Why are TNA entrance themes really bad?

[ABMorales787]

How WWE's homemade theme song's are considered better than TNA's astonishes me.b I see pwoplw complaining about the low quality of the music and how crappy the artist is. WWE's are no better as of late. Drew McIntyre's theme sound's like a garage band playing Rob Zombie's "I'm Demon Speeding". R-Truth sounds better live than on the track (that says something). John Morrison's sound's like random words tosses in. Dolph Ziggler's theme is terrible, It's one sentence. That's it.

Of course TNA's aren't good, but they make due with what they have. At least their main event wrestlers have good themes. They aren't millionare's like WWE.

I got TNA's latest CD, "Emergence". I liked the songs. I liked it more than WWE's CD from last year (Vol 9).

I for one, enjoy the wrestling first and the perk's second. Theme songs are perks.

 

[Harrison101]

Wait, a sec, I liked Story of the Year's version of Just Close Your Eyes...Anyway...

TNA's aren't that bad in my opinion. The more recent new ones for Hogan, Flair and The Band aren't great, but there are some good ones, Styles, Angle, Samoa Joe, The Pope and Matt Morgan all have great themes.

It's all a matter of taste and opinion if you ask me. You don't necessarily need a ton of production and bucket-loads of money to make a good entrance theme if you ask me.

 

[DaveyR]

I really like Christian's TNA theme, Angle's old one and the "Look out" bit of Team 3D's. I love Christian's current theme but the two best, imo, are Punk's and Edge's. So maybe TNA should pay some royalties to get well known song for some of their top guys.

 

[TellMeWhy]

I dont neccessarily think the actual themes are "bad"...its more like their quality that bugs the crap out of me. They sound very low and like they are coming from a tin can. Its the quality of the themes that bug me the most.

Look at the WWE...their themes are loud, crisp, and you can hear them almost crystal clearly over everything else. In TNA? They sound like they are being played in a tin can and you can hear the crowd more-so then the theme music itself half the time.

Thats my biggest issue with the music. They need better sound equipment and to turn up the volume on them.

Bingo, you hit the nail on the head. That is the problem with TNA theme songs. They are just real low quality. The songs themselves are not bad as people are making them out to be. If they crank the volume a bit, I think it would help. Maybe they need to invest in new speakers, a new audio machine, both, or go in a bigger arena where the sound can vibrate better and come off louder.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

TNA themes are really hit or miss and I hope they continue to work towards improving this facet of production, as well.

Samoa Joe's theme is awful. It just doesn't fit him whatsoever, and nor does it make him seem menacing.

I go back and forth with Awesome Kong's theme, as it is borderline corny.

However, AJ Styles' theme is pretty good, however his first version "I am I am" is far superior to this version as it is much more fast paced and intense. This one is just so flat.

Also, Kurt Angle's theme is the bomb ... as it really gets your energy pumping.

And I would probably agree that they don't have a very professional person in their Audio department and the higher ups simply aren't as involved with critiquing the Entrance Process as they should be ... to make it the most professional thing it could be for everyone.

Entrances are one's first impression on a performer, so the music and the visual presentation is absolutely critical to get right.

Although, let's not think WWE is all that great either, as their entrances have severely gown downhill over the years, as well ... with their music as well.

But if this is just a sign of things to come ... then TNA is on the right track. Norcal and myself both marked out for Orlando Jordan's theme:


[YOUTUBE]N4ckSQW6MuE[/YOUTUBE]

And I agree that they do need to turn up the audio in the Impact Zone ... better speakers or they just need to increase the audio so it comes across better on TV.

 

[JJohns]

TNA should go the WCW route when it comes to their themes. What a lot of people don't realize is that a lot of the music that WCW used was actually from production libraries, including Raven, DDP, Jericho, Booker T/Harlem Heat. Very little of it was actually written for WCW, and when it was, it was usually by the same guy that wrote the themes for the Hart Foundation, the Rockers, and Shawn Michaels.....one Jimmy Hart.

