31 Best Entrance Themes In Wrestling History

30. Sami Zayn – Worlds Apart

The most likeable guy in WWE also has one of the catchiest themes. The Underdog from the Underground brings his love of ska to his entrance music, and while we’re not sure we particularly enjoy the genre as a whole, this song plays perfectly into Zayn’s carefree and upbeat character. Sure, it’s no “Ole, Ole, Ole”, the theme preferred by Zayn’s mentor El Generico, but if WWE’s live crowds are any indication, it’s definitely the kind of song you can enjoy singing along with.

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29. Mick Foley – Wreck

Only Mick Foley could have theme music that starts with two cars crashing into each other, which might as well be an allegory for his entire career. And for a theme that starts with a car accident, it’s surprisingly upbeat and catchy, making it instantly recognizable as belonging to one of WWE’s most positive (and also deranged) performers. It’s off-beat, it’s kind of goofy, and it’s become more and more appropriate for Foley as he spends his retirement turning further into a giant lovable Muppet.

28. Christian – Just Close Your Eyes

On the list of things we never thought we’d write, “a Story of the Year cover of a Waterproof Blonde song” has to be way up there, but here we are. Others might prefer Christian’s operatic “At Last” theme, but they literally released sixteen different variations of that song until they managed to ruin it completely, while this newer theme, which heralded Christian’s return from exile in TNA, is just as good, if not better. Actually, Christian even got a good theme song in TNA, when they briefly had the funds to give their wrestlers cool theme songs that were mostly covers of actual popular music (in Christian’s case, it was a version of Evanescence’s “My Last Breath”), but we doubt many people ever got to hear it.

27. Bayley – Turn It Up

It’s hard to explain why this theme makes us so darned happy. All we know is that Bayley’s theme is one of the few that can make us smile unironically during a wrestling show. In a world where everyone has to be somewhat dark and gritty, it’s nice to have at least one wrestler whose theme music wouldn’t be out of place in a Saturday morning cartoon. Plus, and we can’t stress this enough, her entrance involves wacky arm-waving inflatable tube men. That’s not musically related, but we feel like it has to be mentioned.

26. Randy Orton – Burn In My Light

Orton’s first theme after he was kicked out of Evolution is ostensibly a song about getting revenge, which then made the transition easily into his heel persona after they massively bungled his face run. At one point, WWE tried to replace this theme with “This Fire Burns”, but that was scrapped after only a few appearances, and Orton would return to this one before finally replacing it with his current “Voices” theme. We still like this one better, though. In a fun fact, eventually, WWE would re-use “This Fire Burns” for a debuting ECW Superstar named CM Punk.

25. Daniel Bryan – Flight Of The Valkyries

It’s always seemed funny that the quiet and assuming Daniel Bryan would get such a loud and bombastic classical theme as his entrance music, until you remember that it came about due to The Miz deriding Bryan’s original theme as boring and generic (which is what), which led to WWE going ridiculously over the top in the other direction. Plus, WWE probably appreciated being able to use public domain music while they worked on modifying it into what would become his trademark theme.

24. Batista – I Walk Alone

Hey, remember when Saliva was a big deal? No? Well, it wasn’t for very long, but they did manage to provide about a dozen different songs that ended up being used by WWE in one form or another. Their biggest accomplishment in the wrestling arena was providing the theme for Batista when he took off as a singles star, with the perfect song to go along with the muscle-bound Animal and his pyro-fueled machine gun entrance.

23. The Road Warriors – What A Rush

We considered using their original “Iron Man” theme here, but we’re not sure how litigious Black Sabbath might be feeling these days, and we didn’t want to take a chance. In either case, the theme music of The Road Warriors promised one thing: pain, and lots of it. It was as intimidating as the men who walked to the ring while it played, and likely the inspiration for several other theme songs on this list. “Iron Man” is definitely better, but thanks to licensing fees, when history is written, this will be the theme of one of the greatest tag teams in history.

