Let The Music Play

For those of you who don't know me outside of the world of wrestling I am a vocalist and a musician and one of the things that first attracted me to wrestling was the theatrical nature of it all. What could be better than two guys fighting to music? The pyro blowing up as you walk to the ring. The fans screaming your music back at you as you enter the ring.
There have been some amazing theme songs in the wrestling world and in this article I want to highlight some of my favourites and explain as to why a good theme song is crucial to your character. So lets start of with everyone's favourite;

Why is a good theme song important?

In the simplest form I can - YOUR THEME SONG IS YOUR CHARACTER BUT IN MUSIC. Your theme song should define who you are in and out of the ring. Theme music is so damn important because it is the first indication that the wrestling crowd has any sign that it is you who is arriving. You should be able to move in time to your music and let the beat flow through you as you enter the arena. The crowd should get your theme. They should understand within the first 30 seconds what type of wrestler you are by your theme music. Look at Undertaker's theme for example - its dark, its broody, its mystifying. This is everything Undertaker is.
There have been some amazing theme songs in wrestling and some really bad ones and there have been some guys who just can't get a definitive theme song ( Im looking at you Barrett.) 

What makes a great theme

Using Cena's first theme, "Word Life" as an example; The song was exactly what Cena was meant to be. It was brash, it was hip hop, it was edgy and it was cool. This was everything that WWE wanted to you to see Cena as. His attitude when he walked out made you instantly hate him. He was a white rapper who wanted to fight. Everyone's first thought should have been "douchebag". I mean the guy even got to sing his own theme. How many wrestlers get to do that? Its egotistical. He got to sing about how dangerous he was. That is why his theme worked for him as a heel. 

Another reason themes works is because they can add to your character or re-enforce specific points that you want to make about your character. James Storm for example;

James Storm - The beer drinking, red neck cowboy. What could possibly make you remember him? Oh Yeh! HIS DRINKING! So how do they make you remember that he likes to drink? They put it in his theme song "Long necks and Red necks." This again adds to his character development because people associate the song with the wrestler. Hell he even got to appear in the music video for the song when it was released. 

So who has had great themes?

There are a lot of guys who have had good theme songs. HHH has "The Game" by Motorhead and it sums his character up pretty well. He was nicknamed The Game so WWE hired Motorhead to perform his theme song. The song is angry, powerful and commanding. Everything that HHH is meant to be. 

AJ Styles uses the theme song, "Who's Ready To Fly". This song emphasized the fact that he was a high flyer. He helped to revolutionise the X-Division in TNA and that song reminds people of what he did. It also has a fast pacing driving movement behind it so it gets fans pumped up. 

Hulk Hogan has possibly the most iconic theme of them all. The Real American personified by Hogan himself. Hogan was the american pop culture icon of the 80s. Wrestling was huge and so was Hogan. That's all there is too it. My list could go on forever (if you want the rest get me on twitter)

honourable mentions go to Kane, Austin, Mankind and Big Show.

There of course has been bad themes such as Great Khali's as it seems almost too friendly for someone who is 7 foot 3 inches tall. Zack Ryder's music sounding like it came from a power rangers episode from 1992. Mark Henry's Sexual Chocolate theme that sounded more like a bad advert than sensual porno. 

Let me hear who you think has the best and worst themes at Twitter @LevellerLOW