Why are TNA entrance themes really bad?

[projectaero]

Hey guys.
Just wanting to see what you guys think.
Why is it that WWE/WCW had really good entrance themes yet TNA themes just dont make good entrance themes.
I am yet to hear a good entrance theme from TNA.

For instance Samoa Joe's theme, Aj Styles, Ric Flair, they just sound poorly done.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Because they don't employee good musicians to make it for them, that's be my first guess. A company like TNA should find good unsigned bands, there's lots about, and strike a deal to use their music. They'd shouldn't have to pay much, or anything if they're shrewd, and the band will get some free advertising.

Although I have to say, I don't remember too many good WCW themes and all the good WWE themes are 15- 20 years old.

 

[Pedro08]

I don't know why TNA felt like it had to re-make Flair's theme song. He's used that one forever in both the WCW and WWF/WWE with no apparent copyright problems. I think TNA version sounds weak.

I didn't like Angle's theme at first, but it's grown on me.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Becuase musical production with such quality and consistency as the WWE takes major talent, Naitch. The same crew has been doing up themes for the WWE since forever, and clearly, they are pretty damn good at it. You just have to strike that lighting in the bottle, and find the right people to put together good sound for you.

Oh, and they all dont suck. Orlando Jordan's was bayngin. I liked both Angles and AJ's and Pope's wasnt bad either. As a whole, they arent on par with WWE, but dont seem so incredulous that any old person cant just walk in and shit out good wrestling theme music. Doesnt work that way.

 

[Jordan-Dixon]

Angle's theme is abysmal. AJ theme aint too bad. Hogan just made a slower verison of the nWo theme and flairs sounds garbage at the minute.

WWE themes are better with the guitar in the intro like , Batista, The Miz last theme, Bret Harts and many more which stick in your head as a good song, TNA's are not memorable....well not good memorable anyway.

 

[WhyTravisFelt]

It's a combination of poor production quality and lack of actual musical talent behind it. ECW had great entrance music despite having even less money to work with, so I'm not quite sure why TNA has such a problem. I agree with Y2Jake; they should sign some indy talent. Or maybe do like ECW did and shell out some royalties to use older, more well known music (Pantera, ACDC, Metallica etc; Sting could go back to "Seek and Destroy" for instance)

 

[London_RKO]

TNA's themes really are awful, and they don't see it but is a key reason why they will always look second rate. The worse thing is fans don't really know who's coming out on the Impact Zone, bar say the obvious ones like Angle, Styles, Sting until they see who it is on the screen. A theme has to have a immediate impact and the crowd need to know who it is. To me most in TNA don't and to be honest they all sound pretty similar. I do like Foleys and Team 3D's but even then it's just the music.

The WWF/E are world's apart, Jim Johnson (the music honcho in WWE) truly is a genius and has created some of the most well known music in wrestling history. Writing music and themes that just fit perfectly to a WWE character. And even when Jim doesn't create them, WWE get good bands to do themes for them like Edge's Alterbridge theme.

WCW was always the same, I was a HUGE WCW fan but most of the themes outside the top guys were rubbish. For example the only themes WWE used once they'd bought the company was Booker T's and the nWo.

 

[Shane101]

Jim Johnston is a musical genius.

The guy who does TNA was the same guy that used to do WCW, and he ripped off other peoples music.

DDP's theme was a rip off of Smells Like Teen Spirit.

 

[Saeros]

Tna have some good themes, Abyss' Judas Mesias' was good, Angles is also quite good, Rhinos is another of who they really done well.

As everyone else said though, they aren't on par to the WWE music department, so you cant really expect them to be great just yet. Given time and the right mixture of people, they will soon get the chords right (pun intended)

And also...WCW themes were good? Only Goldbergs, Nwo, The 4 Horseman are the only themes that stick out. Bret Harts wasnt bad either i suppose.

 

[Rasha]

wcw had some good ones: hogan, flair, nwo, sting.. thats about it really lol.

Leaving a few out, aren't we? Arn Anderson's theme was classic, and doubled as the music for the IV Horsemen during the mid 90s. Raven's "Come As You Are" theme is still my favorite of all time. And then there were the very solid themes for guys like Goldberg, Booker (Harlem Heat), and Vampiro.