22. Goldberg

The man who takes the longest time to get to a wrestling ring ever (and yes, we’re counting The Undertaker, we’re just not including WrestleMania entrances) has a theme that is entirely in line with that idea, entering to what amounts to a military march timed perfectly for the fans to chant “Goldberg”. Of course, eventually the fans figured out that WCW was piping in “Goldberg” chants and stopped playing along, but it was a great idea they had, initially! One of the dumbest things WWE did when they finally signed Goldberg (and make no mistake, they did many dumb things after signing Goldberg) was modifying his theme in a way that made it sound darker and even menacing, predisposing the WWE crowds to boo him, which made absolutely no sense since they were portraying him as a good guy! If you ever wondered if it’s possible for Vince to hold a grudge way too long, look at things like this, which happened two years after WCW was dead and buried, and you’ll have your answer.

21. John Cena – Basic Thuganomics

There was a time when we actually liked John Cena’s current theme song, but now we’re cynical and old and hate John Cena with the fire of a thousand suns. Also, there are way too many memes involving his theme to ever take it seriously again. That said, the theme music he used when he initially created his rapper persona still lives on in our hearts, mostly representing the dream of a heel turn that’s never actually going to happen. We’re only half-serious, of course, but we really do like “Basic Thuganomics” a lot, and at the time, it was pretty much everyone’s favorite. If it played on WWE television tomorrow, you would hear such a crowd response that you probably wouldn’t believe it.

20. Mr Perfect – Perfection

When you’re talking about a man who does everything perfectly, you have to include his theme music. Done in a classical style, Mr Perfect’s theme appropriately delivers the grandeur and ceremony that fit with a character who was purported to be the absolute best at everything. It almost felt like a theme that was for something far grander than a wrestler, but on someone like Mr Perfect, it worked, well, perfectly. We like it so much, we even tolerated the singles push of Curtis Axel as a Paul Heyman guy, simply because his music was a remixed version of his father’s theme that was pretty cool in its own right.

19. Bray Wyatt – Live In Fear

Wyatt’s entrance music is so completely different from what one would expect out of a wrestling theme, a low-key, laid-back tune that wouldn’t seem to imply incipient violence. However, when the character it introduces is a mysterious swamp preacher from the backwoods of Louisiana, suddenly the slow tempo makes a lot of sense. The hypnotic nature of the music fits the cult-like nature of Wyatt and his Family, and adds a certain air of menace to their entrance that just wouldn’t be possible with a more up-tempo theme. To hear it, you would start to believe that it’s the music someone would play in order to get others to follow them. There’s a reason why crowds began spontaneously swaying and holding up lights like a slow song at a rock concert during Wyatt’s entrances, after all.

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18. Ted DiBiase – Million Dollar Man

Frankly, the Milion Dollar Man’s entrance theme could have just been a loop of his infamous laugh and we probably would have ranked it nearly this high. Before Shane McMahon’s ridiculous “Here Comes the Money”, there was DiBiase’s theme, which was all about the Benjamins, baby. We’re sorry, we promise never to say that again in public, but we got caught up in the moment. Perhaps we were warped by watching too much of the WWE New Generation era, when DiBiase’s Million Dollar Corporation meant that you could hear this theme playing a lot during the Saturday morning shows.

17. Steve Austin – I Won’t Do What You Tell Me

In what world would Steve Austin ever rank this low on a list of great wrestling achievements? To be honest, we felt bad dropping Stone Cold down into the ranks, because the sound of breaking glass is guaranteed to garner one of the biggest reactions in wrestling. However, after that opening, there actually isn’t a lot of depth to Austin’s theme, and while the harsh tones fit perfectly with his character, it really is just a repetitive beat for most of the song. Plus, we had to dock it points for literally being a remix of Razor Ramon’s theme. No, we’re serious, it totally is, they don’t even make a secret of it anymore.

