WWE Entrances- More unimaginative, lackluster, & uncreative then ever

[Ambiguous Turd]

I don't really have too many pet-peeves and nor do I do a lot of complaining about things in WWE, but this is certainly one thing I can't help but voice some concern over.

I can not believe we are in the year 2009 ... going on 2010 and that the overall production value of today's WWE Entrances are actually worse now than before they actually began the "Entrance Lighting and Pyro" in 1994.

WWE upped their game in the Mid 90's when they initiated the concept of Entrance Lights into the Wrestlemania X broadcast. From that point forward, things took off rather quickly.

I'm going to make some illustrations:

I can remember in the New Generation when the entire arena would go green when the Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase came out ... with a rotating dollar sign and a bill with Ted Dibiase's face planted on it, in middle of the ring (Mabel's MOM entrance was included since he was the first one to enter, as well).

[YOUTUBE]WGgB7eb2m-s[/YOUTUBE]


When Bam Bam Bigelow came out, the entire arena went yellow and red to signify fire. We had pyro and flames shooting out from the back of the center of the ring (not just the turnbuckles).


Goldust came out to Hollywood stars along the entranceway to an arena lit with gold lighting. Then, actual little Gold slips of paper were released when he prepared to take off his wig to glitter in the light.


[YOUTUBE]i2QLUhy_gwM[/YOUTUBE]





Both Edge and Gangrel.

Edge who would enter in darkness from the crowd while the cameras searched for him. Gangrel rising up from a lake of fire, and entering to a completely red arena.

[YOUTUBE]uI63gYxf4AU[/YOUTUBE]





Owen Hart and Tatanka

[YOUTUBE]9tBgLogomCM[/YOUTUBE]



Or Mabel from Men on a Mission ... with the red police lights going off and white lights ... symbolizing the red police lights and sirens ... with the white search lights ... reflecting the background of his character being from the city.

[YOUTUBE]W55PFAsmEaU[/YOUTUBE]



And of course, Bret The Hitman Hart, posterboy for the New Generation, which had a pink arena with lighted up hearts all over the place:


[YOUTUBE]am6WIlwsc50[/YOUTUBE]


And I compare stuff like that, compared to what I see today, and I just wonder in disbelief how even such a thing like entrances could have become more bland over the years then what they once were.

Now obviously, I don't count DX, Taker, Kane, or The Hurricane as they've had those entrances for years.

But I am talking about the likes of Main Eventers and Upper Midcarders like:

John Cena
Batista
CM Punk
Edge
Mark Henry

Basically nothing but very bland, white lights. No color or ambiance throughout the arena. Very dull with very little creativity shown.

And just about the same with Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase, MVP, Evan Bourne, Dolph Ziggler, Gail Kim, and just about the entire rest of the roster.

One of my big things with wrestling is theatrics and hype ... and this is a major opportunity to do so when a superstar makes his or her entrance. If it were up to me, I would put a lot more effort into this aspect of the product, like they used to ... to generate excitement even more.

I feel by doing these things and providing almost a concert-like atmosphere that Wows people ... that this gets them into the matches even more.

Does anyone else feel that WWE has actually taken a step backwards over the years in this aspect? Or do you feel that the toning down of the entrances is more appropriate for a pro wrestling show? Are there any other specific things you would like to see added to the entrances of today? More pyro for someone. Different lighting for someone else?

I think something as simple as basic Color Scheme plays a big part in this ... and WWE used to dim all the ring lights in the arena so only the entrance/stage lights were on during an entrance. Now, they do those lights while keeping the rest of the ring lights on at the same time for almost all the entrances ... which really dulls things down in my view.

Anyway, please share your thoughts.

 

[NSL]

I'm actually a fan of the entrances. Watching TNA every week reminds me just how much an over-exaggerated entrance can take away from the match. Take the Beautiful People for example. It's a great entrance, but then they still have to wrestle.

Christian has a decent entrance, and it's helped a lot by just having great music. He still does the look-out for the peeps, and keeps it simple. Jack Swagger's entrance in ECW was great, and stayed in character, but it's getting overdone now with the push-ups.

There are people with flashy ones, and I have to disagree with the short list you posted. Edge and Batista have two of the best entrances in my opinion, and outside of the "salute", I like Cena's. I'm not sure I'd include CM Punk or Mark Henry in that list though. They're not regular main eventers, and have yet to get a sustained push. (Punk's push, or lack thereof, is for a different time though).

