Welcome to Part III; click here if you missed Part I and click here for Part II.
As a reminder, this is a five-part series to identify what are in my view the top 25 wrestling themes of all time.
This series will be ranked by me alone on the following criteria:
Song quality;
Song impact;
Cultural impact
Crowd involvement;
Wrestler participation in creation of the song.
The ratings are mine and mine alone and are often influenced by my musical and wrestler preferences, so I make no apologies for not including your song or ranking the songs in a manner you don’t like. I make no promises that my opinion on these won’t be different six months from now.
#15: “Glorious Domination”, Bobby Roode
Remember when Bobby Roode was the most over guy in the WWE? This is one reason why.
Bobby Roode came to NXT with this “Glorious” gimmick. The gimmick itself was something that wasn’t really all that new. But that song was over. The song was probably more over than Bobby Roode ever was. The chanting, the guitar, the audience participation, the entrance. This opening package had it all.
Of course, all of that came to a crashing halt when Roode dropped the NXT title, was called up to the main roster, and was booked horribly. Just as so many before him. The song still gets a pop, though not as much as it used to. But the song made Bobby Roode’s WWE career.
# 14: “Symphony No. 9”, Dvořák
A rare song that has been able to follow a WWE star from the indies to the big time. This of course is the song for WALTER, the NXT UK Champion.
This is another one of those songs that I would use as my entrance music. It’s so grandiose. It’s so imposing. It sets a mood. And it’s a perfect fit for the stentorian personality of WALTER’s gimmick. WALTER is booked as a serious ass-kicking machine. And this is the kind of song that somebody would use for a serious ass-kicker in a theatrical setting.
There’s also a very cool, rock alternate version of the symphony that WALTER used in Defiant Wrestling.
#13 “Dark Side” The Undertaker
This may be the most controversial thing I put on here.
The Undertaker’s entrance? Possibly the most over thing the WWE has ever created.
But what makes the entrance? It’s the gong. It’s the fire. It’s (sometimes) the Druids.
But it’s not the music. And that’s because there have been so many different songs The Undertaker has used in his career.
For example:
And that’s not even taking into account the Bikertaker years, where he used three different songs during that era.
If The Undertaker had used one song for the majority of his run, or even one song for a long period of his run, that version would have been higher on the list. But sadly, I must drop down the tune a few notches because of this volatility.
#12: “Rockhouse” nWo
Speaking of entrances that were over….
The New World Order was the most over thing in wrestling for two years. And they did it all with…..stock music.
That’s right. WCW used stock music for the biggest stable they ever created. Stock music that had definitely been used in films that you can’t talk about with your kids.
This music is still over. John Cena used the song as part of the Firefly Fun House match at Wrestlemania this year. If this were played at any wrestling show with a paying crowd, the crowd will still pop.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the offshoots of the nWO, which had their own theme songs.
First the, nWO B team, with a theme song that sounded like background music from an automotive repair show.
Then let us also mention the nWO Wolfpack theme. Which was a completely different vibe from the nWO theme and was just out of context with the rest of the group.
#11 “Sexy Boy” Shawn Michaels
Another entrance that has popped fans for 25 years.
Honestly, at this point, it’s hard to delineate the top songs. Could this be a top 10 song? Of course?
But did you know there was an original version? Involving Sensational Sherri?
The version with Shawn Michaels singing is the one that has longevity. And, of course, it’s the better one.
But yes, there are ten better, more important theme songs than Sexy Boy.
Next Week: We move into the cream of the crop, numbers 6 to 10.
No disagrees so far 👍