Honestly, I think many of the themes in WWE now are terrible. Orton's last two themes have sucked. He never should've stopped using the Evolution music. His entrance was perfect with that theme, and it still fits his character. They completely wrecked Christian's "Just Close Your Eyes" theme with this new mix. His pre-TNA version of that theme was just awesome.

 

[TellMeWhy]

It's a combination of poor production quality and lack of actual musical talent behind it. ECW had great entrance music despite having even less money to work with, so I'm not quite sure why TNA has such a problem. I agree with Y2Jake; they should sign some indy talent. Or maybe do like ECW did and shell out some royalties to use older, more well known music (Pantera, ACDC, Metallica etc; Sting could go back to "Seek and Destroy" for instance)

ECW didn't use original themes. They stole songs from commercial bands without their permission.

As for TNA, I think anyone who watches the TNA product regularly knows what theme goes to who. Yes some of TNA's themes are very poorly done but some do stick out. AJ's theme song, Matt Morgan, Abyss, LAX, Kurt Angle, Sting, Beer Money, Awesome Kong and The Beautiful People's theme songs fit like gold. Even Flair and Hogan's remix themes are not even bad. Some of TNA's themes songs may not be on par with the great WWE themes but some do fit and go with the character.

 

['Classic' Ric]

I just feel that all the themes sound quite similar. If a theme kicks in as a surprise it is hard to immediately determine who is on their way.

An example of the TNA themes not being very clear is this past weeks Impact where Mick Foley laid out the British Invasion with the chair his music hit. If you watch it... his music hits and he quickly turns to the entrance as if someone might be on their way down to ringside. It really seemed like he didn't know what that music playing was.

Anyway... that is my opinion. Feel free to point out how wrong I am!

 

[codatious99]

TNA has a poor and low budget production crew. The music, hell even all those ppv and recap video packages are lame. the backstage interviews in the random white wall office is starting to get old. i can't think of a theme besides AJ or Kurt's that actully fits the wrestler.... and that MeM music was by far the worst ...EVeeeeR. the low quality really makes it hard to watch the show.

 

[Esteemer]

I suppose I'm in the minority, I actually love a lot of the TNA themes, Dale Oliver is the guy who does them I believe, Abyss has one of favorites, as do Aj and Angle (Cenas cousin does this one actually). Morgans is nice, Senshi's theme was good when he was around, I like the Hogan and Flair mixes, LAX theme is awesome, especially for a rap song of that kind because usually those songs suck, Ravens theme was/is awesome, but I do agree WCW dropped the ball on themes alot

 

[JBSMan]

Rhinos is another of who they really done well.

Rhino's is terrible, because as soon as those crash cymbals come in, it's just noise. (Due to not being real drums, just cheap samples)

WWE has the budget to hire all sorts of musicians to do to the job, in TNA it's one guy with a guitar and a sequencer.

 

[GenMe]

the TNA theme suck reallly they do suck i was just think about that like 2 days ago i told my self i wonder y the themes song of tna dont even have words they look like if there just piano made but any ways tna themes suck flairs theme suck flair aint flair without his origan wcw wwf wwe sound i think the only theme song i like is modest jeff hardys theme the rest suck hogans theme suck nash joes,kong all the tna roster and its true they should really get unknow bands with badass rock music or rap music some good shit so we could get hype up as soon as we hear the wrestles themes not like ton ton ton toooonnn we are look o its kong wow we need to hear some bad ass shit so we could get out of our seats and get hyped up hopefully hogan does one thing right and he upgreats everybodys theme

 

[prophefixz]

I don't know why TNA felt like it had to re-make Flair's theme song. He's used that one forever in both the WCW and WWF/WWE with no apparent copyright problems. I think TNA version sounds weak.

I didn't like Angle's theme at first, but it's grown on me.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dale_Oliver#Music_composer_for_TNA
It doesn't show properly but its Dale_oliver#music_composer_for_TNA

This just gives an idea of where each song came from and a simple youtube search will then show that pretty much most songs in TNA right now are rip offs.

