The Lost Art of WWE Entrance Music.

Yep, I’m gonna talk about wrestling today.

First off, I acknowledge that the title may imply that this problem is more universal than it is. Entrance music in Pro Wrestling is not so much a lost art, as an art WWE in specific seems to have lost their touch with. But I can’t just call a post “Def Rebel sucks, and here’s why.” now can I? Well, okay, I could, but that’s a more confrontational tone than I really want this post to have.

If you follow WWE or pro wrestling in general you know what the core of this post is already, entrance music in WWE is just generally not very good these days, which is a shame for multiple reasons and not just because it used to be better.

For all the ways the WWE product has improved over the last five years or so (and, let’s be fair to it, it definitely has in many ways.) Entrances have become increasingly unremarkable to the point of barely registering at all in many cases. I can’t call to mind more than maybe three or four entrance themes, where back in ‘06 when I started watching it was one of the best aspects of the presentation. I might not have become the fan I am without that hook to draw me in. So what changed? The short answer is the in-house music team, but there’s layers to the “why” on that.

I think a reasonable first step would be to talk about why entrance music is so important.

So, Wrestling is theatre. Literally every single person watching is aware of that, and every wrestling fan you meet from now until forever will also be aware of that. We good on that point? Good, moving on.

Wrestling is theatre, and like theatre the entire presentation is a package deal. One of the ways people come to recognise wrestlers is through their entrance music. The one becomes associated with the other.

John Cena’s theme song is as iconic to his presence as his brightly coloured T-shirts and Jorts. Living Colour’s Cult of Personality and CM Punk are practically inextricable from one another now, and Metalingus by Alter Bridge has been likewise forever entwined with Adam Copeland outlasting even the name ‘Edge’ in association. (I know many people still think of him as ‘Edge’ but my point is he’s not going by that name at this point, but still uses that song for his entrance.)

A good entrance theme can really help with first impressions. People like hearing music they like, so when it’s associated with a wrestler, they have a better chance of getting in some way invested in that wrestler, even if that is just a starting point. Also, as a soundtrack to the show, the entrance music is what heralds the arrival, and victory of the wrestler it belongs to. They serve the same purpose as a leitmotif, a character’s theme tune in a TV show or movie.

In the past, it was much more common for WWE to license music from recording artists. All three of the examples I named earlier fall into that category, except arguably John Cena, but he sang that song himself and released it on a rap album, so I’m counting it.

Even back then, they also had an in-house composer named Jim Johnston, who, for my money, is criminally under-appreciated. He was with the company from 1985, and spent 32 years as WWE’s in-house composer before being released in 2017.

He would be replaced by a duo called CFO$, whose name I’m thankful I’m only writing because I have no idea how I’m expected to pronounce it. They had a few iconic tracks, their song ‘The Night’ was the theme tune of WWE Raw for a number of years, and it was they who composed the theme music of wrestlers Shinsuke Nakamura, and Bobby Roode, both of which were hits among fans and doubtless contributed significantly to their on-screen presence, what the kids today call ‘aura’.

Even with that said, those two were exceptions. Their output wasn’t bad on the whole, but it lacked a certain something in my opinion, and we’ll get to what I think that was later, suffice it to say, for now that the absence of Jim Johnston was keenly felt.

CFO$ would leave the company in 2020 over reported contract disputes and disband, to be replaced by WWE’s current “music guy,” Doug “Def Rebel” Davis. Okay, now we’re up to speed, let’s talk entrance music.

To be absolutely fair to him, Mr. Rebel isn’t without his hits. I can only currently think of Roman Reigns’ theme, which if you want to count both versions, are called “Head of the Table” and “I am Greatness.” The latter is the better one in my opinion but I don’t think he’s currently using it.

Def Rebel clearly understands one very important thing about a wrestler’s entrance music, and that is, that the first second, is crucial. The audience need to be able to immediately identify who is coming out, and often react to that sound for several seconds before the wrestler is even seen.

To give examples of this, The Undertaker has his gong, ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin has the sound of shattered glass. The Rock has his iconic catchphrase announce his arrival (and Boy did Def Rebel notice that one.)