Since Jimmy Hart has that association with Hogan (he was Hogan's "handler" for many years, and they are still good friends last I checked), TNA could bring him in to help with their music production.

On top of that, I'm pretty sure that with TNA's associations with Spike TV and Universal Studios, that they could probably get more session musicians to help Dale Oliver out with the music production that is used in TNA, without having to go to unsigned or rather unknown bands to attempt to craft theme songs for the wrestlers.

 

[shipititez]

I think that TNA themes are much better than current WWE themes in the fact that TNA music sounds more like traditional entrance songs, as opposed to WWE songs which all sound like generic modern rock and emo bands. Only the older WWE wrestlers use actual wrestling music that fits their characters, the rest of the new guys all get music that sounds as generic as their promos. To me TNA music reminds me of old WCW themes, where WCW would take either a wrestlers old WWF music and change it to avoid lawsuits ( see hogans or bret harts themes) or they would make instrumental versions of current pop just altered ( see DDP or Jerico). I think TNA music is better as far as wrestling entrance songs are concerned.

 

[Subzdno8]

I agree with you 100%. I have always felt like the TNA themes sounded kind of "shoddy" or pretty low budget. For some reason, for the most part they don't have that "big, catchy" sound found in WWE. I love TNA, and I really hope for their success. They are trying to go, and be "big time", and compete with the "Big Boy" they need to UPGRADE the sound of the wrestler's entrance themes. Not necessarily CHANGE the wrestler's theme music/songs, but at least REMIX AND REMASTER THEM!!! C'mon TNA! Get it right!

 

[donnelllangs]

TNa need to have some artists singing or rapping on the tracks that the wrestles are coming down the entrance way. It will give the music some life. Also the entrance way looks cheap too. They need to get with the times.

 

[JJYanks121]

I like this topic of conversation and I'm going to try and hit on some points that have been left out thus far. I will agree that TNA entrances need work, and that's not just in the theme music. Something just seems off with the TNA entrances, so here goes:

1) This is something that no one has mentioned yet but it bothers me for some reason: when they have a match where competitors come out one after another, they put the first song on and as soon as the first guy gets to the ring, the next music comes on without any stoppage in the middle. Considering that many themes are similar in tone, sometimes it's hard to realize the song has changed until you see another wrestler come out the entranceway. Just a simple stoppage in the middle would get the fans to anticipate that much more and give that much more of a pop when a wrestler comes out. I really think that could help. Of course.........

2) The music itself does need to improve. Some have hit on music quality throughout the Impact Zone, and I agree that it has no volume to it and thus will never resonate in your mind. Combine that with many songs that just don't fit characters and it's pretty lethal.

3) Many have mentioned that getting real bands to do the songs would help. I agree to an extent, but before that, I think a small change that can be made that WWE uses sometimes is a sound or audio clip at the beginning of a song. For instance, The Rock's theme was very generic but when you heard "if you smell..." it got you pumped. Stone Cold's started with the glass smashing and you knew what was to come. I guess my feeling is that either you find a song that fits the person, or you take a more generic song and hit on something at the beginning that will at least get the wrestler the initial reaction. An interesting example is Miz's new theme. The first time they played it, they pre-empted it with Miz saying "AWESOME!" and then the music kicked it. I was so psyched to hear that style and I thought that song was pretty good too, but since then, they haven't used that "awesome" clip and while the song is still pretty good, it would just fit that much more with that little clip.

4) If a name encites something.....go with it! For instance, if a group is called the Motor City MACHINE GUNS, why not start the song with a sound clip of a machine gun going off? Seems like it would make sense, no? Follow that up with some hard hitting Rock as Detroit is "rock city" and you have a killer song for a team. The song they have now kinda sounds like a 90s tv theme song, but the point is, take what you know about teams and use their names, personalities, etc to create songs that fit.

