Far as I know, not very.

Real combat with weapons is not all that entertaining.

You nick a guy in the right place and he’ll die a slow agonising death in the locker room, far from the eyes of the crowd, then you’re down an athlete and even the enslaved ones aren’t cheap, and they need training, and housing, and feeding, etc.

Moreover this may happen at any point of the fight and that’s not very satisfying to watch, think Mike Tyson one-hit KO vs a 20 minute banger with back nad forth.

So obviously you’d make it look good and take your time, send the crowd home happy. Even were it a real competition, which it was at times.

Gladiators that were intantionally killed in the arena were “bought” by the editor (the person paying for the games overall), and it was at a premium. Afterall the lanista got a major cut of their stable’s wins, so you’d have to cover the sum of all the potential winnings of the rest of their careers, and then some, to make it worth it.

So it wasn’t quite pro wrestling, but it was definitely close, the economics of it make more sense that way, and the longevity of certain documented gladiators also.