process if it meant tapping into another, potentially highly-profitable revenue stream.
Not much talk surrounded the idea after it first surfaced, but a new report by one outlet suggests the topic is making the rounds again backstage and not everyone in WWE is hyped about the idea.
Fightful Select reported that WWE Superstars weren’t told much about WWE’s desire to create more interest in the product via gambling, but now that the rumors are out there, the response is being met with some skepticism. Specifically, there is some concern being expressed about the impact on the creative process. It’s not so much that wrestlers will want to know the outcomes of their matches far in advance — the report suggests much of the roster didn’t know that anyway — but that they would be concerned about pitching creative ideas.
One source said, “Usually, we don’t know the results of matches until about then anyway. There have been world title matches where people didn’t know until shortly before the match, so that won’t necessarily be that different.” But, they added, “The concern comes in to where and what we can pitch, how that affects things, and the ability to get things changed that talent doesn’t agree with.” In other words, should creative be mapped out that talent doesn’t like, there’s not much anyone can do about it because WWE can’t change things at the last minute with a lot of legalized gambling money riding on the outcome and there being concern over fixing the results.
Related: WWE Loser Of The Week: Why Legalized Gambling & Pro Wrestling Is A Bad Combo
Is It More Trouble Than It’s Worth?
The concern for talent is that there will be a lot of scrambling and trying to guess where and why changes are pushed for and from whom. One source noted that many people backstage think that this is probably more trouble than it’s worth.
For WWE, getting into this world might be a long shot, at best. To allow gambling on sports where the outcome can be changed just prior to or during a match would be risky. And, heaven forbid, a wrestler were to go into business for themselves and change a finish on the fly, all hell would break loose.