Entrances are generally hit or miss. I won't argue that EVERY song from any company has fit. What I can argue is that of the 3 companies that have had significant TV time, WWE has been head and shoulders above the rest. Maybe it's because Jim Johnston is on payroll and he just has a knack for the job. However, these days Johnston does themes for debuting stars which have gotten increasingly generic in a lot of cases, and he doesn't do music for higher ups. I'd be hard pressed to find a main eventer other than Undertaker who uses a song written by WWE. However, many guys uses bits and pieces of real songs that Johnston redoes to make into an entrance. Examples of this include Matt Hardy, Christian, Edge, Miz, and I'm sure others that I'm not thinking of. If you ever listen to Matt's song in full, meaning the real Monster Magnet song, it's very weird and slow until the chorus which is how Matt's entrance starts. Thus, the parts that they liked were taken and put together in an order that works for a wrestling entrance. That's how the others mentioned works too. For TNA to get into this level of decent music, the obvious steps are to put time into figuring out what music should work for a group, uses sound clips if it works, better sound equipment in the Impact Zone, uses a studio band for lower tier guys and try and get some real bands even if they are unknown to do themes for main event players. Basically, the key is to make you care about a wrestler before they say a word or lock up. Thus, the entrance is key. I will say that I do like Kurt Angle's entrance as it is unique and the music isn't bad. Imagine if it was cleaner and crisper with better equipment? Progress can be made very quickly in today's day and age. All it would take is an executive decision to actually put the effort in. It is my opinion that the effort would be well worth it.

 

[Chess]

I agree that most of the entrance themes are pretty bad. Having said that Jeff Hardy came in to "Bonkers" by Dizzee Rascal which is a top tune. I also really like Mr Anderson's theme as well as Kurt Angle's.

Samoa Joe's latest theme is weak compared to his old one.

I would say the reason behind the lack of imagination into TNA entances is the fact that WWE stars can take up 7 minutes to get into the ring (Taker,HHH whereas TNA stars are generally in and their music is cut at around 2 minutes.

 

[Genius_Deadman]

WWE has a guy who knows themes in JJ and Jimmy Hart's WCW themes were rip offs of WWE themes, so fans basically knew who they were dealing with once they heard a version of that theme. TNA either tries to give them a whole new theme identity (like Angle) or they remake a theme horrendously (Ric Flair). they need to can Dave Olliver (that's the dude who does them right?) and get some bands to do themes or bring in Jimmy Hart, who can make a decent rip off of a WWE theme

 

[mister_b1LL]

The only reason why TNA entrance themes are bad is because they're not as instantly recognizable as a WWE theme. For example, when you hear glass shattering, or "IF YA SMELLL...", everybody knows whos coming. But usually entrance themes in TNA don't have that opening that instantly clicks with the audience. Maybe it clicks with the audience in the Impact Zone, but it might not with television audiences. The only guys I can think of that have that instantly recognizable opening is The Pope, AJ, and Abyss.

But that's not to say that WWE's themes are more recognizable. When his music plays I never realize that Drew McIntyre is coming out until they actually show him on screen. Same goes with the Dudebusters, Vance Archer, and Mike Knox. I think the most recent example of instantly recognizable music that WWE had was The Miz's theme and now they changed it.

 

[Skorpiunz]

I have no idea what u guys are talking about. I personally think you're saying the themes suck cuz u honestly dont like TNA. Its clear people around here are clear on bashing TNA on everything except what matters, GOOD WRESTLING.

AJ's, british invasion, Beer Money, and Daniels. Daniels has the BEST music no question

YA OK.. SOME entrances DO suck.. but its a small number.. Joe's does nothing for his character, amazing red imo, MCMG and some knockouts imo but thats not many.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

I don't think TNA's themes are nearly as bad as anyone is making them out to be. If the moniker for a "good theme" is a recognizable and memorizable note or entrance, how are half the roster's themes bad?