Pretty much all TNA themes are ripped off from another song. Kurt angles/christians were all complete rip offs. If not, they were just new songs based on other songs (MEM - Godfather type theme or Team 3d/Booker T/ric flair/christian/sting/sabu/raven using cheap knock offs of their old themes)

I've noticed that it's only recently that TNA has started using their own themes. The only people i've seen with completely original themes are AJ styles and LAX. Homicide, mcmg, british invasion, world elite, pope, kennedy, morgan, hernandez, suicide, abyss among a few others.

I've got to add that TNA themes have got better recently. The reason I thought they were bad to being with was because they were just butchering old themes for people or using well known songs, and messing them up, for new wrestlers.
--
As for WCW there were some decent themes, but still had a lot of cheap rip off versions. DDP, Sting (non-crow), Raven, Ric flair. Hogan's theme was originally American made, but still sounded like a bastard child of Real american.

They also had some decent original songs; Four horsemen, goldberg, nWo (including Wolfpac), Filthy animals, bret hart. Whilst some of their more memorable ones were ripped off, they still made some decent themes. People forget that TNA isn't even 6 years old but wcw was around when theme songs became common place in the 1980s. They pretty much grew up producing themes with WWE while TNA has started decades after WWE which puts them at a disadvantage production wise. It will take them a while to catch up, as anything TNA do will always look like a cheaper version of WWE. This isn't TNAs fault, they are still going through their learning curve. I just think one main problem is TNA are quite lazy and just use rehashed themes for the majority of the WWE/WCW/ECW alumni instead of trying to create themes for them. If they are using a cheap version of their old theme, they will always draw comparisions with that company and people will remember them in that company. IF they gave ALL talent new themes, it would stop this. The only person who has actually had a new theme made for him is Kurt angle. It just makes me think that using a cheaper version of your old theme makes that company look very weak if they can't even get near WCW, let alone WWE, production wise.

 

[MyNameIsMURF]

First off, I have to stay that I'm not a fan of TNA to begin with, but I do occasionally tune in to see if TNA can produce something worth watching.

Anyway, I don't know if it's just me or if other people can relate to this...

Almost everytime I watch TNA, I almost never know exactly whose theme I am hearing until that particular wrestler is shown on the screen. When you watch WWE, you can tell in a split second after their theme music hits, who it belongs to or represents. Too many of the TNA themes sound almost exactly the same, or at least they do to me. WWE has spoiled it's fans and has for many years in every area that appeals to the audio/visual senses. Anything less is well...LESS..and I can't settle for less when I expect to be entertained!

I like the idea of having TNA cut some deals with breakthrough music artists. That's the cheapest way to guarantee some better themes. It's not a sure thing, but it sure beats the hell out of the crap they have now... ...

 

[justtxyank]

They all sound like they were made with a cheap computer program. Not all of them, but most of them. I remember in the early part of this decade when I used to search the net for entrance music and all I could find most of the time was a cheap midi rendering of the song. That's what TNA sounds like to me. It's always been a turnoff.

 

[TechWrestFan79]

By far in my opinion the best TNA theme is the Motor City Machine Guns theme. It's terrible they dont get a bigger spot in the company because they're both very talented wrestlers.

 

[Dowdsy McDowds]

It's kinda funny to start a thread that is seemingly asking a question, but not a balanced question. Some of their themes are quite cringe-worthy, but this hardly means that all TNA entrance themes are really bad. However, as this is a thread about opinion, I guess I'll give mine.
For those that remember Daniels' old non-Marilyn Manson 'Beautiful People' music, this may give an insight as to where the problem lies. MM's version of Beautiful People is a personal favourite of mine from the angry teenage years, but aside from that it was used by SmackDown! as their promo music in the early 00s I think. What I imagine happened is that they added the intermittent 'hah hah' chanty bits to make it sound different enough from the original. Whilst a good idea, the execution came off a bit cheap. The way I see things, you could use this explanation of 'good idea, poor execution' to a lot of their musical (and yes even their wrestling) ideas. However some themes, previously mentioned are the exception to this, Beautiful People's music being an example.

