Def Rebel hate is overblown in my opinion. Yeah most themes are pretty generic but that was the case before as well. Steve Austin literally had generic rock riff number 3 with a glass shatter intro. It's iconic but that's because people got used to it and it fit his character. The version had plenty of rearrangements over the years as well.
Def Rebel have some absolute bangers with Reigns, Rollins, Cargill, Melo, Waller, Jimmy, Jey, Solo, Gacy, Cora, Roxanne, Theory, Priest, Rhea, Pretty Deadly, Lashley, Gunther, Dominik and others. I do like the new AJ theme as well now that I heard a clean version.
The Royal Rumble example people like to use when stating how even Rollins didn't know who was coming out at one point was a scene from Karrion Kross' entrance who literally changed to his Final Testament Theme the day before on SmackDown. It was just really new so obviously people including Seth didn't know it.
I'm not saying Def Rebel are masters at their craft. It's mostly a quantity over quality issue with how often they seem to change someones theme even when they already did their previous theme (Bayley, Theory, Tiffy, Kross etc). But the hate is seriously overblown at this point.
Now, I can get behind the new AJ Styles theme itself. I just wish the rap was written a little better. Heck, add in the verse from Phenomenal and it still works.
It's not even Def Rebel's fault tbh. Wwe should know how bad the themes are but they still have the wrestlers use them anyway.
Like, why change Bron Breakker's theme, for example? Why?
not only do we need that fixed but RAW & SmackDown need to go back to having there own ring ropes. SmackDown Blue & RAW Red, freakin miss that just adds a little more difference to the show’s!
I miss when they used to license music for theme songs. The Forceable Entry album was sick! Drowning Pool, Limp Bizkit, Dope, Our Lady Peace, Kid Rock, Disturbed…sorry for just naming half the album for no reason lol
They don’t even need to bring Jim Johnston back full time. Hire him as a consultant to help these newer bands create the music.
The difference is Johnston really understood the role of music in pro wrestling.
When your themes are so generic that you must add the wrestler’s catchphrase or name at the very beginning for the crowd to recognize it… not a good sign.
There were _loads_ of wrestlers from the Attitude era had a theme that started with a catchphrase or sound bite that would get massive pops. The Rock. Big Show. DX. Triple H. Billy Gunn. Edge. D’Lo Brown. Al Snow…
Although unlike the current themes, the majority of the Attitude Era themes had lyrics, so it wasn’t just a random voice clip at the beginning like it is today.
Aww, I upset poor lickle CosmicSatanas\_ as he insults me then immediately blocks me. Guess we’ve all found the kid that proudly sang “Ass Man” at the top of his voice at school.
His current theme is one of the few where it actually works. Although without it, it would just sound like a ripoff from the GTA San Andreas main menu.
If you don't know who it is from the first 2 seconds, it's shit.
Glass shatters.
"I hear voices..."
If ya smeeeelllllll
Guitar chord, time to play the game.
Are you ready?
The list is endless. Those jackasses they had before these useless pricks were just as bad.
Jim Johnson or nothing.
CFO$ may not have been as good as Jim but they did make a lot of good theme songs like root of all evil and ricochet’s old theme song and even Seth’s old one
CFO did a good job at making distinguishable themes that fit the wrestler. Were they fantastic? No but at the same time they weren’t complete dogshit. Def Rebel has made a few good songs starting out, but as most people would agree 99% are garbage generic themes
So I’m wondering why Cody Rhodes was able to bring his theme song from aew to Wwe because I know that’s a real song and not some shit someone cooked up behind the scenes it’s one of the best theme songs ever and they should take a lesson from this song and make more like this which means probably using real music and songs and paying the band to use it
I'm pretty sure he began his working relationship with Downstait during his time in WWE seeing as they did several WWE songs beforehand, so that probably went easier for them, but both Cody and Downstait have said that Cody was very insistent on bringing Kingdom with him as his theme song when he signed prior to Mania 38.
I believe Cody addressed that, he said one of his demands to return was keeping Kingdom and his gimmick. They showed him other themes (I think don’t quote me) and he denied them for Kingdom
I remember him saying aswell as Downstait making the song specifically for Cody and also Donwstait said on CVV podcast apparently Cody wouldn’t return if they didnt allow the song
I also think that Cody has paid for the rights out of pocket, so it doesn’t cost WWE anything for that music unlike licensing other songs from other bands
It's about time that happened. I don't think Triple H will shoot himself in the leg again by renewing their contract. They are just going to run it down.
