The Backstage Reaction To WWE’s Attempts To Legalize Betting

Over the last few months, WWE has been attempting to push toward legalizing betting on wrestling matches, and a new report reveals some details on the current reaction backstage.

As we previously reported here on eWn, WWE has been negotiating with several state gambling regulators to allow fans to bet on WWE matches. However, the state gambling commissions have been unreceptive to the idea of legalized betting on WWE matches, with one of the commissions “pretty much” rejecting the idea outright.

Fightful Select reports that talent backstage is of the opinion that WWE is unlikely to emerge victorious in its effort to legalize betting.

WWE roster members have stated that they have not been informed about the possibility of the company getting into gambling that way, and many were surprised by some of the details that had been reported including concerns about the results of matches not being disclosed until a few hours before the official bout.

The concern was that betting could jeopardize long-term input into the storylines Superstars are involved in.

One longtime wrestler 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. 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. There will be a lot of figuring out where and why changes are pushed for and from, and I think that this is probably more trouble than it’s worth.”

Only time will tell if WWE can manage to legalize betting on their matches.

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