WWE News: Former Member Of ‘The Shield’ To Debut New Theme Music
Entrance music has always been a key component to the popularity of professional wrestlers. Since the majority of wrestling is about creating a strong character for fans to invest in, elements such as the music they enter the ring to, along with even the ring gear that they don, are crucial in how successful a wrestler will be.
Entrance music has been a vital component in the full presentation of a wrestler or team for decades. Having the attribution of being the first people to debut entrance music, the “Fabulous Freebirds” team of Michael “P.S.” Hayes, Terry “Bam Bam” Gordy, and Buddy “Jack” Roberts recorded “Bad Street USA” in 1983, while they were one of the hottest attractions for the World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) brand.
Richard Slinger, nephew of Gordy and former All Japan Pro Wrestling star, shared his thoughts on The Freebirds debuting entrance music (h/t Wrestling Inc).
“Michael Hayes, Buddy Roberts and my Uncle Terry (Gordy) had such a phenomenal presence. They were the first ones to walk out to entrance music and whenever the ‘organ’ version, not the ‘piano’ version of ‘Freebird’ blasted and echoed through the arena people would stand on their chairs to watch them. Buddy had the jacket, my Uncle had the vest and the chaps and Michael had the robe. They matched but they each had individual characters to them.”
Hulk Hogan was also one of the first stars to make entrance music have a “larger-than-life” feel. His “Real American” theme song not only exhibited a great deal of passion, but it caused fans to hang on every word of the lyrics and the music that came with it. Moreover, Hogan played right with the music, with his trademark gestures of tearing off his shirt and his hand-to-ear pose.
Since then, superstars such as The Undertaker, The Rock, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, and Chris Jericho can all credit their theme music as being a vital part of their career success.
Over the past few years, WWE theme music has been quite hit or miss. For years, music producer Jim Johnston was instrumental in giving us the legendary music of many superstars. Since 2011, music group CFO$ have been taking over this role, being responsible for songs of stars such Daniel Bryan, Paige, Sasha Banks, Rusev, Bayley, Enzo & Cass, Finn Balor, Shinsuke Nakamura, AJ Styles, and many more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lV2HGLt2-E
Rock group Downstait has also dabbled in the composition of WWE entrance music. While their resume is not as loaded as CFO$, they are responsible for songs such as Zack Ryder’s “Radio” and Dolph Ziggler’s “Here to Show the World.”
Now, the group will also be responsible for revamping the theme music of former Shield member and WWE Champion Seth Rollins.
https://www.facebook.com/downstait/videos/10154234566443870/
Since his departure from The Shield, Rollins has been entering the ring with theme music that has not been very strong for his character. Although it is getting somewhat catchy nearly two years later, it still does not exude “champion.”
The music from Downstait is not a vast difference, but it does include his motto of redesign, rebuild, and reclaim, which stemmed from his knee injury that forced him to relinquish his world championship.
https://www.facebook.com/wwehighlights12/posts/1520048364981013:0
Perhaps this new theme music will help regain some steam for his career. Since his babyface turn, Rollins has not been the most exciting person to watch on television from a character standpoint. Perhaps due to his repeated matches against Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens, Rollins is in dire need of a spark for his career.
Over the years, theme music had indeed helped revive a pro wrestler’s career, and hopefully, Rollins can also receive some recharge from his new music set to debut soon.
[Featured Image by WWE]