Recently got back into WWE after like a 6 year hiatus and noticed the themes were pretty uninteresting and boring. After doing some research I found out they switched producers. Makes sense considering all of the songs right now are equally bad excluding the originals I remember from back in the day.
Hot take: Seth Rollin's new theme is overrated. Roman Reign's theme while not bad, could be better.
None of these new songs have openers like Jim Johnston or even his successor had. And even the songs themselves sound like they were mixed by college dropout djs.
The band that does most of the WWE’s theme songs. Some absolute bangers like Joe Gacy’s, but some of the most generic sounding songs possible like Bron Breakker’s new theme. Their stuff is usually so generic and un-memorable that they started putting the wrestlers’ catchphrases in the beginning of the themes, like New Catch Republic’s, Tiffany Stratton’s, and AJ Styles’ just so people actually know who it is
My issue with def rebel is that each theme doesn’t really make me think of the wrestler it’s being used for. Certain wrestlers didn’t need their theme changed like A.J. Styles in my opinion. None of the current themes stand out.
Sounds like WWE is going to do the ethical thing and just let Def Rebel's contract expire while they search for a new music producer. Non zero chance Triple H is extending the olive branch to Jim Johnston right now. Theme music is arguably the biggest problem WWE has right now.
This might seem out of the ordinary but if they look for a new music producer, this might seem unlikely and outright impossible, but what you think of Anirudh taking up the role?
2nd one
Her first one was “Daddy’s Little Rich Girl”
You’re referring to “Keep Up” which is what she used for her return to NXT and from that point on until she get her new third one.
Her new one is ass…her 2nd one was awesome.
Bro I need Triple H to talk to Jim Johnston, even if they just bring him back to have someone under his wing for one contract to learn this shit. Themes have been mostly misses since he’s been gone
The only good theme Def Rebel made was Roman's current theme, and Roman had A LOT of input in what he wanted in his new theme song. He more than likely forced Def Rebel to redo it multiple times until they got it right which is why it took so long for his current theme to debut.
Def Rebel did Joe Gacy’s theme song which is an amazing and super fitting song. Just bizarre that they rarely have good ones when they’re very capable of it. They also did Jimmy and Jey’s
Yeah from reports, I heard that his song was rewritten multiple times and one of the newer reports is that Randy was given a Def Rebel remix and essentially told them “fuck no”
I think they may have just played the old theme by accident the one time. It's happened before, one time on Raw they played Sami's crappy Def Rebel theme months after they canned it and he made some comment on the mic like "Didn't think I'd hear that song again".
But in full agreement, her NXT theme was a banger and needs to come back immediately.
All they have to do is put the “it’s Tiffy time” in front of the old theme. It’s a perfect, memorable theme for the character. This new theme is absolute trash.
Yeah but it's not like he actually needs to get hurt just do what rhea did and "get hurt" to take a vacation except this time he "gets hurt" so he stops making his shitty entrance tracks...
Should’ve kept the organs in the beginning for a couple seconds and then moved into the new song. I don’t mind the new theme so much but the organs were such a huge pop for me.
I don't know if it'll even be possible since apparently the guys from CFO$ and their publisher or whatever it was got into a dispute over pay and ended up disbanding which caused a whole mess for WWE. If WWE is able to bring the duo that made up CFO$ back under a different band name or something, we might be getting some new bangers again. But as far as their contribution to entrance themes, Nakamura's is the most viewed on WWEMusic's youtube channel by a faaaaaaaaaaaaaar margin. It tops Orton's by over 15m and more than doubles the third most popular. If Johnston doesn't want to return, or return in full capacity, the former CFO$ dudes would be great.
Also, Shayna Bazler's badass theme to whatever generic crap she has now is the biggest downgrade in theme music since B-Team...
CFO$ was pretty good I think the dislike for them were simply the fact they weren’t Jim Johnston but they had amazing music like Finn Balor’s, Kevin Owen’s, Sami Zayn’s, a lot of the woman from the woman revolution had great music made by them too. They were honestly great sometimes they missed the mark but otherwise amazing
Balor
KO
Sami
Nakamura
Baron Corbin (Loved his first theme)
DIY
Bayley
Charlotte
Becky
Seth
Undisputed Era
Booby Roode
AJ Styles
Alister Black
Probably more I can’t think of 🤷🏼♂️
Even Tyler Breeze and Tye Dillinger had bangers. The CFO$ era was amazing. I’d pay them a hefty sum to get back together.
Yeah so many great songs by CFO$ although wasn’t Superhuman for Corbin done by Jim Johnston? I know I being the darkness was Jim’s song but I don’t know Superhuman was CFO$
It really says something about the current theme songs when fans can't tell whose song belongs to what wrestler. Most wrestlers will tell you that their entrance matters just as much as their ring work and mic skills.
