There are many wrestling entrance themes that are considered to be iconic in pop culture, and quite a few of them were written by former WWE composer Jim Johnston.
Johnston is the mastermind behind some of the most legendary themes in history, but WWE recently decided to let him go.
WWE is a company that’s constantly evolving, and a few years ago the company hired CFO$ to start writing entrance songs. It appears that CFO$ will be steering the ship for WWE going forward, but there seem to be some mixed opinions on whether or not that’s a good thing.
Jim Johnston himself recently spoke to Newsweek, and he gave his honest opinion on today’s entrance music. The former WWE composer noted that he always made it a point to try and create music that would emphasize the character fans saw on the screen, but he feels the recent themes being produced sound too “homogenous.”
“Yes, it’s fair to say. I’m not working with them so I don’t know what their directives are. All I can react to is what I’m hearing. I’m sure they’re talented guys. But what’s being produced just feels too homogenous. It’s just music that plays—it doesn’t feel like each guy is really themed. All the women have a dance music kind of thing. And it’s lots and lots of loud sound effects.
What makes me the worst is not anything that happened to me, or any negativity towards those composers…I feel bad for the talent trying to build careers for themselves when I just don’t feel they’re being served well enough to become stars. Before “Stone Cold” was “Stone Cold” he was The Ringmaster. The Ringmaster’s theme was something I wrote for him. The music can make such a difference in the person and how they perform. That same guy who was dead-in-the-water as The Ringmaster, a couple of tweaks, different music, different attitude, and he becomes one of the most popular people in the history of the genre.
I’m wondering who is working currently at WWE who is an absolute superstar but, who, because they’re wrapped in a homogenous piece of clothing, they’re stuck and can’t break out? I would hope they would try to really brand each guy and each woman as an individual.”
How do you feel about the current entrance songs in WWE? Do you agree with what Jim Johnston had to say? Sound off in the comments below.
