What makes a good wrestling theme?

First impressions count. 

A cliché, indeed. But like pantomime, pro wrestling is an industry built on clichés - and clichés often exist for good reason.

If you’re trying to make your mark in the wrestling business with a character you’re planning to bring to life, it’s beneficial to think about every tiny facet of their presentation: the way they move, the way they dress, the way they sell, the way they act around the fans. 

When thinking about first impressions, you’ll no doubt have had a million thoughts about what you’re going to do to make a big impact the very moment you come through the curtain. 

Prior to even that though - there’s something really significant you can do to help get the crowd invested in your performance before they’ve even laid eyes on you; you need to ensure that you’ve got theme music that not only slaps hard but communicates some of the intricacies of your persona to your audience.

Here’s a few basic things you should probably be thinking about when selecting what song to use in order to make a five-star first impression. There's no right or wrong, so feel free to disagree (@TomAlmeidaWest) but hopefully these will provide food for thought.

‘Good’ doesn’t mean ‘good for YOU’.

You might have heard a tune lately and thought “this’d make a banging entrance theme for a wrestler” - and you might be right - but are you sure it sets the tone YOU are going for?

Since the late nineties, the sounds of distorted guitars and pummeling drums have been synonymous with tough grapplers, on their way to kick some ass. 

Heavy rock is certainly a tried and tested formula, but perhaps your character would benefit from a bit more nuance or individualism? Even if you’re an unstoppable beast in the ring, it doesn’t mean you have to settle for something that sounds similar to most of the other unstoppable beasts on the show - your theme should say something about what makes you stand out. 

This is a great opportunity to think outside the box and set yourself apart from your peers, so don’t spare any creativity!

Good example: WALTER

Nurture a Pavlovian response

When you think of the iconic themes from decades past, you’ll recall the adrenaline rush of a crowd coming unglued the split-second Steve Austin’s glass shattered, or the Hitman’s guitars squealed. And you'll probably recall the adrenaline rush when the words “You think you know me” burst through the speakers during Royal Rumble 2019! Through conditioning, the audience knew what was happening immediately (and blew the roof off the building) despite Edge not even wrestling for almost a decade.

Once they’ve seen you a few times, an impactful, distinctive first beat (i.e. The Undertaker’s gong) will go a long way towards getting the audience hyped for your imminent arrival.

Many wrestlers opt for a catchphrase or voice clip to really hammer home who’s about to make an appearance, ala The Rock’s booming “IF YA SMEEEELLL…”. 

This is a great idea in principle, but obviously not everyone can be as charismatic as ‘The Great One’. Make sure the quote is delivered with some decent conviction, otherwise people might just assume you’re some jabroni testing the house mic...

Good example: Bianca Bel Air

Get your shit in

Your entrance isn’t just about getting you from A) the gorilla position to B) the ring.

In the couple of minutes where the spotlight’s on you, you have a blank canvas to paint whatever picture you like about the person you’re portraying. 

Whether you’re going to be using the time to get the crowd on your side, or to make them want to see you get your face smashed in - make sure there are points where the music peaks and troughs in order to perfectly accompany your bespoke mannerisms, vocalisations, and signature poses and taunts.

Good example: Cara Noir

Don’t take the piss

It’s great to build anticipation for the moment when the audience finally lays their eyes on you - and a satisfying ‘drop’ - the moment after the intro when the song really kicks in - is the perfect time to make your appearance. 

But like a great meal at a restaurant (no matter how tasty it is), your experience and overall enjoyment of it is going to be severely depleted if you’re kept waiting significantly too long.

There’ll be exceptions obviously (such as if you’re going out of your way to appear obnoxious, or you’re going for something absurdly epic) but generally you’d better have a pretty good reason for keeping the audience standing around for longer than about 20 seconds with nothing to look at.

This is also important to consider so that when you win a match, the moment isn’t ruined by the music faffing about for ages before your theme gets going after the bell.

Top tip: make sure the promoter has an abridged version handy and has informed the person running the sound desk that your entrance and victory themes are different files. Triple H's theme 'The Game' is a perfect example of a wrestler trimming the intro from their theme to ensure a suitably energetic soundtrack to their victory.

Good example: John Cena

Own it!

We’ve all seen it - a wrestler rises to prominence on the indie circuit, harnessing the power of a great song and it becoming a huge part of their act. 

Using a familiar hit is a fantastic and very effective way to get an audience on your side, at least in the short term. But when you go to work for a company who for whatever reason are restricted from using licensed music, you might lose a huge part of what made your act stand out and have to claw back some star power.

Using popular tracks also runs the risk of accidentally picking one that another wrestler uses somewhere else on the circuit.

A way you can get around all this is by commissioning somebody to put together a personalised theme for you. There are currently some great specialists here in the UK - for example Hammerlock Studios, or Ben Hannah at Organworks.

They’ll work with you to make sure that the piece of music you walk out to not only paints you in the best, most effective light - but also that you own the music and can use it wherever you wish, hopefully lessening the chance of you walking out to some generic shite the promoter has found on a stock music library!

Good example: Clementine

This article was written by Tom West, you can find him on Twitter @TomAlmeidaWest