Jim Johnston Warns Against Preexisting “Emotional Associations” To Licensed Entrance Themes

In a recent appearance on Conversations with Conrad from AdFreeShows, composer Jim Johnston — the talent behind many recognizable WWE musical themes — weighed in on the increasing frequency of promotions and talent using licensed music for their entrance themes and other moments (per Wrestling Inc). Johnston’s opinion carried a level of nuance, allowing that the impact of such music can be palpable but (depending on a fan’s background) may not incite the desired emotional impact. You can read some highlights from Johnston on the topic below.

On how music can drive the mood of the audience in unforeseen ways: “For show themes, I think it’s great. Or it can be great. But you really have to pick very carefully. The difficulty with outside music is people already have association, emotional associations with it. So if you hear a song and it takes you back to, ‘Oh, that’s when I first kissed my wife in the car that night after dinner.’ That’s great, but that’s not what you want people in an arena to be thinking about, when you’re most important guy is coming out.”

On the purpose of an entrance theme in the context of a show: “You want them thinking about your most important guy. When Undertaker’s music plays, you only were thinking about Undertaker. You weren’t thinking about when you kissed your wife for the first time. Using outside music as an entrance theme I think can make the wrestler feel good about himself maybe, but that’s the end of positives in my opinion. Now it’s misleading.”