How WWE's Music Works (ft. Jim Johnston)

Music has always been integral to WWE's product, so I interviewed WWE's composer for 32 years, Jim Johnston, to talk about his entrance themes, and we take a closer look at three wrestlers' music, the music itself and the story behind it: The Undertaker, Triple H, and 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin.
Huge thanks to Jim Johnston for letting me interview him, being so helpful and being all-round so lovely to chat to.
⦿ SCRIPT ⦿
Script: tinyurl.com/wwemusicanalysis
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Twitter: / albertgenower
Instagram: / albertgenower

[@AlbertGenower]

NOTE: Some parts of this video have been blurred for copyright reasons - can't be helped I'm afraid.

[@morris619]

how can we catch the whole interview?

[@AlbertGenower]

@@morris619 hard drive problems so it’s lost unfortunately

[@morris619]

@@AlbertGenower ahhhh man that's so unfortunate :(

[@AlbertGenower]

@@morris619 I know :( What I will say is that he is a lovely man

[@ritekraaut7837]

Wallah!! Great work, you missed rocky though. The music composed to his persona is second best to Taker.

[@jamokerson]

Jim Johnston deserves to be in the hall of fame!

[@AlbertGenower]

Agreed

[@adilasim3803]

Absolutely!

[@johnwilburn]

Long overdue.

[@chooseANAME852]

Wonder who would induct him though.

[@eamonnmaccionnaith5761]

Who cares. There isn't even an actual hall of fame.

[@beards-N-boonies]

Jim Johnston has to be the greatest composer of his time

[@bentonalexander4632]

Danny Elfman.

[@thejoshpresle]

Lol WHAT

[@eamonnmaccionnaith5761]

Are you serious? Firstly he just writes wrestling themes. Secondly, many of them are rip offs.

[@seamaftab]

4:18 Shivers down the spine, damn... Bring him back, please

[@AlbertGenower]

Any change would be welcome right now. WWE is on fire but the music is certainly a weak spot.

[@wwetnabamafan194]

​@@AlbertGenowerEither him or reconciliation with CFO$.

[@Don_Ramiro]

@@wwetnabamafan194 Still mediocre

[@wwechampion]

Wow, so all it took to get Jim Johnston on an interview was telling him the topic would be exclusively on music. That's actually impressive. I'm surprised this video has only gotten a little over a thousand views - Jim is a legend! Good work Albert!

[@AlbertGenower]

Aha I guess so! Glad you enjoyed :)

[@watchmman3408]

Love the Undertaker piano piece

[@AlbertGenower]

It’s so great - there’s a full demo here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nHzFo2mYadCrirc

[@letudemas1426]

I appreciate this in-depth musical analysis of wrestling music! As someone who doesn't come from a musical background and is completely self/internet taught, wrestling was my intro to music and it got me excited to learn songs. It made learning music an accessible thing and the lack of genre restriction taught me to be as open as possible as a musician. Thank you for documenting something that has been so important to me throughout my life!🎉

[@AlbertGenower]

Thanks so much for watching! Glad you enjoyed :)

[@ooodman]

Loved this video - you provided a novel insight into an often overlooked part of a wrestling production. Thank you for making this video!

[@AlbertGenower]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@CeemPlay]

Nice profile pic

[@tritnheat1]

Jim Johnston HALL OF FAME!!!

[@AlbertGenower]

Agreed… though it’ll probably never happen. Stu for HOF too.

[@lakkadbagga]

Top tier content mate. Insightful.

[@AlbertGenower]

Thanks!

[@BigJuicyLemons]

Fantastic video. I love Jim’s work especially with Taker being my favourite, but even down to a theme for a smaller star like Brian Kendrick. As a fan, I miss his work dearly, especially compared to the work that is being put in to WWE themes these days.

[@AlbertGenower]

Funny you should mention Kendrick-I met him a few months ago at an indie show and chatted with him about wrestling for an article I was doing about it. Very nice man and mentioned liking his old theme!

[@nvmnick9104]

We need more Jim Johnston interviews!!! I love this man with my whole heart, deserves the most respect & recognition for being able to compose iconic themes the way he did. thank both of y’all for this

[@AlbertGenower]

Thanks so much!

[@dattaprasadgodbole]

Thanks, for this interview.

[@AlbertGenower]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@El_Gallo_De_Oro]

Loved this video and the background music you chose. As a WWE fan I have a huge love and respect for Jim. He’s a legend and definitely doesn’t get enough credit. He deserves his damn flowers and to be on the hall of fame.