WWE does put a lot of stock into being able to use songs from established musical people though, be it Saliva, Motorhead, Killswitch Engage, Age Against The Machine or whomever, but some of their new themes are fairly terrible.
Sheamus' music actually starting with the line 'It's a Shame...' is really really bad writing seeing as they're making a pun on the guy's name.
Legacy's opening bit of guitar is pretty cool, then the line 'It's a new day' is squeezed out and again just seems kinda weak. I guess I don't need to point out Orton's opening gambit as Cena did that about a year ago or so.
It's not that I'm against theme music having words in them or anything, but when the writing is so obvious and on the nose it makes me cringe. HHH's Game theme is a classic even though it is playing on his nickname, but it's made up for by his slow amble to the ring then the spitting of water at the right time.

Anyways, that's what I'm thinking

 

[justtxyank]

By far in my opinion the best TNA theme is the Motor City Machine Guns theme. It's terrible they dont get a bigger spot in the company because they're both very talented wrestlers.

It's kinda funny to start a thread that is seemingly asking a question, but not a balanced question. Some of their themes are quite cringe-worthy, but this hardly means that all TNA entrance themes are really bad. However, as this is a thread about opinion, I guess I'll give mine.
For those that remember Daniels' old non-Marilyn Manson 'Beautiful People' music, this may give an insight as to where the problem lies. MM's version of Beautiful People is a personal favourite of mine from the angry teenage years, but aside from that it was used by SmackDown! as their promo music in the early 00s I think. What I imagine happened is that they added the intermittent 'hah hah' chanty bits to make it sound different enough from the original. Whilst a good idea, the execution came off a bit cheap. The way I see things, you could use this explanation of 'good idea, poor execution' to a lot of their musical (and yes even their wrestling) ideas. However some themes, previously mentioned are the exception to this, Beautiful People's music being an example.

WWE does put a lot of stock into being able to use songs from established musical people though, be it Saliva, Motorhead, Killswitch Engage, Age Against The Machine or whomever, but some of their new themes are fairly terrible.
Sheamus' music actually starting with the line 'It's a Shame...' is really really bad writing seeing as they're making a pun on the guy's name.
Legacy's opening bit of guitar is pretty cool, then the line 'It's a new day' is squeezed out and again just seems kinda weak. I guess I don't need to point out Orton's opening gambit as Cena did that about a year ago or so.
It's not that I'm against theme music having words in them or anything, but when the writing is so obvious and on the nose it makes me cringe. HHH's Game theme is a classic even though it is playing on his nickname, but it's made up for by his slow amble to the ring then the spitting of water at the right time.

Anyways, that's what I'm thinking

I've always hated the E's need to add words to everything. When they added "WHOOOOOO" to the beginning of Flair's music I died a little inside. That was iconic music that needed to intro. When it hit you knew instantly what it meant. Adding the whoo cheapened it.

 

[sevastra82]

I dont neccessarily think the actual themes are "bad"...its more like their quality that bugs the crap out of me. They sound very low and like they are coming from a tin can. Its the quality of the themes that bug me the most.

Look at the WWE...their themes are loud, crisp, and you can hear them almost crystal clearly over everything else. In TNA? They sound like they are being played in a tin can and you can hear the crowd more-so then the theme music itself half the time.

Thats my biggest issue with the music. They need better sound equipment and to turn up the volume on them.

 

[DexVendetta88]

I think the reason why TNA themes are so bad is because a lot of the themes are obvious remixes of well known songs, or in some cases a remix of a certain wrestler's previous theme that they either used in WWE or WCW. However, this issue isn't new. Dale Oliver has always had heat for doing remixes, and not doing a lot of original themes.

 

[Skiesofryan]

Part of TNA's problem is they don't do enough to create their own music. I agree with the person who suggested they sign independent bands to create some theme music. That would a) help those bands with exposure and b) give the themes better quality. One guy can only do so much.

One thing that's always irked me about TNA is they try to mimic the wrestler's previous themes instead of coming up with something completely new. As much as I love Christian's music, his was a rip-off of the Evanescence song "My Last Breath", which I'm assuming they used because it sounded like his "Just Close Your Eyes" by Waterproof Blonde.

Even Mr. Ken...errr Anderson's music sounds EXACTLY like his WWE theme. I hate that about TNA but I've accepted it...just like I've accepted they rarely give outside talent new gimmicks when they join the company.