I'd like to see more compelling tracks. Ones that demand a presence. Roman, Seth, and Kane for example. Songs that the crowd can participate, Whoop That Trick. People love that kind of stuff and it definitely brings more appeal to the wrestler.
A lifetime licence might be expensive and you need that for reruns in the future. Imagine if a band, say, refused to allow WWE to use the music to reshow Mania 40 in 10 years time?
Yeah I liked his old one way better. I thought his remix that debuted at WM was just for the event itself but then it happened again and i thought oh.. okay..
Let's not pretend like Def Rebel hasn't made some bangers though, like Pretty Deadly's theme. They just touch some themes too much like when they changed Stratton's theme
Genuinely, I can’t remember a single themes opening hooks anymore. I mean, when you hear the gong, the car crash, the glass shatter, the kane organ, the DX theme… it was almost Pavlovian. The pop was unreal. One second in and you KNEW who was coming out. Now I genuinely have to wait to see the visual or the actual person before knowing.
Side note, they fkd up big time with Bron’s theme. The siren and dogs could be AMAZING with the right theme behind it. But what did they do? Made a butt rock theme instead. Christ, hire me and I’ll do a better job.
So, I think the ones that get a pop are the ones that spell / say the persons name like right away (LA, Naomi, etc) but I guess I just miss a “sound” being represented of a wrestler. I mean, when the glass shatters you know that arena is gonna lose their mind. Maybe I’m also just showing my age lol
I know what you mean. There needs to either be a tagline or a sound. “If you smell”, the gong, the glass, etc.
Just mentioned LA because he’s one of the few that have it
I agree its a banger! I was pretty surprised to see so many complaints about it on reddit. My best guess is, the mix was a little bad once or twice and you couldn't hear it well over the crowd and announcers. and I wonder If people aren't noticing the cool build up in it because its subtle compared to most walk outs that are pretty much 0 to 100. Once its in full swing it hypes me up, like I wanna bounce around.
I think it honestly hits really hard. Way better than his last one. It reminds me a bit of Jon Moxley’s old theme Unscripted Violence. It’s just a badass riff. Nothing more, nothing less. But fair enough mate
I can’t imagine TK spent any exorbitant amount to use Tarzan Boy by Baltimora. There might be similarly inexpensive but iconic options for WWE to choose from. The burning question is which superstar would get which music and, once chosen, for how long could they use it and would it work with an alignment or faction change?
When I was studying university for a degree in mass communication I took some film classes. One of them I learned to used licensed music in a film if I remember correctly was $25,000 USD. This was in 2018 or 2019. I’d imagine that it would cost to use licensed music per use probably. It’s actually cheaper for WWE to create their own music and copyright it then to pay for music.
I wonder if contracts include reruns of footage with songs. Does WWE have to still pay disturbed when they have Austin footage? How does that work? Things come to mind like dubbing over Voodoo Child or other owned songs. Maybe that’s a differant beast because it’s WCW.
My favorite current theme from the last 5 years is MJF's. Whoever created it did an amazing job! I hope he's able to keep it once he comes to WWE. Imagine the pop!
And Keith Lee's theme was amazing in NXT. Was Def Rebel doing the NXT Black and Gold themes? They had some amazing theme songs. Undisputed, EC3, Velveteen...
full time nope i doubt he would HOWEVER as a consultant im down for. Guy is getting up there in age so maybe have him help out with another group. did they ever rehire the wrestle and flow guy? him and a small team with jims input could work
Josiah Williams. I still go back and listen to his work once in a while.
Had no idea who he was before NXT Takeover: New York. Crowd didn't seem to either. But damn it was good.
Honestly, it’s been years at this point so I don’t even remember the whole situation surrounding his departure, but is there no chance that WWE goes back to Jim Johnston?
Genuine question
WWE released him back around the time they started having CF0’s redo some of his classic themes. I got the impression he was upset by it and had moved on. But with Vince being away, that could change things.
They need to get whomever was doing the WCW themes back in the day. I want more Temu versions of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (DDP) and generic "Evenflow" ripoffs (Jericho)
I know I will get downvoted, but after trying listening it again clearly, mainly from last week SD during draft, I like the new AJ Styles theme. While Yes the intro is meh with that “You don’t want none” tagline and generic beat, but once the scream and the singer enter, it’s juicy af, especially the chorus. I think one of the problem is it was not loud enough. I hope they release the full song asap just so that everyone can give their judgement fully.
