A Look Back At The Betting Odds From Past WrestleManias : Part III

Welcome to the third part of a series where I take a look at the betting odds from previous WWE WrestleMania pay-per-views. In this post, I'll concentrate on the lines that were available for WrestleMania XXVII, which took place on April 3 2011 from the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, GA.

Once again, I'll be using the betting odds that were available from the 5Dimes Sportsbook & Casino. I do not have the prices for the pre-show battle royal (see below) or the eight-man tag team match that was won by Kane, The Big Show, Santino Marella & Kofi Kingston.

The first match of the evening took place on the pre-show and was a Lumberjack Match for the U.S. Title. King Sheamus, the champion, was taking on Daniel Bryan when a brawl took place between all the lumberjacks. The match ended in a no-contest when the match was restarted as a twenty-three man battle royal.

Bettors that had wagered on Sheamus at -195 (1.51 EU, 20/39 UK) or Daniel Bryan with longer odds of +155 (2.55 EU, 31/20 UK) would have had their stakes returned.

The first match on the actual card was for the World Heavyweight Championship. The champion, Edge, was a +330 (4.30 EU, 33/10 UK) underdog. His challenger, Alberto Del Rio was favoured at a price of -490 (1.20 EU, 10/49 UK).

This turned out to be Edge's last ever match as he was forced to retire, due to injury, a week later. He left the ring as a betting underdog winner on this night.

The second match was Rey Mysterio vs Cody Rhodes in a singles match. Mysterio was a +120 (2.20 EU, 6/5 UK) underdog in the betting. Unlike in the opener, the underdog didn't cover. Rhodes' win paid out with odds of -160 (1.63 EU, 5/8 UK).

In another singles match where the favourite won, Randy Orton (-265 US, 1.38 EU, 20/53 UK) bested CM Punk - an outsider at +185 (2.85 EU, 37/20 UK).

One of the most controversial finishes, from both a wrestling betting and storyline perspective took place in the bout between Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole.

The commentator Cole was a +900 (10.00 EU, 9/1 UK) underdog in his match against the veteran wrestler, Lawler (-1850 US, 2/37 UK).

The match ended with Lawler forcing Cole to submit. During the match, special referee - 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin - had allowed Michael Cole to be punished severely. This led into a post-match angle which saw the Raw General Manager email ringside and order the match result to be reversed.

Punters that had backed Michael Cole thought they had a winning ticket. Alas, this did not end up being the case. And for good reason. One of the rules in WWE wagering at 5Dimes.com was that results were graded on the initial ruling of the match. As Lawler was named the winner, the book paid out on him regardless of what occurred moments afterwards.

This wasn't the end of controversial betting decisions for the night. More would follow at the close of the show.

Following the debacle with Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler, The Undertaker took to the ring as a favourite against Triple H.

Undertaker was priced up at -1050 (2/21 UK) in the match he never was going to lose. The book had Triple H lined up at +550 (6.50 EU, 11/2 UK).

Sandwiched in between The Undertaker vs Triple H and The Miz versus John Cena was a trios match featuring a celebrity, which is almost always a call to go with the team featuring a famous person.

Yes, I suggested Snooki from Jersey Shore is 'famous'.

The team of the aforementioned Snooki, John Morrison and Trish Stratus were priced up at -1275 (4/51 UK) with 5Dimes.

Predictably, the team won against LayCool & Dolph Ziggler (+625 US, 7.25 EU, 25/4 UK).

The main event featuring The Miz defending the WWE Title against John Cena ended with The Miz winning the match after pinning his challenger after he was Rock Bottomed by The Rock.

The Miz went into the match as an underdog (+155 US, 2.55 EU, 31/20 UK) with the champion favoured at a price of -195 (1.51 EU, 20/39 UK).

These odds didn't end up meaning anything. The Miz pinning Cena took place immediately after the match was restarted by The Rock after both wrestlers had been counted out.

Just like in the Michael Cole vs Jerry Lawler match, the sportsbook settled the result on the initial ruling of the bout. With it being a count-out with no clear winner, bets were deemed void.

Due to the calls made in both matches, a new rule was introduced to WWE wagering where people could gamble on the 'End of Broadcast' result. The 'Initial Ruling' odds are still posted. However - since that time, punters tend to wager more on the settlements of bets at the close of each pay-per-view rather than what the first call.

Looking back at everything that went down from a betting perspective, it's easy to see that WrestleMania XXVII was a game changer for WWE betting at online sportsbooks.

In the penultimate part, I'll take a look at the prices that were available for WrestleMania XXVIII.