They have had some hits. But jesus hell there are so many which are downgrades or just downright terrible!
Decent-to-great ones:
Seth's, even if it is just a remix of "Wild Eyes" by Parkway Drive, YOU HEAR IT AND YOU KNOW!
Dominik Mysterio
Joe Gacy
L..A... Knight, YEAH!
Roman's (Duh)
Grayson Waller's is so annoyingly catchy
Carmelo Hayes
Finn Balor's (Technically a downgrade, but still good as a darker version)
But just so many are bad. Just bad bad bad. I can point to how Jim Johnston was great as he had WAY more hits than misses. But I'll compare them to the most recent example, CFO$.
CFO's biggest knock was that their themes looped. Which to a degree, I get the criticism and agreed. Even if an entrance often lasts anywhere from 30 seconds to 2 and a half minutes at most, it still would be nice to have a complete song. However, they were great at doing several things (apart from the songs being "good."):
1. Creating recognizable music: They were able to create themes which, without just doing a soundbite of the wrestler's name or catchphrase, you could hear the intro and know "It's this wrestler" and it builds into it nicely. Paige's scream. FTR/The Revival's SAY YEAH! The fast strumming of Gargano's original theme. Nakamura's violin. The piano to Bobby Roode, I can go on.
2. It captured the gimmicks well: Johnny Gargano's original theme was the perfect underdog, heart filled babyface theme. Ciampa's for a psychopath. Sami's theme he thankfully still uses is fantastic and hyped, creates crowd interaction. Even a theme which has stood the test of time and hopefully will stay, Kevin Owens, is perfect for him despite being a simple theme. The DUN NUH, DUN NUH. Heavy beat of the drums. It has a rythm as a song, but also fits someone who's catchphrase is "Fight Owens Fight." It sounds like someone walking down to the ring for a fight and it has fit him whether he was the Prize Fighter, going by any means for the gold, or as his more anti-authority face character.
3. It fits for the entrances: Whenever I have tried to pick a theme song for one of my characters in e-feds I think of the entrance that goes with it. It does not just fit into the idea of capturing the character's gimmick but how the wrestler heads down the ring. Are there hooks to the music where they can do something to it. Does the pace of the song fit how they move. Even something as small as Johnny Gargano moving his hand while on the the turnbuckles as his theme shouts "Yeah, you'll never tear me a...part." To me, the music creates a spectacle when someone enters. Above all else, it sells you who the character is and puts on a show while setting the tone for the match upcoming.
I'll use three examples.
One from the Jim Johnston era of entrances:
One from the CFO$ and one from... Now, not made by Def Rebel.
Johnson Era: Triple H
Classic theme made by Johnson and Motorhead. The intro is iconic but the theme music creates a lot of what goes around. The beat the lights change, the timing. Triple H always times his movements to the music so you know what goes on at each time.
CFO$ Era: Nakamura
I said this before, and I'll say it again, this and his NJPW theme were bangers. But the violins create an artistry to his character. The fluidity of how Nakamura moves. The flashing of the lights. Also the crowd interaction too becomes part of it.
Now: SAY HIS NAME...
Okay, I know this is a meme now too, but this entrance has simplicity and awesomeness. Joe's turn not just at the ramp, but in the ring. Waving his hands with the music. To me, this is a great example of how important music is for a wrestler. But this interview he breaks it down.
Right now, Def Rebel is failing when it comes to capturing the wrestlers for WWE. Naomi's is just one example along with Sheamus. Even Sheamus' CFO$ theme was still really good. They need to go.
