What songs would make for good entrance themes?

[Slapnuts]

I remember someone once said on here that they would POP big for anyone using 'Phil Collins - Something happened on the way to heaven'

That's all I ever think of when I hear this song now! Those drums do make for a great start though.

 

CM Punk has always pick good "actual" songs with 'Living Colour' and 'Killswitch Engage' in WWE and 'AFI' in ROH. 

 

What else would make for a great entrance?

[WyattSheepMask]

 

[NoUseforaUsername]

This reworked as an instrumental with no vocals, adapted slightly to make it more suitable as a wrestling theme.

 

[Jazzy G]

Something about this blasted out through a massive PA as somebody stomps down to the ring ready to open the proverbial tin of whoop-ass. There's a good metal cover by a band called Klone that could work a little better. The sound at the beginning would be akin to the old countdown or the Undertaker's gong sound in that it'd get people's ears pricked up knowing something was going to happen.

 

[Fox Piss]

This is a brilliant choice if certain themes were used by wrestlers for the bigger occasions. I imagine the wrestler filmed coming from the dressing room to this (with a entourage to mix it up from Goldberg) 

Coming out to it every night might be a bit too much though. 
 

[PunkStep]

Obviously the correct answers are non-metal music. Metal themes are shit.

Duran Duran's Planet Earth on the other hand, was born to be a wrestling theme. The quick intro at the beginning is long enough to build intrigue yet short enough to not make Vince shout at you to 'GET OUT THERE PAL' from gorilla.

 

And kudos for suggesting Something Happened On The Way To Heaven.

[Kaz Hayashi]

I’d lose my shit if AoP or another couple of big barrys came out to Jump by Kris Kross. The d-lo brown record scratch, then straight in to business. 

 

[Carbomb]

For me, it needs to have some kind of opening sound, like the guitar screech on Bret's main-event music, or The Rock's "IF YA SMEEEELLLLL..." before it kicks in.

Also, I really like grandiose, big orchestra classical music - I prefer other genres to listen to, but for making something feel truly epic and big-time, you can't go wrong with a big classical piece. I still hold that one of the reasons why Italia '90 felt like the last time a World Cup felt like a HUGE deal until Brazil 2014 was Pavarotti's Nessun Dorma being its theme. And in wrestling, you need look no further than Flair, Savage or Bryan (although I wasn't impressed with them just having to switch it to a rock guitar version, it didn't sound as big-time at all). 

This version of Sibelius' Karelia Intermezzo would be great (although I've heard a slower, more stately version that would be perfect):

 

Also, Aaron Copland's "Fanfare For The Common Man" could've been a great alternative theme for Dusty Rhodes:
 

 

[BomberPat]

Terry Funk used ELP's arrangement of Fanfare For The Common Man in ECW, IIRC.

 

100% agree on needing an instant hook - a great entrance theme needs something that the crowd will recognise instantly, and react to accordingly. Nothing worse than the start of someone's theme making you strain to hear it and think, "hang on, whose music is this again?".

After that hook, you just need repetition, really - that's part of the reason a lot of rock and metal music is always the go-to, because it tends to be reliant on one repeated riff, rather than going off on a tangent.

 

Entrance music is one of those things, as a lot of presentation aspects of wrestling can be, where some wrestlers won't necessarily put too much thought into it, but it's part of the audience's first impression of you as a character, it's an opportunity to tell them something about who you are before they even see you. I've encountered too many guys who wanted to use a song because they liked it, or it was by their favourite band, without any consideration given to whether it suited their gimmick, or if it was suitable entrance music at all.

 

That said, on the very rare occasions I've used entrance music, I used "The Touch" by Stan Bush, because I thought it would be funny.

My short-lived old-timey gentleman gimmick used this as an entrance theme, which I bloody loved;

 

[garynysmon]

I know Scott Hall actually used 'Ready or Not' by the Fugees during his short spell in ECW, but it really works.

 

If Neville ever debuts in Impact or Ring of Honor, I hope he uses this...

 

[Joey Joe Joe]

I think Bailey should use this

 

 

[Carbomb]

14 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

Entrance music is one of those things, as a lot of presentation aspects of wrestling can be, where some wrestlers won't necessarily put too much thought into it, but it's part of the audience's first impression of you as a character, it's an opportunity to tell them something about who you are before they even see you. I've encountered too many guys who wanted to use a song because they liked it, or it was by their favourite band, without any consideration given to whether it suited their gimmick, or if it was suitable entrance music at all.

 

100% agreed. I always thought there were some guys who missed out because they either didn't take the time, or perhaps they just hadn't found the right track.

One of my favourite musicians is Mike Oldfield, and he's turned out some tunes that would be perfect for specific gimmicks. For the brief period when I thought I might get to be a wrestler, I was going to do a dandy/fop gimmick, for which this would have been absolutely spot-on:

 

[Sheffbag]

Fall Out Boy - My Songs

Great song for a walk out. I use it in Ice Hockey a lot. Crowd friendly element, great drops for a top rope pose and the "light em up, up,up" is good for crowd participation too

[Carbomb]

BTW @BomberPat "The Touch" is always a great shout, as is "Dare".

A couple more Mike Oldfield tracks - I always thought "Serpent Dream" from Tubular Bells III would've been a good one for Ligero when he turned heel:

 

And his track "Mastermind" would've been great for someone with a Bond villain gimmick: 

 

[BomberPat]

27 minutes ago, Carbomb said:

One of my favourite musicians is Mike Oldfield, and he's turned out some tunes that would be perfect for specific gimmicks.

I was actually pitching "Nuclear" to somebody recently; I have a soft spot for songs that actually don't fit the set of guidelines I laid out earlier being used as entrance music - it's one of those, "once you know the rules, you know how and when to break them" things. I wanted it as an entrance theme for a heel that would just take his sweet time getting to the ring, like he's got somewhere better to be - it's grandiose enough that it comes across like the guy using it is full of himself, but slow enough that it would do the exact opposite of a fast-paced babyface theme, and just immediately sap any sense of fun from the crowd.

 

I was actually undecided whether I was going to use "The Touch" or "Dare"; if I were to choose now, I'd go with "Dare". It was, first time around, for a ridiculous comedy match, I was the referee that had been goaded into accepting a match with a heel, and I wanted something that sounded like cheesy '80s workout montage music, but without going for something too obvious like "Eye Of The Tiger". The point was to have something that sounded dated, and incongruously like it should belong to an old-school babyface, as I envisioned my whole persona on the rare occasions I actually wrestled to be as if someone with only a passing knowledge of pro-wrestling had to imagine what a pro-wrestler looked like.