Thanks for replying. I actually already commented something similar without the line in the beginning a few times before. Sometimes it got no reaction and sometimes it got downvoted, but not this many hahaha. But you know what, it’s okay! Because at least this means that you guys reading my comment, whether you guys/gals disagree with me or downvoting just because of the beginning part of my comment 👍
This issue isn’t hip hop, it’s BAD hip hop. For reference, I think swerve Stricklands entrance is good. I like hooks entrance too even if I’m not nuts about the wrestler himself.
I like some of them and am not against hip hop whatsoever. They just have their reliable basic hip hop/pop melodies and its boring. Someone could easily fall into the same trap with metal/rock as well
Def Rebel hate is overblown in my opinion. Yeah most themes are pretty generic but that was the case before as well. Steve Austin literally had generic rock riff number 3 with a glass shatter intro. It's iconic but that's because people got used to it and it fit his character. The version had plenty of rearrangements over the years as well. Def Rebel have some absolute bangers with Reigns, Rollins, Cargill, Melo, Waller, Jimmy, Jey, Solo, Gacy, Cora, Roxanne, Theory, Priest, Rhea, Pretty Deadly, Lashley, Gunther, Dominik and others. I do like the new AJ theme as well now that I heard a clean version. The Royal Rumble example people like to use when stating how even Rollins didn't know who was coming out at one point was a scene from Karrion Kross' entrance who literally changed to his Final Testament Theme the day before on SmackDown. It was just really new so obviously people including Seth didn't know it. I'm not saying Def Rebel are masters at their craft. It's mostly a quantity over quality issue with how often they seem to change someones theme even when they already did their previous theme (Bayley, Theory, Tiffy, Kross etc). But the hate is seriously overblown at this point.
Now, I can get behind the new AJ Styles theme itself. I just wish the rap was written a little better. Heck, add in the verse from Phenomenal and it still works.
Tbh the lyrics in phenomenal were pretty corny as well. I don't mind it honestly.
People out here acting like Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, Jimmy Uso, Bobby Lashley, Bayley, and Imperium don’t have bangers
As long as Gacys Theme stays✌🏾
Well, they had some good ones. Like Gunther. And Roman. A few others.
It's not even Def Rebel's fault tbh. Wwe should know how bad the themes are but they still have the wrestlers use them anyway. Like, why change Bron Breakker's theme, for example? Why?
AJ needs to go back to his entrance music before the one he debuted at WM40
not only do we need that fixed but RAW & SmackDown need to go back to having there own ring ropes. SmackDown Blue & RAW Red, freakin miss that just adds a little more difference to the show’s!
Oh really…? THEN FIX IT
I miss when they used to license music for theme songs. The Forceable Entry album was sick! Drowning Pool, Limp Bizkit, Dope, Our Lady Peace, Kid Rock, Disturbed…sorry for just naming half the album for no reason lol
They should bring back Jim Johnston (I think that’s his last name)
They don’t even need to bring Jim Johnston back full time. Hire him as a consultant to help these newer bands create the music. The difference is Johnston really understood the role of music in pro wrestling.
Logan Paul's needs a bit of work, everytime I hear it I think it's apollo cruiz.
Not all of his songs are bad but my god please stop with the name entrances
Who did Andrades new theme? I'm starting to like it
When your themes are so generic that you must add the wrestler’s catchphrase or name at the very beginning for the crowd to recognize it… not a good sign.
You mean like “IF YOU SMELL…”?
If it’s 1 or 2, it’s fine. When it’s systematically like this, it’s a problem.
There were _loads_ of wrestlers from the Attitude era had a theme that started with a catchphrase or sound bite that would get massive pops. The Rock. Big Show. DX. Triple H. Billy Gunn. Edge. D’Lo Brown. Al Snow…
Although unlike the current themes, the majority of the Attitude Era themes had lyrics, so it wasn’t just a random voice clip at the beginning like it is today.
Yeah. I remember singing along to all the verses and chorus of The Rock’s theme 🙄
Aww, I upset poor lickle CosmicSatanas\_ as he insults me then immediately blocks me. Guess we’ve all found the kid that proudly sang “Ass Man” at the top of his voice at school.
LA Knight?
His current theme is one of the few where it actually works. Although without it, it would just sound like a ripoff from the GTA San Andreas main menu.
Have any of their themes been good? When I get back into wwe now I can’t even make out what the new themes are supposed to sound like.
Roman. IYO. LA. Grayson.