AJ Styles' ("Get Ready to Fly"), The Pope (yell), Beer Money, Inc. (The cracked beer can and change falling before they yell BEER! MONEY!), Mr. Anderson (screams MISTER.... before the music hits), Mick Foley (BANG BANG!), Desmond Wolfe (howl), Hernandez (whistle), Hogan (nWo), Jarrett (sirens), Steiner (sirens), Team 3D (bombs dropping "Look out, look out, look out"), Rhino (Gore, Gore Gore), Beautiful People (very recognizable tone), Bobby Lashley (revving engine), etc.

There are few themes in TNA I don't enjoy, namely the "rap" version of Samoa Joe's theme, Matt Morgan (the singer is terrible), Consequences Creed and Amazing Red.

Bottom line here is that the "bad themes" are almost all owned by the least valuable characters to the company, so who gives a shit, honestly?

The fix to all of this (as others have noted) is simple: better arena sound quality. That's it. If I can hear the crowd over the music as much as I can with TNA, that's probably not a good thing.
Bottom line here is that the "bad themes" are almost all owned by the least valuable characters to the company, so who gives a shit, honestly?

The fix to all of this (as others have noted) is simple: better arena sound quality. That's it. If I can hear the crowd over the music as much as I can with TNA, that's probably not a good thing.

 

[peter_midnight]

WCW had some awesome themes. Dean Malenko, Perry Saturn, Scott Steiner, Lex Luger, Sting, nWo, Raven, Vampiro, DDP and Harlem Heat all had good theme somgs. Forgot to mention, but so did Sid Vicious and Goldberg. However, there were some bad themes that weren't necessarily bad, but definitely boring (like the Armstrongs theme). WWE hasn't had any good themes since 1995 or so. Seriously, besides Steve Austin and the Rock who's themes were good, who? HHHs was boring and so is the 1000 remixes of the Big Shows WACKASS music.

TNA themes are lame and the only ones that are memorable to me are Scott Hall, Abyss (I don't even like him), Jeff Jarrett and Christian Cage.

 

[Skiesofryan]

The last good WWE themes weren't even "originals" by Jim Johnston. My new favorite is The Miz's "I Came To Play" by Downstait. Real good fit for his character.

All TNA themes aren't bad, there are some damn good ones. Some just need to stand out more.

 

[Genius_Deadman]

I have no idea what u guys are talking about. I personally think you're saying the themes suck cuz u honestly dont like TNA. Its clear people around here are clear on bashing TNA on everything except what matters, GOOD WRESTLING.

AJ's, british invasion, Beer Money, and Daniels. Daniels has the BEST music no question

YA OK.. SOME entrances DO suck.. but its a small number.. Joe's does nothing for his character, amazing red imo, MCMG and some knockouts imo but thats not many.

i disagree. i'm not a fan of TNA, but i do like some of their themes. i like Beer Money's current. there are some who are good, but there are a lot more who are bad (Lashley because it doesn't fit him, Foley's is trash, Hogan and The Band's themes are identical, Flair) and others.

the problem that TNA is facing is although they got a handful of good/great themes, they got way more trash themes, which outweigh the good.

 

[Alex]

To be honest I like most of them but I think it's unneccesary to add rap parts into quite a few of them, I found Samoa Joe's Kurt Angle's and Daniels' themes better without the rap parts it just felt unnecessary and took away from the theme.

 

[Afro-Ameri-Spawn]

TNA's themes really are awful, and they don't see it but is a key reason why they will always look second rate. The worse thing is fans don't really know who's coming out on the Impact Zone, bar say the obvious ones like Angle, Styles, Sting until they see who it is on the screen. A theme has to have a immediate impact and the crowd need to know who it is. To me most in TNA don't and to be honest they all sound pretty similar. I do like Foleys and Team 3D's but even then it's just the music.

