Published: 34 seconds ago by Dave Adamson | Last Updated: 34 seconds ago by Dave Adamson
Dave has been a website writer for WrestleTalk since October 2022, having previously written for Den of Geek, among a number of wrestling, movie and television-related sites. Dave has been around the independent wrestling scene for more than a decade, including behind-the-scenes.
WWE
A WWE star has addressed the fan reaction to their entrance theme being changed, with it being replaced earlier this year.
The May 23 edition of WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event saw Ethan Page enter a remixed version of his “With A Smile” theme, with fans reacting to the change.
Speaking on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Page addressed the fan reaction to the change to his theme, dismissing their objections, saying:
“Good, screw them, it sucked. Everyone just wants to take everything and make it their own. Guys, this is professional wrestling; this is not some sing-song happy time.
“The way wrestling is now, music starts, and everyone thinks that they have the right to play along, like it’s for them or something.
“But every wrestler has some catchy tune, everyone sings, so I come out and everyone was going ‘Ego!’ right away, and then they turned it into ‘asshole’, which you’re killing my entrance, especially on CW Network, where NXT is airing the whole time, where people are supposed to be talking about me, the commentators, legendary Booker T.
“Nobody’s hearing what he’s saying, because the crowd is doing what they want. They are literally cutting the audio. I have full entrances where you can’t hear anything.”
Having debuted in NXT back in May 2024, Page would also open up about the possibility that a WWE signing wasn’t in his future, having been rejected previously.
Music Sets The Tone
From the very first bars, an entrance theme sets the tone for the star in question through a near Pavlovian response and some have become as defined by their music as they have been by the matches themselves.
Much of the current crop of WWE themes are the work of def rebel, having worked with the company since 2019. While past generations may remember the work of Jim Johnston or the songwriting duo known as CFO$, def rebel, by contrast, is a music production company in its own right, founded by Doug Davis and with a history of works for the likes of Disney, Nickelodeon and Netflix.
There have been rumblings in the past of WWE stars being unhappy with the themes that they have been given, seeking to see them changed, yet this has only seemingly happened in a small number of cases.
It could be argued that familiarity is behind the dislike of any new theme, although some would no doubt affirm that whatever is new doesn’t hold up to what came before.
Page indicates that entrance themes are “not some sing-song happy time”, which is certainly true, as he goes on to note that it can be hard to hear the actual music thanks to the vocal live crowd.
As for “With A Smile”, a remix can be seen as an evolution of a theme, as long as the underlying leitmotif is maintained to such a degree that it remains identifiable.
Transcript from chrisvanvliet.com.
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