Which is the better Hogan theme? An "Against The Grain" Story

[air_raid]

44 minutes ago, Carbomb said:

For example: Ric Flair is pretty much synonymous with Also Sprach Zarathustra - he's never needed anything else for solo wrestling, so he's always had it, or that shite electric guitar variant that TNA gave him.

I was thinking of this for the “ridiculous ways” thread but since it’s come up… I watched Priscilla the other day and the bit where Elvis kicks off his Vegas residency they play Also Sprach Zarathustra except for reasons I can’t put my finger on, it just sounded a bit wonky, and it gave me real “Ric Flair WWF 1992 theme” vibes.

[Chico Torres]

In terms of great variety and above average hit rate, making the case for Rick Rude:

Smooth Operator by Sade in World Class/NWA

The Stripper in WWF

The Janet Jackson Black Cat ripoff when he first came to WCW

Simply Ravishing song from the Slam Jam album

Also Macho Man is obviously most known for Land of Hope and Glory and the many variations of that, but in Memphis he used the Theme from Fame.

[air_raid]

Interesting question.

[Merzbow]

His WWE theme sucks though, it's like something from bloody Goosebumps.

 

[Chili]

57 minutes ago, Chico Torres said:

In terms of great variety and above average hit rate, making the case for Rick Rude:

Smooth Operator by Sade in World Class/NWA

The Stripper in WWF

The Janet Jackson Black Cat ripoff when he first came to WCW

Simply Ravishing song from the Slam Jam album

Also Macho Man is obviously most known for Land of Hope and Glory and the many variations of that, but in Memphis he used the Theme from Fame.

Eddie Guerrero deserves a nom for this too.

The only (potential) duffer for Ricky Rude is his rather peculiar ECW take on the Stripper theme. The blokes voice that comes in bloody hilarious.

 

 

Edited November 27, 2025 by Chili

[Chico Torres]

Not to mix up the threads but my against the grain opinion I have which applies to his themes and the wrestler himself is the the Crow Sting gimmick sucked and was so much worse than the high energy super babyface colourful surfer Sting from the late 80 to mid 90s. The original guitar riff theme and then Man Called Sting were much better themes than when he became a brooding goth twat.

The original sulking in the stands was a bit intriguing but then the starrcade match after being built up for a year was shit and then he gave up on the gimmick anyway and was doing the woos and it’s showtime except he was painted up like a shit mime with a spam forehead and boring music. It’s a shame that this is the version of Sting that most fans will associate with him.

[air_raid]

57 minutes ago, Merzbow said:

His WWE theme sucks though, it's like something from bloody Goosebumps.

It was a repackage job, it was an awful Taker/Big Show theme they did, which was “well, the Corporate Ministry doesn’t exist any more, but it’s still Taker.” It was all bollocks anyway since Show had been feuding with Taker no time prior, it was for the best when Dead Man limped off.

Made no sense for Sting to use it considering they’d used his Crow theme in a 2K15 advert!!

32 minutes ago, Chico Torres said:

The original sulking in the stands was a bit intriguing but then the starrcade match after being built up for a year was shit 

It wasn’t just the sulking. Everything from the first appearance of fake Sting prior to Fall Brawl, his flounce, gradual transformation into a sullen loner and the “which side is he on” stuff was tremendous, especially that brief window before SuperBrawl in tandem with Savage (who went the other way) culminating in a masterful crossroad moment at the end of Uncensored. There were quite a few cracking moments between then and Starrcade too even if they were diluted by too many “nWo members pretending to be Sting” finishes and PPVs you expected him to save the day and he didn’t.

Edited November 27, 2025 by air_raid
Man called Stiiiiiiiiiiing….

[BarryOVega]

1 hour ago, Chili said:

Eddie Guerrero deserves a nom for this too.

The only (potential) duffer for Ricky Rude is his rather peculiar ECW take on the Stripper theme. The blokes voice that comes in bloody hilarious.

 

 

Heyman doing the ridiculous singing on that, pretty funny to be fair

voted for Real American, Voodoo Child is obviously a better song but the amount of iconic moments with Real American as the soundtrack to it tips it over the edge

[davertfnewman]

The Wanderer for Flair would come from his "Rosie on my right and Mary on my left" boasts, wouldn't it?

I've always thought High Energy's theme was Jimmy's attempt at Suicide Blonde by INXS.

Always bemuses me that Hulk's song from his album featuring the lyric "Hey! You! You broke off the knob! So don't you go messing with my thingamabob!" isn't out there.

Edited November 27, 2025 by davertfnewman