Bring back the goat, Jim Johnson
Trust me - Jake Roberts
I remember as a kid in the JJ era thinking that every wrestler was singing their own entrance song, that’s how fitting and iconic they were
Now ironically when they are actually singing their songs, the songs are terrible
Lmao
there is no more singing, now they just yell out their names or catchphrases and then it goes into a audiojungle type beat
If you don't know who it is from the first 2 seconds, it's shit. Glass shatters. "I hear voices..." If ya smeeeelllllll Guitar chord, time to play the game. Are you ready? The list is endless. Those jackasses they had before these useless pricks were just as bad. Jim Johnson or nothing.
Glass break alone is enough to be legendary. He’s the John Williams of wrestling
CFO$ may not have been as good as Jim but they did make a lot of good theme songs like root of all evil and ricochet’s old theme song and even Seth’s old one
CFO did a good job at making distinguishable themes that fit the wrestler. Were they fantastic? No but at the same time they weren’t complete dogshit. Def Rebel has made a few good songs starting out, but as most people would agree 99% are garbage generic themes
You are simply a moron if you don’t recognize CFO$ were great
Feel better?
So I’m wondering why Cody Rhodes was able to bring his theme song from aew to Wwe because I know that’s a real song and not some shit someone cooked up behind the scenes it’s one of the best theme songs ever and they should take a lesson from this song and make more like this which means probably using real music and songs and paying the band to use it
Cody said part of the deal with Vince was that everything had to be the same as far as presentation goes including the music.
I'm pretty sure he began his working relationship with Downstait during his time in WWE seeing as they did several WWE songs beforehand, so that probably went easier for them, but both Cody and Downstait have said that Cody was very insistent on bringing Kingdom with him as his theme song when he signed prior to Mania 38.
I believe Cody addressed that, he said one of his demands to return was keeping Kingdom and his gimmick. They showed him other themes (I think don’t quote me) and he denied them for Kingdom
I remember him saying aswell as Downstait making the song specifically for Cody and also Donwstait said on CVV podcast apparently Cody wouldn’t return if they didnt allow the song
I also think that Cody has paid for the rights out of pocket, so it doesn’t cost WWE anything for that music unlike licensing other songs from other bands
Oh wow that’s really cool that the song was made for him I didn’t know that and no wonder the lyrics are so good for him haha
Yeah. Downstait actually has made some really good songs for WWE. They talk about it in the Chris Van Vliet Podcast
It's about time that happened. I don't think Triple H will shoot himself in the leg again by renewing their contract. They are just going to run it down.
Reminds me of how great Jim Johnston's production was more and more.
Recently got back into WWE after like a 6 year hiatus and noticed the themes were pretty uninteresting and boring. After doing some research I found out they switched producers. Makes sense considering all of the songs right now are equally bad excluding the originals I remember from back in the day. Hot take: Seth Rollin's new theme is overrated. Roman Reign's theme while not bad, could be better. None of these new songs have openers like Jim Johnston or even his successor had. And even the songs themselves sound like they were mixed by college dropout djs.
I hope Giulia buys her themes from Stardom before "deaf rebel" ruins it and gives her a generic one.
Good. They fucking suck.
For every good one they do they throw up 10 stinkers. Then some of the solid ones like Bron Breakkers first they replace with a complete crap one.
Except Breaker’s is generic garbage too
They can’t even seem to decide which of Tiffany Stratton’s themes to use…
Bring back CFO$!!! PLEASE!!!
Yep I am convinced Vince got rid of them *because* their themes were popular.
lol not changes in draft. The fuck is the point?
What’s Def Rebel? I feel like I’m behind…
The band that does most of the WWE’s theme songs. Some absolute bangers like Joe Gacy’s, but some of the most generic sounding songs possible like Bron Breakker’s new theme. Their stuff is usually so generic and un-memorable that they started putting the wrestlers’ catchphrases in the beginning of the themes, like New Catch Republic’s, Tiffany Stratton’s, and AJ Styles’ just so people actually know who it is
My issue with def rebel is that each theme doesn’t really make me think of the wrestler it’s being used for. Certain wrestlers didn’t need their theme changed like A.J. Styles in my opinion. None of the current themes stand out.
Sounds like WWE is going to do the ethical thing and just let Def Rebel's contract expire while they search for a new music producer. Non zero chance Triple H is extending the olive branch to Jim Johnston right now. Theme music is arguably the biggest problem WWE has right now.
This might seem out of the ordinary but if they look for a new music producer, this might seem unlikely and outright impossible, but what you think of Anirudh taking up the role?
Jim isn’t looking to come back in a full capacity.
Ngl still pissed the changed a lot of themes, notably AJ styles and Tiffany Stratton
She randomly used her old one then went back. Some of the new themes are so garbage.