16. Ric Flair – Also Sprake Zarathrusta

At this point, we’d be curious to find out how many people still remember that this is a) originally a famous classical piece of music or b) the theme from the legendary Kubrick movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. In fact, we’re willing to bet that for most people, and especially for wrestling fans, this iconic theme belongs solely to the Nature Boy, now and forever. We’ll give extra credit for his daughter Charlotte’s excellently remixed version of the theme, which blends the legacy of Ric Flair with a modern arrangement.

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15. Brock Lesnar – Here Comes The Pain

Perhaps the best part about Lesnar’s theme is the pause between the opening riff and the body of the music, which former Smackdown color commentator Tazz would often use to announce “Here comes the pain!” Similar to the Road Warriors theme we talked about earlier, Brock’s theme is hard-hitting and intimidating, with an added sense of inevitability. Much like Brock himself, the rhythmic nature of the song suggests that there are no personal emotions involved, only an almost businesslike detachment, during which time Brock will enter, beat someone up, and leave without missing a beat.

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14. Edge – Metalingus

Edge bounced around from theme to theme for a while during his singles run, finally settling on this modified version of a song by Alter Bridge. The song has become so integral to the persona of the Rated R Superstar that we’re willing to forget the fact that it’s essentially sung by Creed. It’s almost funny, for the entrance theme of a dastardly heel, the actual lyrics are fairly uplifting (which, of course, you’d expect given the source). Edge retiring was sad for a lot of reason, not least because it meant we couldn’t hear this theme anymore.

13. Hulk Hogan – Real American

While he originally debuted in WWE using “Eye of the Tiger” in reference to his appearance in Rocky III, with this song originally being the property of the U.S. Express tag team, Hulk Hogan would soon grow synonymous with Rick Derringer’s pro-American anthem. When Hogan left WWE for WCW, he adopted another iconic theme in Jimi Hendrix’s “Voodoo Child”, but from the second he returned to WWE in 2002, fans were salivating at the prospect of once again hearing the opening bars of “Real American”.

12. Bret Hart – Hitman

The opening guitar riff is one of the most recognizable stings in wrestling music history, signifying the entrance of the Canadian wrestling legend from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The Himan’s hard rock anthem is fast-paced, energetic, and exciting, something that almost seems out of place with the stoic, business-like Hart, but which definitely served to get crowds excited for his appearances. We don’t want to say that losing his WWE theme when he went to WCW contributed to why he was nowhere near as popular there, but we wouldn’t disagree with that theory.

11. Randy Savage – Pomp and Circumstance

As several wrestlers have already proved, you really can’t go wrong with classical music. Also known as the theme that is played at more than a few high school graduation ceremonies, in wrestling, when you hear the iconic opening, you know that Macho Madness is about to get underway. This famous piece of orchestral music is iconic, memorable, and provides a sense of grandeur that is perfectly suited to one of the legends of the sport.

10. Sasha Banks – Sky’s The Limit

Along with the rest of the 4 Horsewomen, Sasha was one of the first wave of original NXT theme songs that really caught fans’ attention, starting to an absolute renaissance in unique and memorable WWE entrance themes. The theme just fits perfectly with Sasha’s “Boss” persona, has great music and lyrics, and is probably one of the most popular songs in modern WWE. For an added bonus, WWE had Sasha’s cousin, the legendary Snoop Dogg, perform her theme live at WrestleMania 32, one of the best moments of the show.

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9. Kurt Angle – Medal

Originally created for the short-lived run of The Patriot in 1997, Angle’s theme evokes the spirit of his Olympic origins, and would be a classic theme just on that fact alone. Howver, the crowd participation “You Suck” became so closely associated with the song that WWE repeatedly attempted to modify it for those times when Angle was a face, in order to attempt to stop the fans from chanting it at one of their top good guys. These days, they just let them sing “John Cena Sucks”, so maybe they’ve mellowed in that respect.

