TNA's trouble with themes

[Walt Flanagan's Dog]

A lot of TNA's themes are generic, but I don't think they're awful or anything. Ink Inc's theme sucks, but it's not offensively bad.

I actually think it's a good thing that, unlike WWE, most of them don't have lyrics. Jack Swagger's theme, for example, is a rip-off of Rage Against the Machine's Testify, but it would've sounded okay if it weren't for that awful Zack de la Rocha impression. I thought Samoa Joe's theme was decent (and how could you not like the Godzilla intro?!) until they added that droning rap.

 

[kissfan85]

The quality of their theme songs has improved over the past few years, but yes, they are light years behind WWE.

First of all, WWE has the money and the national awareness to actually get quality artists to do theme songs. TNA just doesn't have enough money and public image to generate much interest with musicians. For that simple fact, TNA's theme music will always be behind WWE's in quality.

Secondly, WWE has an incredible production set with an INCREDIBLY loud sound system. This loud sound system allows the theme music to come in clearly on your TV set at home, which generates fan awareness to this music to the millions watching at home. I can't tell you how many times I've not been able to clearly hear a TNA wrestlers theme song while watching on TV. Hopefully as they continue to grow, they will be able to improve the quality of their production equipment.

I know this is off topic but, WWE having a louder sound system doesn't equal them having better sound quality. WWE having someone who can run the sound board properly and a production team that has the right equipment and software to record that sound for the purpose of airing it on live television is more of the reason.

Back on topic AJ Styles has great theme music and so does sting. Tna has gotten a lot better in this department which is great for a company as small a Tna considering there size is comparable to original philly ECW bingo hall days

 

[jbwphoto1]

I can't believe there isn't an unsigned garage band with clips on Youtube able to write some theme music for TNA.

We know there is untapped talent that will work for cheap, so I can't believe TNA can not afford new themes especially since people running the show live in the country music capitol of Nashville.

Yes, WWE has had some duds and some themes that cause all of us to scatch our heads, but as one poster said, it's just another case of TNA not taking care of the little things in promoting their wrestlers.

 

[Weems2k]

As long as that knob who made all those WCW rip-off themes, and is now doing TNA's themes, they'll always be crap. I can't believe TNA can't find a few indie rock bands in the Orlando area looking to get their name out to come in a do a few themes. Anything is better than what they have now.

 

[shattered dreams]

I notice it from time to time but I think this issue is blown out of proportion. Full disclosure I do not care that much for music with words in general and think drawn-out entrances are pretty much a waste of time if you are not sandman or taker. Play a hook, have the talent do one thing, then get in the ring. Some in TNA do come off generic or are not especially memorable for sure but there are plenty I like, Anderson, Angle, Sting, Jarrett, most of AJ Styles' themes, fortune, have no problem with remixing classic themes, RVD, Hardy's old theme, Abyss and probably others. Long story short not a big issue in the least for me. Not trying to stir the pot at all but does WWE have many new memorable themes? Orton's new theme is alright, other than that I have trouble remembering any I like that are less than 5 years old.

 

[ABMorales787]

Ah, yeah. Why care about getting your show on the road, going live or getting bigger arena's when you theme songs suck? I don't know what the hell is TNA thinking. A cosmetic image is just light-year superior to an overall one. I don't really care about theme songs. Most of TNA's main wrestler's have theme's that exemplify a character a hell of a lot better than WWE ever can these days:







It's not a matter of me being biased by saying TNA's theme's are better than WWE's (of these day's). I say it, because these theme's basically tell you what the wrestler is all about rather than a catchy opening cut.

 

[iamcountrymusic]

Even though there are more important things, this is something i've realized. Kurt angle's theme is generic and it reminds me of Xpac's theme from around 1999 that Comcast now uses in the On Demand menu. It would have worked for Angle in the 90's.

The entrance movies are bad too. They're 4 second flash files shown on repeat. It's not hard to put together a montage of highlights.
When Big Show's current video debuted, it had 2 different things that happened the week before (punching Miz and Jericho). And that was just for his face turn debut.

Some of the songs really do sound like public domain or stock music from years ago. None of them are memorable and most of them don't even have lyrics.
Think about the success of Orton's theme. "Voices" has one of the most memorable opening lines i've ever heard. It made me and a lot of other people notice Orton. Legacy had an awesome theme. Saliva doing Batista's theme is memorable. HHH with Motorhead. The Miz's. Jericho's. Even Mr Ass' had a catchy theme.

WWE changes themes pretty often, while TNA wrestlers have had their themes for years.
i like the idea of TNA having a contest where unsigned bands enter songs they've written for particular wrestlers, and the winner's song gets used.

 

[legend23x]

Secondly, WWE has an incredible production set with an INCREDIBLY loud sound system. This loud sound system allows the theme music to come in clearly on your TV set at home, which generates fan awareness to this music to the millions watching at home.

