IT STARTED WITH AN ENTRANCE
Wrestling has always been a favourite for our family, with my Gran following Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks in the 70s-90s, she’d always have it on in the background when we went round for fish and chips on a weekend. She only had one leg and we used to take rides on her electric wheelchair… she looked like a wrestler herself!
I remember watching and then playing the games on PlayStation with Scotty 2 Hotty’s worm as a personal favourite “showboat”. The storylines, the heel, the insane moves that I then practiced on my brother and had to shush him before he cried to Mum about how I’d hurt him, making a trade by offering him some of my chocolate or “my time” on the PlayStation that day.
The music was a massive part of the appeal for me though. It could tell you so much about a wrestler before you’d even seen them in a match. Their attitude, their character, whether you were about to see someone have a really bad time… all from those first few seconds. I’d even choose wrestlers in the games just so I could hear their entrance music again!
I remember hearing Maria’s “With Legs Like That” and immediately rushed to check out more of Zebrahead’s discography, leading to me interviewing them in Birmingham as a guest at their show!
Papa Roach I knew from their early work but found “To Be Loved” (the Raw theme of the time) which became an earworm for me for weeks after, it’s still a top song for me and I love playing it on Clone Hero! It takes me back to watching WWF/WWE as a child, in the dark with only the light of the tv as we’d have to stay up extra late to watch it with it being live from America.
FROM ENTRANCE THEMES TO MY OWN PLAYLIST
Listening to Zebrahead’s “With Legs Like That” or Jim Johnston’s themes for the likes of Melina and Ashley Massaro made me feel powerful and strong, like the women I was watching on screen. Sexy, fun, strong women with equally epic music to walk out to. I wanted to be them, quite honestly! I was inspired!
After watching the Divas’ entrance videos on repeat on YouTube, I headed straight for LimeWire (sorry!) and downloaded everything by Zebrahead I could find. I loved Ali’s rapping alongside the sung vocals and their whole “I don’t give a fuck” attitude. “Hello Tomorrow”, “Anthem”… it turned out there was more than just ONE song that made me feel this way.
I HAD to see them! I was a music journalist at the time so I contacted them through their website and asked if I could interview them ahead of their Birmingham UK show. They put me on the guestlist and invited me into their dressing room to record the interview and hang out!
They’d just been to Cadbury World and had been gifted a LOT of Jack Daniel’s. This was a sweet and sour night in the best way, ha! I remember Ali being an absolute gentleman, larger than life, INCREDIBLY BUFF, and Matt being incredibly sweet, I had THE BEST time.
MC Lars was supporting and he was amazing too. Finding artists through other artists, then going home with even more music to listen to. It all happened so naturally!
A wrestling entrance led me to their music, then into their dressing room with a dictaphone! Somewhere in all that excitement, I felt some of the confidence I’d seen in the Divas I adored like Maria Kanellis. The song that made me want to BE her had brought me HERE!
With Papa Roach, it was a little different. I already knew Last Resort and a few other songs, but hearing it opening RAW made it feel charged and new. The music, the footage, the anticipation of what was about to happen… it all worked together and made that song stick. It’s still one of my favourites to play on Clone Hero and even now I can’t quite separate it from that excitement. Wrestling introduced me to new bands but it also made me hear familiar ones differently!
YOU KNOW WHO IT IS BEFORE YOU SEE THEM
Some entrances make me react from the very first sound… I can already picture who’s coming out before I’ve even seen them. D-Generation X is one of those!!! I’m listening to it while writing this and already lip syncing, knowing every word and picturing Triple H and Shawn Michaels in their tight trousers, doing the X. SUCK IT!
The music fits that cocky, rebellious attitude so well. That bassline! The cymbals! The vocals have exactly the right amount of attitude and the whole thing feels like a massive fuck you to whoever they’re about to meet in the ring.
I don’t think they’d have had quite the same impact walking out to “Tiptoe Through the Tulips” but who knows, ha!