TNA's themes aren't really THAT bad. I mean they used to use actual songs before they got their tv deal. Then they had copywrite issues and had to come up with their own versions of some themes. You can see the same thing in ROH, and yet I don't see anybody bitching about how bad THEIR themes sound. Hmm, I wonder why. Fuckin Smarks.

The WWF/E are world's apart, Jim Johnson (the music honcho in WWE) truly is a genius and has created some of the most well known music in wrestling history. Writing music and themes that just fit perfectly to a WWE character. And even when Jim doesn't create them, WWE get good bands to do themes for them like Edge's Alterbridge theme.

Wait, are we talkin about the same WWE where they have a completely awful rip off of "It's Getting Hot In Here" as a theme for Alicia Fox? I mean seriously, outside of the headliners, their themes are garbage. And do we seriously have to look back as Rob Conway's old theme as an example of just how bad they can get or should we look at The Great Khali's? Take your pick, because 90% of the Diva themes are complete garbage and half the men's aint no better.

WCW was always the same, I was a HUGE WCW fan but most of the themes outside the top guys were rubbish. For example the only themes WWE used once they'd bought the company was Booker T's and the nWo.

That's because the top guys actually had expensive themes from real bands. Bischoff was tossing money around like it was nothing. Hell, remember when WWE:The Music first came out and Jericho had a kick ass theme in "King of The World"? Notice how that changed once the copywrite ran out? So yeah, it gets pricey dude, it get's pricey.


All in all, if anything, TNA is smart to save their theme money and to focus on the quality of the in ring product. It's rare that you see fuck ups and their wrestlers work had to put on a pretty damned good show. I doubt that you have many bathroom break matches on the show these days. Shit, people even tuned in to see Cody Deaner get his dick knocked in the dirty. The same can't be said of WWE right now. I mean, you can wrap a lump of shit into a fancy package, but it's still gonna be a lump of shit when you open it, right? lol

 

[T2KFreeker]

Damn you people. TNAcan't do anything as good as WWE can it? I swear, the Impact one looks cheap, the wrestlers are all midcarders or "WWE Rejects", The matches are terrible, the storylines are bad, and now the theme music is all wrong and not on par with WWE. Give me a freakin' break. "Because of the theme music TNA will never be able to compete with WWE . . .", yes, the theme music makes the whole wrestler. Are you serious? :ike all of WWE's theme music was awesome? I can't wait to hear the complaint that Taz not wearing a Tie is bad looking. Oh, and we need to put Mike Tenay in a Cowboy hat and call him M.T. I swear, you all complain about TNA wanting to be WWE and they should try and be on their own and then turn around and bitch that it isn't more like WWE. Stop complaining just to complain because I hate to tell you, but in the last month, TNA has been more original, even with copying the Screw Job than WWE has been. Most of the people I know have at least had more fun watching TNA over the last month than the same damn thing over and over again on WWE. RAW is so boring and predictable right now I don't even need to watch the damn matches anymore as it's the same crap week in and week out and when they do throw us a bone, they have to go and do something stupid to screw it up.

 

[dingman29]

I don't think TNA's themes are nearly as bad as anyone is making them out to be. If the moniker for a "good theme" is a recognizable and memorizable note or entrance, how are half the roster's themes bad?

AJ Styles' ("Get Ready to Fly"), The Pope (yell), Beer Money, Inc. (The cracked beer can and change falling before they yell BEER! MONEY!), Mr. Anderson (screams MISTER.... before the music hits), Mick Foley (BANG BANG!), Desmond Wolfe (howl), Hernandez (whistle), Hogan (nWo), Jarrett (sirens), Steiner (sirens), Team 3D (bombs dropping "Look out, look out, look out"), Rhino (Gore, Gore Gore), Beautiful People (very recognizable tone), Bobby Lashley (revving engine), etc.