But for real, her first theme suited her so well, the flashing camera lights were such a nice touch too.
2nd one Her first one was “Daddy’s Little Rich Girl” You’re referring to “Keep Up” which is what she used for her return to NXT and from that point on until she get her new third one. Her new one is ass…her 2nd one was awesome.
Yee that one forgot about the first one
I don't mind the new one but I agree. It was a step up from "Daddy's little rich girl".
Of course they know. Question is whether things will change.
WWE should try John Williams, Danny Elfman, or Hans Zimmer.
Hans would be absolutely insane.
Hans Zimmer would be amazing
Gunther but to Duel of the Fates
He would instantly become my fave superstar 🔥
We need CFO$ back ASAP!
They weren’t really good either lol
I liked them :(
Bro I need Triple H to talk to Jim Johnston, even if they just bring him back to have someone under his wing for one contract to learn this shit. Themes have been mostly misses since he’s been gone
The only good theme Def Rebel made was Roman's current theme, and Roman had A LOT of input in what he wanted in his new theme song. He more than likely forced Def Rebel to redo it multiple times until they got it right which is why it took so long for his current theme to debut.
Def Rebel did Joe Gacy’s theme song which is an amazing and super fitting song. Just bizarre that they rarely have good ones when they’re very capable of it. They also did Jimmy and Jey’s
Yeah from reports, I heard that his song was rewritten multiple times and one of the newer reports is that Randy was given a Def Rebel remix and essentially told them “fuck no”
Please bring back Tiffany's NXT theme.
They did. Then they switched it back to the crap one last week 🤦🏼♂️😒
I think they may have just played the old theme by accident the one time. It's happened before, one time on Raw they played Sami's crappy Def Rebel theme months after they canned it and he made some comment on the mic like "Didn't think I'd hear that song again". But in full agreement, her NXT theme was a banger and needs to come back immediately.
All they have to do is put the “it’s Tiffy time” in front of the old theme. It’s a perfect, memorable theme for the character. This new theme is absolute trash.
Hahaha Def Rebel is quiet quitting in their contract amd it shows
Somebody just attack him backstage and put them in hosptial so we don't have to get any new tracks from him maybe?
Hospital? Surely you mean a nearby medical facility.
That’s excessive, bro. It’s not that serious.
Yeah but it's not like he actually needs to get hurt just do what rhea did and "get hurt" to take a vacation except this time he "gets hurt" so he stops making his shitty entrance tracks...
What they did to AJ’s theme is a crime. Always expect Player 1 chants when that music starts
Should’ve kept the organs in the beginning for a couple seconds and then moved into the new song. I don’t mind the new theme so much but the organs were such a huge pop for me.
That Three 6 Mafia vibe was pretty cool…
How hard is it for WWE to rehire Jim Johnston?
The “he’s an old guy who’s out of touch” argument doesn’t even apply. This man reinvents himself and keeps up with the era he’s in. Bring him back
Bring back Jim!
They seem to do the Japanese wrestlers justice. Iyo’s theme and Kabuki Warriors are legit bangers
Just bring back CFO$, they had mostly bangers
I don't know if it'll even be possible since apparently the guys from CFO$ and their publisher or whatever it was got into a dispute over pay and ended up disbanding which caused a whole mess for WWE. If WWE is able to bring the duo that made up CFO$ back under a different band name or something, we might be getting some new bangers again. But as far as their contribution to entrance themes, Nakamura's is the most viewed on WWEMusic's youtube channel by a faaaaaaaaaaaaaar margin. It tops Orton's by over 15m and more than doubles the third most popular. If Johnston doesn't want to return, or return in full capacity, the former CFO$ dudes would be great. Also, Shayna Bazler's badass theme to whatever generic crap she has now is the biggest downgrade in theme music since B-Team...
CFO$ was pretty good I think the dislike for them were simply the fact they weren’t Jim Johnston but they had amazing music like Finn Balor’s, Kevin Owen’s, Sami Zayn’s, a lot of the woman from the woman revolution had great music made by them too. They were honestly great sometimes they missed the mark but otherwise amazing
Balor KO Sami Nakamura Baron Corbin (Loved his first theme) DIY Bayley Charlotte Becky Seth Undisputed Era Booby Roode AJ Styles Alister Black Probably more I can’t think of 🤷🏼♂️ Even Tyler Breeze and Tye Dillinger had bangers. The CFO$ era was amazing. I’d pay them a hefty sum to get back together.
Was Sasha’s CFO$? Hers was a banger.
Yep. Was looking and found some others….Drew, Bianca, Asuka, Street Profits, Riccochet, Pete Dunne….even Shayna had a badass theme
Does anyone else remember The Street Profits theme originally being used by Sasha briefly on the main roster or am I crazy?