The theme music from WWE doesnt' come through through from being recorded in the arena. It's just mixed into the audio fed to the TV recording. That's as simple as having someone in production bring the fader up to the right level so it's in the TV recording.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

If I see one more "TNA needs this" "TNA misses that" thread I'll fucking call the cyber police or backtrace you, and when I find you you'll wish you died as a child.

Seriously, what the fuck? Yes the majority of the songs are cheesy. NEWSFLASH! They're not allowed to use copyrighter material, they're smart enough not to waste precious money on a song, so they pay people to produce music for them - cheesy, but still music. And even when their music isn't the best in the world, it's still a WRESTLING theme. It's not Nickelback, it's not Papa Roach, it's not some other famous band's song which doesn't even fit the guy. Seriously, WWE has all the money in the world and they choose THAT PIECE OF SHIT OF A SONG for Bryan Danielson? They get BRYAN DANIELSON and they make him DANCE in the ring? Are you f--...ugh ... I digress. GET THIS! Financially - TNA is not WWE. That's how smaller companies work. Period.

 

[harrythem]

I find myself chuckling every time I hear DB's theme as it's stupid but I could kinda see him suggesting that song himself for some reason.

Anyways, to say that TNA is financially, a smaller company so not using good music is what smaller companies do isn't correct. As has been said before, I believe ECW was small budget yet they found a way to have some of the most memorable entrances in wrestling so it can be done, and music can really help set the tone for a wrestler (Ultimate Warrior)

TNA could work on music, their entrance videos (they're piss poor) and the pyro side of things. Yeah they're budget isn't as big as WWE's so, if they can't work out a way to do it so it still looks impressive, it'd be better not to do it at all.

AJ Styles song is fooking great though, and I'm still a fan of angles. TNA can make no generic boring music for talent at times, it'd just be nice if they made them more often, as it's a big part of the whole image that they're going for.

 

[Rayne]

If I see one more "TNA needs this" "TNA misses that" thread I'll fucking call the cyber police or backtrace you, and when I find you you'll wish you died as a child.

1) Do it, keyboard warrior. This is me, calling your bluff- when you start threatening to track people down, you step outside of the realm of hyperbole. Don't tell me when you're coming either, and try to get a jump on me, because I need the practice.
2) Not everyone feels the same way about TNA that you do. On discussion boards, people get together to discuss what they think. If you don't want to hear people talk about what they don't like in a promotion, stick to the official websites.
3) TNA, with a few notable exceptions, has lousy entrance music. TNA knows this, which is why for most wrestlers, the audio is really low in the TV mix. It's not an issue of spending money to hire expensive bands (which, BTW, the WWE recouped several times over by selling CD's, turning into a profit for them), but an issue of poor composure. Some of TNA's themes are good, but most aren't annoying; they're forgettable, which is worse.
4) Again, seriously, do it. You're a little puss making threats on the internet. I'd say I'll be waiting, but I know you're just a little puss who makes threats on the internet.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

1) Do it, keyboard warrior. This is me, calling your bluff- when you start threatening to track people down, you step outside of the realm of hyperbole. Don't tell me when you're coming either, and try to get a jump on me, because I need the practice.
2) Not everyone feels the same way about TNA that you do. On discussion boards, people get together to discuss what they think. If you don't want to hear people talk about what they don't like in a promotion, stick to the official websites.
3) TNA, with a few notable exceptions, has lousy entrance music. TNA knows this, which is why for most wrestlers, the audio is really low in the TV mix. It's not an issue of spending money to hire expensive bands (which, BTW, the WWE recouped several times over by selling CD's, turning into a profit for them), but an issue of poor composure. Some of TNA's themes are good, but most aren't annoying; they're forgettable, which is worse.
4) Again, seriously, do it. You're a little puss making threats on the internet. I'd say I'll be waiting, but I know you're just a little puss who makes threats on the internet.

What I said wasn't a real threat, numb nuts. It's from a viral video of some girls' dad yelling at her "haters" and ... aw just look it up. I'm surprised you didn't know that. Watch your YouTube videos people, do you have lives or something? [ SARCASM! Note it. Apparently you're too big of an imbecile so I must explain everything to you. ]

Now, read the part I bolded. You did? Good. Now read this : WHAT THE FUCK IS THE ISSUE THEN? Did Dixe just wake up one day and think "Hmmmm I want my employees' themes to make someone's eyes bleed!". What IS the issue? Money's always the issue. If they had spare cash I'm pre-tty sure they'd get some well-known band to write a song for them or use one from their album. They plug the shit in, the band sells more copies, the band might plug TNA during an interview, business stuff.

---

P.S: Don't be a hypocrite, schooling me on what people think and how I'm taking it is useless. I'm still gonna be a pain in the ass. Take your own advice : "On discussion boards, people get together to discuss what they think." Well, that's what I'm thinkin'!