These don’t have to be sound effects or catch phrases. The aforementioned Adam “Edge” Copeland has had the words “you think you know me” precede his entrance music since the 90s, but the opening riff of Metalingus does just as much to tell the fans who is coming out. Hulk Hogan’s theme song “Real American” needed very little time to announce his presence, and just to reiterate, those opening chords of Cult of Personality now say “CM Punk” as much as they might say “Living Colour” to wrestling fans.

As I said before, Def Rebel absolutely understands this principle, unfortunately, he seems content to just play a sound byte of the given wrestler’s catchphrase before a generic synth beat. He is nothing if not consistent, in the way that an air-raid siren is consistent, but it’s a bad sign when “Def Rebel” parodies of more memorable entrance music exists on YouTube and the joke in the comments invariably seems to be that the parody is too good.

A wrestler’s catchphrase before their theme song worked for The Rock, but most people aren’t The Rock, and Def Rebel’s music (with the exception of Roman Reigns’ theme) lacks a certain other something that even The Rock’s theme tune had, and that is, a strong melody.

To say that this is the only thing modern entrance themes are missing would be reductive, but I think it is the most glaring absence. Real quick, think of a movie theme tune, actually, think of three. You got ‘em?

I’m gonna go out on a limb here and guess that the titles, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, Jurassic Park or maybe Pirates of the Caribbean popped into your head, at least one of the theme tunes that came to your mind, surely? What do all of them have in common? I mean, besides all but one of them being composed by John Williams.

I already said it, a strong melody, a tune you can hum. That’s the earworm that sticks in your brain. John Williams understands this principle implicitly, and he’s very good at it. That’s why even if you don’t know his name, trust me, you know his work.

Jim Johnston was also pretty damn good at this, but that’s not the only thing he used to do that’s been lost of late. A Jim Johnston theme felt like it belonged to the wrestler it represented, there was some real continuity with character there, in ways I can’t quite describe. Cody Rhodes’ Kingdom theme is both iconic, and a great example of this, but I still remember his original theme that he used for a few months after debuting in 2007, I haven’t heard it in almost two decades, but I remember it. Generic, and, to borrow a word from a friend of mine “jobberiffic” as that theme was, for some reason, it’s still in my head.

A wrestler’s theme song conveyed an expectation of personality for the uninitiated, as well as announcing a familiar character for returning fans. Def Rebel tries to do this, but…what can I say? He’s just not as good at it. Most of his non-Roman Reigns themes sound basically interchangeable but for the opening catchphrase sound byte, whereas, even the mid-tier Jim Johnston themes had character and stuck in your head.

I’m starting to repeat myself here, but you shouldn’t underestimate how important music is to presentation. I think we, as a species take music for granted as a presence, but I don’t think any other aspect of media does more to establish tone and emotional resonance. Music at it’s best can force you to feel things you might not have thought were in you at that moment. There’s no more potent weapon for conveying a personality than a theme song and the symbiotic relationship between a wrestling character and their entrance theme can be a real investment boost.

Wrestling incorporates storytelling in all its forms into itself. One element of the presentation being weak isn’t by any means a deal-breaker, but it is a shame. Ultimately, I do still watch wrestling for the wrestling, and that would probably still be the case if they took entrance themes away completely. But it would be a lesser experience for it, I know because it already is diminished with generic entrances.

Def Rebel is basically inoffensive, even at worst, and capable of being pretty good at times, I don’t exactly like Jey Uso’s current theme, but I know it when I hear it, and Melo Don’t Miss and Iyo Sky’s theme Tokyo Shock are two more of the exceptions that prove the rule. hell, the guy’s won six Grammys, he must be doing something right, but for the specific job of creating theme tunes for wrestlers, much of his music just lacks a certain something. Be it melody or personality, which is frustrating because with the above-mentioned, he’s proven he can do it, he just doesn’t seem to manage it very often.

Whether it’s an earworm you can hum or lets you feel the wrestler’s personality, you need at least one of those things to come through strong or you’ll get CM Punk lamp-shading it in the ring on live TV.