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Hello everyone—this is my first post here, something I naturally gave a lot of thought to beforehand. I have a special interest in the “old days”—particularly regarding the music—and I’d love to share that with all of you. Music is a constant feature of WWE shows today; every wrestler has an entrance theme, something that wasn’t always given in the past. And that is going to be my first topic here. If you’ll allow me, I’d like to take you on a journey into the past—to the origins of music in WWE and how it evolved. Much of it remains shrouded in mystery, though some aspects certainly do not.
Music was first used as an intro for a WWE show in 1971, though nothing further happened for a while. The show in question was “WWE All Star Wrestling,” which was akin to today’s “WWE SmackDown.” That changed on November 13, 1982, when Superstar Billy Graham entered the ring to Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger.” Superstar Billy Graham had been WWE World Champion for nearly a year during the 1970s and was very popular at the time. Consequently, on April 2, 1983, Sgt. Slaughter followed suit with the “Marines’ Hymn”; a staunch patriot, he won over the fans—especially in the U.S.—by strongly championing the country. Just 22 days before winning his first WWE World Title, Hulk Hogan received his very first WWE entrance theme: Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger.” Graham, meanwhile, was once again left without a theme.
Vince McMahon—the former owner of WWE and Triple H’s father-in-law—wanted to make significant changes and expand the league. Music played a key role in this strategy; in the spring of 1984, he struck a deal with MTV—the major music channel of the era—and Cyndi Lauper, one of the 1980s’ pop icons, made several appearances in WWE. She also allowed the immensely popular WWE Women’s Champion at the time, Wendi Richter, to use her hit song “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” as an entrance theme. This partnership paved the way for the inaugural WrestleMania on March 31, 1985, which featured high-profile guest stars, including former boxer Muhammad Ali.
That marked the turning point! WWE’s popularity continued to grow, and more and more wrestlers—though not all of them—were given entrance themes. Since acquiring licenses to use music on television was often expensive, Vince McMahon had to rethink his approach. To this end, he hired Jimmy Hart and JJ Maguire, who remained with WWE until the mid-1990s. They composed numerous themes for the wrestlers; the most famous of these are the first two versions of “Sexy Boy” for Shawn Michaels, a figure who is heavily involved with NXT today. This strategy allowed for significant cost savings while still providing the wrestlers with quality themes. In mid-1993, Jimmy Hart moved to WCW, where he continued to compose themes for wrestlers.
Some of you might be wondering: “What about Jim Johnston? Why aren’t you mentioning him?” Jim Johnston is a very unique case—especially regarding his beginnings—and I would like to dedicate a separate article to him. You will see that his situation is different; trying to cover it in just a single sentence or paragraph simply wouldn’t do it justice.
It took until mid-1993 for every wrestler—with the exception of two singles wrestlers and one tag team—to have a theme song. Naturally, some themes changed over the years: a different version, a shortened or extended track, or simply the removal of the intro (the opening seconds). As a result, for instance, The Undertaker has had 39 different themes since November 1990, and Triple H has had 27 since 1995. The Rock, incidentally, has had 32 themes since 1996.
As you can see, there is a lot to discover in this area. And I almost forgot one thing: “Signatures”—that short clip that plays before the actual show intro for RAW or SmackDown begins. Since April 27, 2026, the version used has been the second iteration of “Together” by def rebel, clocking in at 35 seconds. In it, Triple H says: “Then – Now – Forever – Together.” The first time a signature like this was used was on December 22, 1984. And here’s something fascinating: to this day, the true artist behind that theme remains a mystery! Most fans refer to it as “Symbol of Excellence.”
It’s hard to imagine things without music these days, isn’t it? I can’t picture it either—I’d probably just tune out. As I mentioned, that wasn’t always a given. You could say things really started to take off—or at least got moving—around 1984. There was an effort to break away from the old ways, and music added a crucial new element. People realized the potential of having a theme song. Without that evolution, someone like Scott Steiner probably never would have had a theme; he would have walked to the ring without any music at all—just the ring announcer’s introduction.
Following the departures of Jimmy Hart (mid-1993) and Jim Johnston (2017), the duo CFO$ joined WWE in 2012 and composed entrance themes for the likes of Shinsuke Nakamura (“Rising Sun”) and Sasha Banks (“Sky’s the Limit”). This collaboration lasted until 2020. Def rebel arrived in 2019 and effectively replaced CFO$ starting in 2020; they composed themes for Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins, among others.
I hope I’ve been able to give you a brief insight into the history of WWE music, and I look forward to seeing you again.