 

[Rayne]

What I said wasn't a real threat, numb nuts. It's from a viral video of some girls' dad yelling at her "haters" and ... aw just look it up. I'm surprised you didn't know that. Watch your YouTube videos people, do you have lives or something? [ SARCASM! Note it. Apparently you're too big of an imbecile so I must explain everything to you. ]

Now, read the part I bolded. You did? Good. Now read this : WHAT THE FUCK IS THE ISSUE THEN? Did Dixe just wake up one day and think "Hmmmm I want my employees' themes to make someone's eyes bleed!". What IS the issue? Money's always the issue. If they had spare cash I'm pre-tty sure they'd get some well-known band to write a song for them or use one from their album. They plug the shit in, the band sells more copies, the band might plug TNA during an interview, business stuff.

---

P.S: Don't be a hypocrite, schooling me on what people think and how I'm taking it is useless. I'm still gonna be a pain in the ass. Take your own advice : "On discussion boards, people get together to discuss what they think." Well, that's what I'm thinkin'!

Yeah. In-references only work when you know for a fact that your audience knows what you're talking about. When you address a broad audience with an obscure reference that sounds like a threat, don't get all butthurt when people who don't troll YouTube don't pick up on it. Strangely, I don't really feel like an imbecile because I haven't watched the same YouTube videos as you. Right now, I actually feel pretty blessed for that.

What's the issue? How about complacency and a single-minded focus on their main event scene? Wrestlers like Jarrett, AJ, Anderson and Hardy (now) have recognizable themes which are actually quite good. Their mid-card is filled with wrestlers coming out to generic rock music. I can list off probably ten people within walking distance who could write music with catchy opening hooks that sticks in the audience's mind. It's just not that big of an issue to TNA management.

I don't care if you think you're a big bad pain in the ass on the internet. I don't quite give you that much credit; I just think you're an annoying twat who goes emo whenever someone insults his favorite wrestling company, but has no problem doing the same to other companies. I have no problem with you expressing 'what you think', but when it comes off like a whiny obnoxious hypocritical twat, you get called on it. That's what I think.

 

[Mr. Artistic guy]

You know what this means........RAYNE
............................................ZEVEN_ZION
..........................................................STREET FIGHT!!!

ok anyway, this seems to be a highly debatable topic which is good, makes for a good thread so job done for me i guess. OK I think there is an over-emphasis on the band's aspect to themes, having bands in may help but it isn't the most important factor. Some of the best and most memorable theme have been without them, sexy boy for example.

But just to be clear grapes taste nice, so don't worry

 

[Kizzo]

WWE has great production values... They have put a lot of investment into making sure their shows are the best of the best when it comes to production. From the highly expensive HD LED sets, high quality music, titan tron videos, and etc. They have really done a great job.

If you are a casual viewer and you switch from WWE to TNA... you know which organization is number one, and which company is worth billions.

Now TNA has improved a lot in production. So has their entrance music themes. I really like AJ Styles and Kurt Angles music.

 

[Rayne]

If you are a casual viewer and you switch from WWE to TNA... you know which organization is number one, and which company is worth billions.

Now TNA has improved a lot in production. So has their entrance music themes. I really like AJ Styles and Kurt Angles music.

I have to give TNA credit for that. Over the past year, their production has improved by leaps and bounds. Which is why I can't understand why there are so many bland entrance themes. An entrance theme is a jingle. The idea of a jingle is to sell the product. Much like a good wrestling theme, we can all identify popular jingles- is there anyone here who doesn't recognize Intel's jingle? How about 20th Century Fox, or MGM?

Now if the quality of their product that they're producing hadn't gone so far downhill in the past year, they'd really be cooking with gasoline.

 

[Mr. Artistic guy]

I was honestly consideing doing some along the lines of a 'TNA should move from the impact zone' thread but knowing how much people dont want to know about what TNA needs, theyd just like to put their hands over their ears and stamp their feet and shout loudly so they dont hear I dont know if I'll bother.

What do you think?

Themes in TNA are not as good because not as much money has been put into them. Thats just my opinion.

Sorry I have to say this in case I get done for spamming.

 

[TheTheDude]

A few people have mentioned ECW's memorable entrances... Sure the Sandman just isnt the same without Enter Sandman, and why would you want to watch a Gangstas match without Natural Born Killaz blaring in the background? but the fact remains, ECW pretty much fit into a nice little hole in the late nineties before artists and labels cracked down hard on copyright infringement. As it the company grew, and/or the stars jumped ship to the two big boys you had knock off soundalike themes.

The only problem with TNA's Themes is that, aside from TBP, the ring entrances take a whole 3 seconds, so even if they mixed them at a competent level you wouldn't hear much of it. I mean every time Abyss, Jarrett, and Joe enter the ring, all you hear is the 30 second hook before bulk of the song starts.