[@AlbertGenower]

They've always been reluctant with putting production/backstage people in the Hall of Fame... Ozzy Osbourne is in the Hall of Fame and Jim Johnston isn't? I love Ozzy, but come on!

[@stephendewarvisuals]

This was great! Currently working on an entire Roster of themes and it really is a mad quickfire world. Making broad strokes at all time and seeking inspiration everywhere, THATS WHAT LEAD ME HERE!

[@AlbertGenower]

The turnaround of themes was really something Jim was saying was crazy to work with.

[@stephendewarvisuals]

@@AlbertGenower I can hard relate, I have had themes needed on the day and just had to do it. WILD

[@AdamEmond]

nice

[@AlbertGenower]

Thanks!

[@Thebearwithnoname]

Great interview and examples used. Johnston is yet another example of how clarity of idea trumps over complexity. If there's an extended interview with Johnston we'd love to see it please!

[@AlbertGenower]

He was so great in the interview and willing to chat either side of recording. Unfortunately I don’t have the full interview recording anymore, but if I find a way to recover it then I’ll definitely upload it.

[@DanishMuqriChannel]

this video is really underrated... lots of works being put into, keep it up, man!

[@AlbertGenower]

Thank you!

[@tapiwanyakabau4058]

This video needs way more views

[@AlbertGenower]

Thanks!

[@Aniwazoa]

Absolutely fascinating!

[@AlbertGenower]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@sallengage6267]

Awesome Glad I've found this.😊 Thank you

[@AlbertGenower]

Glad you enjoyed :)

[@JermHunnit]

The day the Deadman ever leaves this earth, we have to honor him with that piano version of his theme song 💯⚱️

[@rKAL-EL]

Dude, this such a great upload. So glad this got recommended. I love the 90s WWF era of music. The entrance themes for wrestlers was always such a big deal for me. WCW had much more rock/guitar-based themes, with some gems in there like Arn Anderson’s theme. Nowhere near as timeless as Jim’s work but still good in its own way.

[@AlbertGenower]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@jamesasc7709]

would love the full interview

[@AlbertGenower]

I don't have it anymore :( Most of everything is in here though.

[@Justin_Bigelow]

This was amazing! A great breakdown of classic! I also just learned about Chopin and how his MARCH is scattered through modern music. Most recently THE Batman

[@AlbertGenower]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed :)

[@robdebank3666]

Excellent video

[@AlbertGenower]

Thank you!

[@ChrisLT]

Great stuff, JJ's a legend. I occasionally do wrestling themes for fun and they're super inspired by his work. And he's right, bringing things down to a core, simple idea can be quite the challenge. But that's what you need to do when the music is there to support the wrestler.

[@AlbertGenower]

Just had a little look at your channel - great guitar playing! I watched the 2022 Rumble again the other week and I realised how unrecognisable the themes were and I think it's down to the lack of simple but effective motifs. Johnston and CFO$ were great at that and I just don't think def rebel quite has it (with a few exceptions - Gunther, Rollins, Reigns for example)

[@ChrisLT]

@@AlbertGenower Thanks, I like to play. Yeah, there's been a bit of a drop in music, which is kind of a bummer. There's a certain magic that's been missing and it's hard to explain.

[@BeelzeJon]

Absolute legend \,,/

[@sheriflatif7800]

Wow this was well done, subed!

[@AlbertGenower]

Thanks! :)

[@tomic7493]

Nice 🔥 I've always also loved Kurt Angle's theme which was made by Jim, it fit Kurt Angle like a glove

[@AlbertGenower]

Angle's theme is great.

[@ajat3202]

Great content

[@AlbertGenower]

Thanks!

[@luketj]

great video 👍

[@AlbertGenower]

Thank you :)

[@azaraelhyzer3874]

Epic.

[@AlbertGenower]

Glad you enjoyed :)

[@ubernaffa]

Really nice video, bro.

[@AlbertGenower]

Thanks!

[@musicstarz2]

🔥🔥🔥

[@WhataDayDan]

Wish you spoke about randy ortons theme Lovely video

[@AlbertGenower]

Thank you! You may have seen it, but WWE themselves did a video about Orton's music: kzbin.info/www/bejne/n6C7pZZpq9Kfq7c

[@SmithCommaBenjamin]

Some say he was overrated, some say he copied too many other pieces of music, but something he was able to do was use entrance music to tell the audience who is coming- and how you're supposed to feel about it. His most brilliant idea is he used a simple sample to start so many wrestlers' themes. The Undertaker's gong Stone Cold's glass Rock's "If you smell" Razor Ramone/Mic Foley's car crash Bret Hart's guitar screech And so many more

[@AlbertGenower]

I wonder if it was his idea to put the static before Cult of Personality too-it's not on the original record.