There are few themes in TNA I don't enjoy, namely the "rap" version of Samoa Joe's theme, Matt Morgan (the singer is terrible), Consequences Creed and Amazing Red.

Bottom line here is that the "bad themes" are almost all owned by the least valuable characters to the company, so who gives a shit, honestly?

The fix to all of this (as others have noted) is simple: better arena sound quality. That's it. If I can hear the crowd over the music as much as I can with TNA, that's probably not a good thing.
Bottom line here is that the "bad themes" are almost all owned by the least valuable characters to the company, so who gives a shit, honestly?

The fix to all of this (as others have noted) is simple: better arena sound quality. That's it. If I can hear the crowd over the music as much as I can with TNA, that's probably not a good thing.

couldn't agree more... i don't think they are necessarily bad as opposed to not my taste (or lack thereof depending on who im talking to)

jay lethal's theme is something original they have done, and i thought it was not only funny, but a good theme for his character... it shows they have the potential to make the good, (halfway) original music...

you could have metallica, ac/dc, and motorhead all collaberating on lets say jeff jarrett's theme, but if the sound system is crap, the theme is going to sound like crap... the E probably has a multi- million dollar system, and tna probably has a pair of mtx's and a mixer from musician's friend... and im not bashing, i am being realistic... and i do watch tna every week as well...

i was so happy when tna decided to change the guns' theme, and even poked fun at themselves at the same time... i thought it could have been a little heavier but whatever

I've always hated the E's need to add words to everything. When they added "WHOOOOOO" to the beginning of Flair's music I died a little inside. That was iconic music that needed to intro. When it hit you knew instantly what it meant. Adding the whoo cheapened it.

i also agree with this... not EVERYTHING needs words... if you use someone's music, fine... but homemade songs don't always need words...

 

[capoxstatus]

well first of all they arent all that bad. Theres a few decent themes like kurts, aj's, joe's, daniels,morgan. Besides you cant hit homeruns with all entrance songs, the wwe has had a lot of more practice at this, and has the resources to go out there and tell their in house music guy Jim Johnson to start working on a new theme and he goes out there and looks for bands or artists to help him create a song. In turn when bands/artists do this they get their music out there for people to hear, publicity and most likely a nice check from wwe. TNA might not be able to do a lot of that so they most likely rely on their music guy to come up with something cheap or get lucky and a artist wants his music used for a little publicity. But yea i do like a lot of the WWE themes though. TNA does have some bad themes but dont act like the wwe hasnt had/have any.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

For the longest, I hated the MCMG entrance theme, but it has become way better, in fact, it's my favorite entrance theme in TNA now.

[YOUTUBE]Q7p2WlI2GVs&feature=related[/YOUTUBE]

TNA's entrance themes are not all that bad. I like Kurt Angle's,Samoa Joe's,Team 3D's, and Abyss's entrance themes. The only one I can't stand right now is Beer Money's. There was really no need to change it.

When you compare TNA's theme's to WWE's, it's hard for TNA to measure up. WWE has many classic themes. Triple H, HBK,Orton,Rey Mysterio,and Batista all have awesome themes.

 

[axl626]

I think TNA's themes are fine. You are focusing on the negative. AJ's is recognizable (with the "You are, you are. I am, I am." bit) and Kurt's is great. I really liked Christian's too. I don't really notice them too much but the beginning of Joe's lets you know stuff's about to go down. They just don't have the money to get the licensing. Personally I like original songs more than just some bands song that kind of fits. I loved the Wolfpack, DDP's, I still even remember Buff Bagwell's theme far more than Buff Bagwell.

WWE can get expensive bands to make their songs but it doesn't always work out great. I personally hate Rey Mysterio's song. And their original stuff isn't too hot now. Shelton Benjamin's current remixed theme is just bad, Yoshi Tatsu's is almost offensive, and I have no clue what Sheamus' theme is. There are always bad songs but to ask why are they really bad is a very loaded question which seems more like an attack than an actual discussion.