Wrestler themes were once as important to gimmicks as character work, with fans being able to instantly identify a wrestler within the first two seconds of their themes. However, today's themes often seem generic and are lambasted online by fans, with many admitting that the quality has been steadily dropping since renownedmusic composer JimJohnston parted ways with WWE in 2017. During an episode of his "My World with Jeff Jarrett" podcast, wrestling veteran Jeff Jarrett looked back at Johnson's legacy in the industry.
"Jim Johnson. When you look at, we'll call it Sports Entertainment, and, really, how the business became National and exploded, and I know as an executive producer, if you will that first seven to ten seconds of music? How important it is to create the emotion of the character," he said.
Jarrett pointed out how iconic sounds like Stone Cold Steve Austin's glass breaking in his theme led to familiarity with the audience. "Jim created theme after theme after theme," the veteran recalled. "Jim is uber-talented, and he has a significant influence in WWE for a very long time. It's like, I believe that if you know you know; Jim is [a] first ballot [Hall of Famer], no doubt."
In the past, Johnson himself has admitted that the music in WWE was bad. During an interview with "Lucha Libre Online" during Vince McMahon's last run with the promotion, he described the themes at the time as just sound effects and noises, and noted how themes had nothing to do with characters and storyline anymore.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "My World withJeff Jarrett" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