[@ICONOCLAST]

Even if Jim won’t ever come back to making themes, we at least need CFO back or SOMETHING… ANYTHING other than trash ass def rebel. They make half assed generic bs and it’s embarrassing. WWE needs to stop being so damn cheap now that Vince is gone and spend a bit more money hiring a company/artist with actual talent to write new themes.

[@AlbertGenower]

There’s some good music now (first thing that comes to mind is Rollins) but Jim was the best. CFO$ had some great ones in Nakamura, Enzo, etc. though

[@ICONOCLAST]

@@AlbertGenower key word some. Not much. The very least each theme should be is decent. I see one’s like Indi Hartwell’s “impressive” and damage ctrl’s “we got the rage” and I just wanna throw up. Don’t even get me started on something like Ricochet’s new theme which literally sounds like a hip hop beat someone who’s never produced before made on fl studio in under 20 minutes with generic samples.

[@CtO-nj9uu]

​@@ICONOCLASTCFO$ sucked.

[@PluggedHades62]

Maybe one day I’ll learn what went thought writing Kane’s theme burned lolz, he’s my favorite wrestler and my favorite theme. But no this video was great

[@AlbertGenower]

Slow Chemical was always my favourite Kane theme. Thanks for watching :)

[@TheWrestlingScoop]

That theme was fire

[@jikazuku]

I need someone to comfort me and tell me jim johnston will replace def rebel, idc if its a lie just tell me please

[@AlbertGenower]

it will definitely happen (i am delusional)

[@chronos3910]

classic

[@ECWnWWF]

it's rare people ever ask him about hulk hogan's walk out music.

[@AlbertGenower]

That's true actually... I suppose Hogan is quite out of fashion these days (listen to the boos when Sting mentioned him on AEW a couple months back).

[@ECWnWWF]

@@AlbertGenower I don't watch AEW, it's just WCW repackaged..just like TNA was

[@AlbertGenower]

Different strokes for different folks I guess. I don’t watch Dybamite (don’t have time to watch 2 companies every week and already watch WWE) but the AEW PPVs are really good.

[@ECWnWWF]

@@AlbertGenower I don't watch WWE either and never purchased PPVs. The WWE really hasn't been a good product since getting the "F" out, which was now 22 years ago.

[@IblewuponyourfaceIII]

A lot of fans have come to hate Hulk Hogan because of his past reputation of being one of the most political wrestlers

[@shishioh]

He be stealing his ass off, just like WCW 🤣 Can't deny he should be in the HOF though.

[@AlbertGenower]

Good artists borrow, great artists steal :)

[@HaileyWongCello]

ur so cool 🤯

[@AlbertGenower]

Thanks Hailey :))

[@adozub3366]

So he wrote for Roman Reigns

[@AlbertGenower]

He did the music that Roman used from 2012-2021

[@Owen1516]

Doubt we will ever see a Johnston again, wwe right now have a serious issue with their music def rebel are horrifically bad and don't seem to get how important a theme song is for a wrestler

[@AlbertGenower]

Yeah, def rebel aren't the one. CFO$ got a lot of hate (undeserved in my opinion) for not being Johnston, but even their most virulent haters see them more positively now we've seen how bad it can get.

[@br-jj6re]

@@AlbertGenowerit’s worse than the mid 90’s generic biddle wcw had, tna themes back in the 2000’s could be fantastic too

[@Biscuitdough]

​@@br-jj6rechristians theme from tna was amazing.

[@_.0rang3._f]

Jim Johnston didn't make head of the table

[@AlbertGenower]

The music Roman used from 2012-2021 was made by Jim, he's only had Head of the Table for three years.

[@MegaSatelite21]

First, is not ex-chairman. The correct way is Former chairman and second, he is executive chairman today

[@AlbertGenower]

This video was made before January, when he returned to the company. And, yes, former chairman is correct. I'm sure Vince's feelings (if he has any) won't be hurt.

[@MaxperBF]

​@@AlbertGenowerand now its correct again)

[@ryancr35]

Shoiuld ask WHY DID YOU RELEASE REMADE THEMES

[@AlbertGenower]

What do you mean?

[@ryancr35]

@@AlbertGenower WWF Volume 4 - was tons of remade / remixed themes not used in the Arena lol

[@LinusKnight]

If someone is watching a video on Jim Johnston - and doesn't know who Triple H is , they don't need to watch this video.

[@AlbertGenower]

I guess this is normally a music channel so most people will be interested in music and not know anything about pro wrestling.

[@CeemPlay]

Shut it