Then there are the songs that make me put up with a wrestler even when I’m not their biggest fan. Edge and Randy Orton spring to mind… “METALINGUS” WOW! That is THE WWE theme song for me and Burn in My Light for Randy? Yeah, cool as fuck, I get it. Even when they were heels and I wanted to see them lose, I could still appreciate the entrance.
Hearing those songs played live at gigs brings all that excitement back. You hear the opening and there’s a little part of you wishing the wrestler would come out and make a surprise appearance. They haven’t at any of the shows I’ve been to but apparently I’m still expecting it.
WHEN MY FAVOURITE BANDS ENTER THE RING
I’ve literally just walked in from the garden like I’m Steve Austin approaching the ring… I was meant to be having a break! That’s what this music does to me. Should probably give the cupboards a warning promo because Mum didn’t book a hardcore match in the kitchen!
Already loving Falling in Reverse and Saraya made hearing “Zombified” as her entrance theme even better. With her and Ronnie dating at the time there was something quite sweet about it too. What a cool thing to get to share as a couple and a fucking great song to walk out to!
With Motionless in White, I was a fan before I knew much about Rhea Ripley. I recognised Chris’s voice straight away. Hearing it on WWE was an immediate OMG THAT’S THEM! moment and it made me more interested in her too.
The music suits her so well. The way she carries herself, her alternative look, her ink… it all works for me. Then having MIW actually play live for Mami’s entrance at Wrestlemania? YES!
Watching the band there with her made it even better. The music, her entrance, the performance of it all. It was theatre and I loved seeing two things I enjoy so much come together like that.
I got excited for the band too. They’re already famous obviously, but there will be people watching who’ve never heard them before. Someone who recognises the entrance music but hasn’t yet thought to look up who’s voice that is. I love the thought of them going off to explore more and finding their next favourite band!
That’s what happened to me with Zebrahead. I really hope someone gets that same experience from hearing Motionless in White through Rhea. Wrestling and music have given each other so much and I can’t see myself getting bored of that feeling any time soon!
ONE ENTRANCE, A WHOLE NEW PLAYLIST
Looking at my music taste now, wrestling has added so much. Bands and styles of heavier music I might never have found otherwise and songs that are still my favourites years later. I’ve even got to meet and interview some of those bands, having experiences I still struggle to believe happened!
Sometimes the music sticks because it belongs to a wrestler I already love. Other times I’m not their biggest fan but the song JUST WORKS. It gets a reaction out of me before I’ve even thought about it. Apparently that includes walking through my own house like I’m about to enter the ring…
If you loved an entrance theme but haven’t explored the artist, DO IT! You might find yourself years later, albums and gigs deep into a band you first heard for a minute or so on a wrestling show. I certainly didn’t expect listening to Maria’s entrance music to lead to interviewing Zebrahead in their dressing room but I’m very glad it did! Not PURELY for the free choccies, ha!
I hope wrestling keeps bringing bands into that world. The music gives so much to the entrance and the entrance gives people a reason to remember the song and find out who’s behind it.
I’m finishing this with Batista’s theme, Mick Foley’s “Wreck” and some Rey Mysterio, BOOYAKA BOOYAKA 619! It’s been a lovely trip down memory lane, although listening to all this has done absolutely nothing to help me sit still. Now to find me a tag team partner, I’m primed to Devil’s Kiss… Mum’s kitchen has survived THIS round!
PLAYER TWO: Which band or song did you discover through wrestling and what would be your own entrance theme?
Tony Hawk games and pro wrestling entrance music brought me to a lot of music I listen to now.
Zebrahead is a band I discovered through wrestling too, from playing SmackDown! vs. RAW on PS2 and getting hyped to 'Falling Apart' while jumping off ladders as RVD.
My entrance theme would be 'Smack Down' by Thousand Foot Krutch. I used to rip that song on a CD and use it as my character's theme on the 360 games!