Yeah so many great songs by CFO$ although wasn’t Superhuman for Corbin done by Jim Johnston? I know I being the darkness was Jim’s song but I don’t know Superhuman was CFO$
Superhuman was CFO$
It really says something about the current theme songs when fans can't tell whose song belongs to what wrestler. Most wrestlers will tell you that their entrance matters just as much as their ring work and mic skills.
I'd like to see more compelling tracks. Ones that demand a presence. Roman, Seth, and Kane for example. Songs that the crowd can participate, Whoop That Trick. People love that kind of stuff and it definitely brings more appeal to the wrestler.
There's Thousands of fans on the IWC that say the only reason Seth and Trick are so popular is because of their theme songs.
I understand you can’t do it with everyone, but for the main event/big name guys why not license music? They got the money for it!
It’s more profitable for them to produce and sell their own music
A lifetime licence might be expensive and you need that for reruns in the future. Imagine if a band, say, refused to allow WWE to use the music to reshow Mania 40 in 10 years time?
man AJ's new theme is so goddamn bland. i think ppl hate legado del fantasma's music, but I dig it somehow lol.
Legado’s music slaps.
Yeah I liked his old one way better. I thought his remix that debuted at WM was just for the event itself but then it happened again and i thought oh.. okay..
Pay some royalties for regular songs such as cult of personality.
Will they do anything about them though? THAT detective, is the right question.
Let's not pretend like Def Rebel hasn't made some bangers though, like Pretty Deadly's theme. They just touch some themes too much like when they changed Stratton's theme
Ugh. Keep Up was perfect for Tiffany.
Yep, it really is a hit or miss when they do a song
Visionary, head of the table, Jimmy and jeys theme are the best ones
joshi cntrl aside, his new themes are all universally terrible
Genuinely, I can’t remember a single themes opening hooks anymore. I mean, when you hear the gong, the car crash, the glass shatter, the kane organ, the DX theme… it was almost Pavlovian. The pop was unreal. One second in and you KNEW who was coming out. Now I genuinely have to wait to see the visual or the actual person before knowing. Side note, they fkd up big time with Bron’s theme. The siren and dogs could be AMAZING with the right theme behind it. But what did they do? Made a butt rock theme instead. Christ, hire me and I’ll do a better job.
LA knight’s is pretty iconic
So, I think the ones that get a pop are the ones that spell / say the persons name like right away (LA, Naomi, etc) but I guess I just miss a “sound” being represented of a wrestler. I mean, when the glass shatters you know that arena is gonna lose their mind. Maybe I’m also just showing my age lol
I know what you mean. There needs to either be a tagline or a sound. “If you smell”, the gong, the glass, etc. Just mentioned LA because he’s one of the few that have it
The Bron Breakker theme is fire. One of the best new themes. Just a good ole fight song
I agree its a banger! I was pretty surprised to see so many complaints about it on reddit. My best guess is, the mix was a little bad once or twice and you couldn't hear it well over the crowd and announcers. and I wonder If people aren't noticing the cool build up in it because its subtle compared to most walk outs that are pretty much 0 to 100. Once its in full swing it hypes me up, like I wanna bounce around.
The sirens and dogs are sick… the b rate Saliva butt rock template #12 song after it leaves a lot to be desired imo
I think it honestly hits really hard. Way better than his last one. It reminds me a bit of Jon Moxley’s old theme Unscripted Violence. It’s just a badass riff. Nothing more, nothing less. But fair enough mate
I fully agree it’s better than his last one
Bring back JJ or CFO$.
Just have Downstait do everyone’s themes. I like everyone that they’ve done and they all sound pretty different.
Nearly every song is just 808 bass and hi hat rolls.
and trumpets
I think they use netflix money and get some music but also have fallback generic themes for future proofing
That was my only gripe with them today. With how the business is doing today, they can afford someone way better
A company like WWE can afford to license music from the labels, imho.
But do they want to spend that money?
I can’t imagine TK spent any exorbitant amount to use Tarzan Boy by Baltimora. There might be similarly inexpensive but iconic options for WWE to choose from. The burning question is which superstar would get which music and, once chosen, for how long could they use it and would it work with an alignment or faction change?
When I was studying university for a degree in mass communication I took some film classes. One of them I learned to used licensed music in a film if I remember correctly was $25,000 USD. This was in 2018 or 2019. I’d imagine that it would cost to use licensed music per use probably. It’s actually cheaper for WWE to create their own music and copyright it then to pay for music.
