The status of WWE as an Esport

There’s no doubt esports are here to stay. With millions of fans worldwide, certain video games have become a matter of finesse, mental discipline and endurance, much like traditional sports. Even though the esports arena is dominated by proposals such as Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, more esports based on traditional sports like football, baseball or rugby, to name a few, are gaining popularity.

You can check the popularity of esports and how the betting market around them evolves. For instance, if you browse Betway you can see how many different bet types, teams and leagues are for specific disciplines. Though football and others enjoy success, is this the case with wrestling? This article analyses the situation.

WWE: A major entertainment hub

Even though wrestling is a sport, it goes far beyond that. Let’s take the WWE as the best example of this. Even checking their website, they call themselves an “integrated media organisation and recognised leader in global entertainment.” This means the organisation’s primary goal is to entertain people. They do this successfully in many ways. For instance, they offer more than 530 yearly events in the US and worldwide.

As a major licensing company, they have live TV shows and create superstars that go on to act or perform music. You can find WWE products at all major retailers. Naturally, they also have high stakes in the esports world. For instance, the WWE and major gaming outlet, IGN, created the WWE x Esports Showdown in 2017. They also partnered with Riot Games for a WWE-based League of Legends showdown.

Esports? Maybe yes, maybe no

Even though it’s clear that the WWE (and wrestling in general) are top candidates for becoming esports somehow, this idea has some issues. The first one is technological. According to 2K Games, WWE 2K22 isn’t ready for primetime as an esport title.

This is mainly because of the character’s strengths and weaknesses, which somehow favour the victory. For instance, there’s no escape from certain moves. Since success in esports should be determined by the player’s skill only, and there should be equal opportunities for everyone to win, this is a complicated situation for this title.

The crux of the issue

When it comes to wagering, the real-life WWE isn’t suitable, so it’s anyone’s guess if its virtual incarnation will ever be. An idea to counter all this is offering a mode where wrestlers could be balanced. The problem with this is it attempts to reach the core of WWE: the characters and their stories. Still, because of the wrestler’s interactions, a scoring system such as what happens in boxing, is difficult.

And there lies the crux of the issue. Because WWE is all about the different participant’s charisma, what’s left when you leave this feature out of the equation? Perhaps not much since esport players are a different persona from the WWE characters they’d be representing.

As it stands today, it doesn’t look like WWE-based video games will become esports any time soon. If it does, it will lack some fundamental features that make the WWE what it is: a form of entertainment based on the participant’s personalities.