You know why you remember WWE's theme music? they pace the entrances better.

 

[wrestlemaniaxxx]

The only problem with TNA's Themes is that, aside from TBP, the ring entrances take a whole 3 seconds, so even if they mixed them at a competent level you wouldn't hear much of it. I mean every time Abyss, Jarrett, and Joe enter the ring, all you hear is the 30 second hook before bulk of the song starts.

You know why you remember WWE's theme music? they pace the entrances better.

WOW dude... this is exactly what I was going to say.

I was watching RAW last night and I was paying more attention to this. And I noticed the entrance of each wrestler was long enough to create some drama before the match. They start the music, the guy shows, the ramp is long so the wrestler take some time to come to the ring... then the wrestler poses to the camera and do play their character - no rush!!! WWE don't rush this.

But on TNA, the entrance last like 5-10 secs... as soon the wrestler is in the ring, they impatiently play the opponent music. So introductions are short.

Same with endings... and show conclusions. WWE let the wrestler shine at the end and gives him some time to celebrate or go back to the locker room. TNA, once the match is over, they go inmediately to Taz/Tenay or abruptly end the show.

 

[Kitten Cutter]

I'm sorry but money really has nothing to do with theme music. It's not like the WWE has multi-million dollar equipment and TNA has a karaoke machine. They got the same sound stuff; it's just that Jim Johnston is a genius and the WWE sometimes looks to new bands for material as well. TNA should experiment more. Think how many new bands got notoriety by being "the official theme music of X PPV" or doing a wrestler's new theme. Bands/groups like Saliva, Rev Theory, and Three 6 Mafia have done stuff when they were starting. Why not hire some little known band to play a wrestlers' theme? Why recycle the WCW guy when you could break some ground and use some new material? If anything it'd save them money. Shoot, I know four bands that would do it for free just for the press of having a song and their name on national TV.

The only way money gets involved is if Johnston were up for breaking his contract and I'm guessing he's pretty happy.

 

[HamsterWrestler]

WOW dude... this is exactly what I was going to say.

I was watching RAW last night and I was paying more attention to this. And I noticed the entrance of each wrestler was long enough to create some drama before the match. They start the music, the guy shows, the ramp is long so the wrestler take some time to come to the ring... then the wrestler poses to the camera and do play their character - no rush!!! WWE don't rush this.

But on TNA, the entrance last like 5-10 secs... as soon the wrestler is in the ring, they impatiently play the opponent music. So introductions are short.

Same with endings... and show conclusions. WWE let the wrestler shine at the end and gives him some time to celebrate or go back to the locker room. TNA, once the match is over, they go inmediately to Taz/Tenay or abruptly end the show.

I totally agree with this. The entrance lengths are basically most of the problem because the wrestlers aren't given enough time to play their character so people could eventually be able to relate a theme song to their character.

The song is also a problem but it is not as much as problem now as it was before. Look at the "rookies" of the WWE. Do they have interesting songs? Daniel Bryan, Darren Young, the Usos, Tyler Reks, and Kaval all have generic songs that don't really describe their character.
Now if given enough time, these wrestlers may be able to have their music tell you that they are arriving soon. This is also the problem with TNA.

The entrance theme does not help if it doesn't have a recognizable beat and if the wrestler doesn't receive enough time to eventually synch the music with their character.

 

[TheGamea]

The quality of their theme songs has improved over the past few years, but yes, they are light years behind WWE.

First of all, WWE has the money and the national awareness to actually get quality artists to do theme songs. TNA just doesn't have enough money and public image to generate much interest with musicians. For that simple fact, TNA's theme music will always be behind WWE's in quality.

Secondly, WWE has an incredible production set with an INCREDIBLY loud sound system. This loud sound system allows the theme music to come in clearly on your TV set at home, which generates fan awareness to this music to the millions watching at home. I can't tell you how many times I've not been able to clearly hear a TNA wrestlers theme song while watching on TV. Hopefully as they continue to grow, they will be able to improve the quality of their production equipment.

I agree that wwe money is easy to throw around and have motorhead revamp the theme but I mean cum on its MUSIC how many idie band ARE there??? that are good just look at the ads for freecreditscore, they held a CONTEST for sumone to do there song and if anyone heard ALL of the bands ALL of them sounded like they could win,

why doesnt TNA do this have indie bands create or make new music for there artist and all sounds need lyrics and hooks its simple I bet 3-5 ppl on THIS board play in a band.

I honeslty think TNA doesnt WANT to try, I often wonder IF I had control of TNA could I make it stand a chance and sumtimes I dunno and im pretty HIGH on my creativity, but the bottom line is the simple things they DONT do, they dont even TRY to do....