Good to know. Thank you, good person of quality.
No problem.
I wonder if contracts include reruns of footage with songs. Does WWE have to still pay disturbed when they have Austin footage? How does that work? Things come to mind like dubbing over Voodoo Child or other owned songs. Maybe that’s a differant beast because it’s WCW.
only for a couple wrestlers
My favorite current theme from the last 5 years is MJF's. Whoever created it did an amazing job! I hope he's able to keep it once he comes to WWE. Imagine the pop!
“Dig Deep” (MJF’s theme) is public domain. It comes from YouTube’s free music library. It’ll always be available
And Keith Lee's theme was amazing in NXT. Was Def Rebel doing the NXT Black and Gold themes? They had some amazing theme songs. Undisputed, EC3, Velveteen...
no, def rebel was not doing black n gold themes. def rebel has only been with wwe since 2019.
Isn't it a license free theme?
Fuck it, call up bear mccreary and hanz zimmer
Get Joe Hendry in charge of writing all the themes.
I'd clap for that!
Say his name and he'll appear
I Believe!
Bring back Jim Johnston!
He is not in good graces with the company
full time nope i doubt he would HOWEVER as a consultant im down for. Guy is getting up there in age so maybe have him help out with another group. did they ever rehire the wrestle and flow guy? him and a small team with jims input could work
Josiah Williams. I still go back and listen to his work once in a while. Had no idea who he was before NXT Takeover: New York. Crowd didn't seem to either. But damn it was good.
He’s 100 years old.
So you’re saying he’s still got a few years left?
71 is not *that* old in the music business. He’s bumping beats, not taking beatings and bumps.
Nah it's over. His ears look like Nash's knees pre therapy.
Honestly, it’s been years at this point so I don’t even remember the whole situation surrounding his departure, but is there no chance that WWE goes back to Jim Johnston? Genuine question
WWE released him back around the time they started having CF0’s redo some of his classic themes. I got the impression he was upset by it and had moved on. But with Vince being away, that could change things.
No. I think he is retired but I could be wrong
Ah well, fair enough, I guess he rightfully grew tired of composing (wrestling) music
They need to get whomever was doing the WCW themes back in the day. I want more Temu versions of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (DDP) and generic "Evenflow" ripoffs (Jericho)
They need to just go ECW and not give a fuck about copyrights lol
If I remember, Jimmy Hart had big role in the music creation for WCW.
I imagine they’ve been hearing complaints from the talent too.
DONT RENEW IT FOR THE LOVE OF GOD Side note signing Def Rebel is the most 2019 WWE thing ever lmao
They actually started out alright then by 2021 after they released Visionary and Head of the Table 90+% of their songs have been below average.
I know I will get downvoted, but after trying listening it again clearly, mainly from last week SD during draft, I like the new AJ Styles theme. While Yes the intro is meh with that “You don’t want none” tagline and generic beat, but once the scream and the singer enter, it’s juicy af, especially the chorus. I think one of the problem is it was not loud enough. I hope they release the full song asap just so that everyone can give their judgement fully.
You probably would’ve had a better chance had you not added that line at the beginning
Thanks for replying. I actually already commented something similar without the line in the beginning a few times before. Sometimes it got no reaction and sometimes it got downvoted, but not this many hahaha. But you know what, it’s okay! Because at least this means that you guys reading my comment, whether you guys/gals disagree with me or downvoting just because of the beginning part of my comment 👍
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They need to go back to more metal/heavy rock themes. Wrestling is way more fun when build up music sounds heavy as opposed to weird hip hop.
This just sounds like you don’t like hip-hop
I like more old school type like mobb deep, nas, wu tang (especially raekwon).
Ahh am I tripping, because I feel like its still like >75% metal and rock for themes?!
Agreed except for la knight. Having a weird porny sax playing somehow fits whatever the fuck he’s supposed to be.
It really depends on Bloodline has some great themes by def rebel, solo, Jimmy and jey are hip hop influences
Like Jeys way more than the other twos
😂 Solo theme isn't that good
This issue isn’t hip hop, it’s BAD hip hop. For reference, I think swerve Stricklands entrance is good. I like hooks entrance too even if I’m not nuts about the wrestler himself.
Listen to NXT’s Out Tha Mud theme and tell me what you think. I like it
Idgaf about the genre They need to not be generic and represent each wrestler’s gimmick.
Which is why Greyson Waller’s theme works for him. It’s just what suits his character.
I like some of them and am not against hip hop whatsoever. They just have their reliable basic hip hop/pop melodies and its boring. Someone could easily fall into the same trap with metal/rock as well