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Former WWE composer Jim Johnston is one of the unsung legends in the world of professional wrestling. From 1985 to 2017, Johnston wrote and composed some of the most iconic entrance themes in the history of WWE.
Jim Johnston created themes for WWE Superstars such as The Ultimate Warrior, The Undertaker, The Rock, Mr. McMahon and Stone Cold Steve Austin along with hundreds more fantastical entrance songs.
Johnston also helped write a variety of themes for pay-per-view events and television shows during his 32 year career with WWE.
Jim Johnston recently sat down with Sportskeeda's Dr. Chris Featherstone for another episode of UnSKripted to discuss a variety of topics from the former WWE composer's iconic career in the world of professional wrestling.
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Let's take a closer look at 5 things we learned from Jim Johnston's Sportskeeda interview.
#5 How Jim Johnston created the The Ultimate Warrior's WWE theme song
Jim Johnston composed some of the most iconic entrance themes in the history of WWE. One such memorable entrance theme is the classic "Unstable" theme for The Ultimate Warrior.
Fans would roar and rise to their feet after hearing the unmistakable guitar riff of The Ultimate Warrior's entrance music, waiting for the late WWE Hall of Famer to begin his trademark sprint to the WWE ring.
When discussing the process of writing and creating The Ultimate Warrior's trademark entrance theme, Jim Johnston revealed that it was a relatively easy theme to create due to The Ultimate Warrior's distinct personality traits:
"Warrior was one of the easiest ever. Because he was so intense with the rope thing and he just shot out from backstage so there was nothing subtle about it. So he was just frantic, you know, with the ropes thing. So, that's an obvious cue. It's relentless and that just translates to a guitar. It's just very straight ahead, it's what he's doing."
#4 Jim Johnston reveals the cheesiest theme he wrote for a WWE Superstar
Despite composing some of the most iconic entrance themes throughout the history of WWE, Jim Johnston also had to create music for gimmicks and characters that were destined to fail due to bad creative.
When asked about the cheesiest entrance theme he ever created, Jim Johnston recalled one such entrance theme that he wasn't best pleased with:
"I don't know if it's maybe the cheesiest. Some guy, who was he? His theme was toilets flushing."
Dr. Chris asked if Johnston was referring to T.L. Hopper, to which the former WWE composer confirmed that he was. T.L. Hopper was part of a string of gimmicks in the 1990s where WWE characters focused on an occupation. Plumbers, hockey players and garbage men were all introduced into WWE storylines, leading to fans growing increasingly tired of the WWE product at the time.
Jim Johnston revealed that it wasn't just fans who disliked those kind of gimmicks appearing on WWE television shows like RAW. The former WWE composer explained that he felt that all characters should receive good music, regardless of their character, and their music shouldn't be too gimmick focused. Johnston also said he was glad when Vince McMahon made the decision for all Superstars to have good music:
"In truth, i hate doing stuff like that. Because I always felt like, early on there was this, the vibe was baby's[faces] got music and heels either got no music or something really purposefully bad. And I just never agreed with that. I was like, 'Wait a second, the bad guys are just as important as the good guys. because the good guys are only as good as the bad guys and the insummountable odds that they face, facing those guys.' and later you think of heels that had great themes and it's just as important. So, i think those kind of toilet flushing moments just sort of cheapens the whole product. So, i was thrilled when we, Vince, made the turn and said like 'ok from now on, everybody get's good music'"
#3 Jim Johnston reveals a favourite theme he created for former WWE Superstar Aiden English
Sometimes the most interesting WWE stories are events or incidents that never happened or came to be. An example can be found in Jim Johnston revealing one of his favorite WWE entrance themes never made it to television.
During his Sportskeeda interview, Johnston revealed that one of his favorite entrance themes he ever produced was for former WWE Superstar Aiden English.
Jim Johnston explained that the theme was operatic and he loved the theme so much because it was "so wonderfully arrogant":
"Interestingly, I have a real outside the box favorite that keeps, something i wrote that i just love. I love it like it was written by someone's favorite artist. I take no ownership of it, i just love to listen to it and it was for a guy that never made it. It was basically an opera thing for Aiden English. And it's really too bad because it would have been, if a combination of getting the push he needed and if he had been able to come into his character full bore. Because it was so wonderfully arrogant. 'I'm Aiden English, Superstar the greatest thing that you'll ever see!' And i just always saw him, wow, how powerful if you could get to a WrestleMania moment where he's standing over some guy who's down and they play that music, 'the greatest thing you'll ever see' you know, it kills me."
Aiden English was released by WWE in 2020 as part of budget cuts associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, it is fascinating to hear that one of Jim Johnston's favorite ever themes never made it to WWE television.
#2 Jim Johnston recalls working with Lemmy and Motorhead while creating WWE entrance themes for Triple H and Evolution
WWE COO Triple H has arguablly one of the greatest entrance themes in WWE history. "The Game" performed by Motorhead is often put at the top of many lists when discussing the greatest entrance themes in the history of WWE.
In addition to performing "The Game," Motorhead also created other entrance themes for Triple H, including "King of Kings" and "Evolution," which was used by Triple H's faction of the same name in the mid-2000s on Monday Night RAW.
When asked what it was like working with Motorhead and the band's legendary lead singer Lemmy, Jim Johnston revealed that he was a complete gentleman to work with:
"Oh my god, Lemmy was really out there. He was a legendary guy, he'd been, you know, hanging around with The Beatles and i mean just had stories that would blow your mind. He was sadly just a horrible alcoholic and had all sorts of problems. But man he was a talented guy, and all the time i spent with him he was a complete gentleman and could not have been kinder and more respectful. The band, I mean, those guys truly were a band. When they were in the studio, they just start playing and they know exactly what everybody else is going to do and what their sound is and kind of like there's no surprises at all, in a good way. So that was an incredible treat and honor for me just to be hanging with them and to have spent any time with someone like Lemmy who was truly a legend in the rock world. Just a really interesting guy, man not without his difficulties, but again complete and utter gentlemen to me every step of the way."
#1 Jim Johnston's opinion on previous WWE entrance theme composers CFO$
Despite being with the WWE since 1985, in 2014 music duo CFO$ took the responsibility from Jim Johnston for creating entrance themes for WWE.
3 years later, it was announced that Jim Johnston had been released from his WWE contract after 32 years with the promotion.
When asked for his opinions on the CFO$, Jim Johnston revealed that he felt they were nice people, but disagreed about the themes that they had written for WWE. Johnston admitted it was his own personal taste, but he felt that all the themes sounded generic and too similar to each other:
"Well, nice guys. I'm not wild about the themes they write. Because to me they all sound the same. They all sound, theres a generic quality to them that you and I Chris were speaking about before the show. They don't tell anything about the character or the story or the character. It's just like big loud, exciting music. But, I completely confess its personal opinion. But, I absolutely think that entrance themes have to be completely about the story and the character. If it's not, it's no longer a theme, it's just music that coincidently plays when someone happens to be walking out to the ring. But for people to become stars and really be emotionally embraced by the audience, which is crucial in pro wrestling because if the audience doesn't care when you win or lose then you're lost, you have nothing to sell really. So when everyone is generic and you don't know who's coming out, it just kills the whole illusion."
It was reported that CFO$ were released from their WWE contract in August 2020 and have since disbanded as a musical partnership.