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8. Bobby Roode – Glorious Domination

We tried to resist the siren song of Bobby Roode, avoided even putting him on this list out of fear of being accused of just doing it because it was the “flavor of the month”. But this song has staying power, it has entire arenas singing along, and it is, without a doubt, one of the most incredibly ostentatious, over-the-top, letter-perfect themes to come out of professional wrestling. It is one of the most-watched entrance themes on YouTube, and it even inspired a series of viral videos under the hashtag #GloriousBomb. The fact that it hasn’t become a theme for any number of professional sports teams is baffling, but trust us, that day is coming. Really, there’s only one word to describe this theme, and you already know what it is.

7. Evolution – Line in the Sand

A great stable needs a great theme song, and Evolution made sure to have an iconic one for their entrances. It’s probably not a big shock at this point that a group headed by Triple H went to Motorhead for their music, even getting the legendary group to create an original song for that purpose. One thing we always though was hilarious was that the original entrance video that accompanied the theme was created before Batista was officially added to the team, so after he joined, random clips of him that were completely separate from groups shots that made up the rest of the video were inserted.

6. D-Generation X – Break It Down

Perhaps no entrance music spoke more to the cynical youths of the late 90s as that of D-Generation X, and for good reason. After all, that was the whole point of the group in the first place! When combined with an entrance that mixed video clips with their live entrance, it was suitably anarchic for one of the most chaotic stables in wrestling history. As a fun fact, a popular belief at the time was that the original theme was actually performed by Rage Against The Machine, but that was never actually true.

5. Chris Jericho – Break The Walls Down

To understand why Jericho’s theme deserves to be this high, you should understand that WWE has attempted to change his entrance music multiple times over the years, only to instantly switch back to the original tune almost immediately. It’s hard to find anyone in wrestling whose music has become so closely associated with their character that they’ve maintained it for basically their entire WWE career, especially when that covers a period where basically everyone in the company got remixes, re-interpretations, rap versions, and any number of variants in order to sell music CDs (kids, ask your parents what those are).

4. Shinsuke Nakamura – The Rising Sun

We don’t call things “instant classic” that much anymore, but this theme fits that definition like few others. When Nakamura was about to make his NXT debut, many were worried that WWE wouldn’t be able to replace his iconic entrance music from his time in NJPW, as they’d be unable or unwilling to acquire the license. They shouldn’t have worried, as this combination of strings and synthesizer is as close to perfect a fit for the King of Strong Style as could possibly exist.

3. Triple H – The Game

What can we say, Motorhead makes great wrestling theme music. How else could we explain two entrances from the legendary metal band in our top ten? While there’s a soft spot for “My Time”, his original theme as a main event star, somewhere in our cold, black hearts, this is the music best associated with Triple H, who may indeed be the biggest Motorhead fan in the world. For a man who claims to be the King of Kings, this entrance theme is suitably epic.

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2. CM Punk – Cult of Personality

In case you ever questioned how much WWE actually valued CM Punk, they not only paid for this Living Color song as his entrance music (Punk had previously used it in Ring of Honor), they continued to pay royalties for using it in archival footage on the WWE Network, instead of replacing it with a soundalike, which is their usual practise with licensed music. Heck, they even got Living Color to play his entrance theme live at WrestleMania 29!

1. Undertaker – Rest In Peace

It’s fair to say that no entrance theme has garnered as much of a reaction for as long of a time period as The Undertaker’s. Whatever the variation, two things will always remain consistent: the tolling of a funeral bell to get things started, and the fact that no matter which version plays, it will always raise goosebumps on your flesh. A huge portion of the mystique of The Undertaker is in his otherworldly entrance, and it just wouldn’t be the same without this incredible theme playing.

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Stephen Randle

Stephen Randle is an avid wrestling and film fan. He's been writing about WWE, movies, and video games for Goliath since 2015.