All that said, I do miss some old WWE entrances. Shawn Michaels always had great ones, and Goldust's were great for the attitude era. They were always "just right". They were over the top when needed, but never took away from what was going on in storyline.

 

[X]

I'll tell you why the WWE entrances are so shit and have been for years---because the WWE just started using licensed pop songs, but not any songs, no they pick only the worst of the current rock scene to do their music. The fact that Nickelback is going to be playing the new Raw theme next week says all you need to know about why the entrances suck. How the fuck am I supposed to get pumped up for a match when I've got fucking Alter Bridge playing in the background?

They need to go back to coming up with their own themes. What's Jim Johnston doing these days?

 

[Mr. TM]

I had a good talk relating to MMA about this with Marquis. I always feel that watching a DREAM, or and Japanese MMA event, you get a more epic feel, and you can see with the fun entrances from Strikeforce, that same feeling, compared to the bland entrances in the UFC. But if you really get at it, I am surprised that UFC does not embrace the WWE style.

But getting back to the WWE, yes, I do feel there has been a bit of a drop in their entrance. Really, it is a song, and some white lights. Just by adding a bit more flashy, but personal touch to their entrances, it could bring the fans into the match.

You had Edge down, but I like his entrance. It suits his character. But some have lost their better entrances, like MVP, when he lost the tunnel entrance. If the WWE did put more creative thought into each wrestlers entrances, I can see a deeper personal connection between fans and superstars.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

I'll tell you why the WWE entrances are so shit and have been for years---because the WWE just started using licensed pop songs, but not any songs, no they pick only the worst of the current rock scene to do their music. The fact that Nickelback is going to be playing the new Raw theme next week says all you need to know about why the entrances suck. How the fuck am I supposed to get pumped up for a match when I've got fucking Alter Bridge playing in the background?

They need to go back to coming up with their own themes. What's Jim Johnston doing these days?

And I completely concur with that, as well. There simply is not enough variety in what they are doing.

I have no problem with Pop Rock and actually encourage GOOD POP SONGS, as well (which a lot of the current ones are not, as you said) ... but let's get a good variety of music in there.

Rock/Alternative ... 90's style Pop/Rock ... 80's style music and 80's Pop, Techno, Dance, Rap ....


There is an entire market just waiting to be tapped into through music which would do a Hell of a lot to enhance the entrances, get the fans pumped up ... in some cases mesmerized if the quality of the entrance is good enough .... and Vince is not taking advantage of it- through the audio ... or in terms of quality of production with the entrance itself.

But it's incredible seeing how time goes by, the business actually goes backwards instead of forward in this regard.

 

[rko_for_king]

The most recent entrance I can think of that I like was.................... GREGORY HELMS!
Seriously I just loved the whole thing the entrance attire, the music, the arrogant holding of the title, the purple lights and the entrance video I just thought it worked extremley well together. (Btw I mean the music that was before the 'My time' the one that goes like this)

[YOUTUBE]PpBQe2nxuXk[/YOUTUBE]


Have a great day all .

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[JJYanks121]

The crazy light schemes and settings go with the crazier and more outlandish characters that existed in that time. Nowadays, we have personas. Everyone is basicallya guy with a hopefully unique personality. Edge is the "ultimate opportunist", Batista is "the animal", Triple H is "the cerebral assassin" or "Mr. DX", CM Punk is "straight edge". An entrance needs to fit a personality. If you are insinuating that a character like CM Punk should have an outlandish entrance, I would think the opposite. Considering his character doesn't need the drugs and alcohol everyone else does and considering he belittles crowds for this, why would he play to a crowd and have an outlandish entrance? Simpler the better for his character.

You have to remember that we are in a world where the biggest competitor to WWE is MMA. In this sense, the WWE is more of a performance but still closer to a fight than it has ever been. The product is supposed to be more "real" these days in terms of wrestlers not having gimmicks anymore. Therefore, their entrance music should fit their personality (like Batista's is heavy metal and sounds like ripping your head off music which is his character, or MVP's which is rap and caters more to his cocky, 'ballin' personality). I'm not saying everyone's entrance is perfect. In fact I could suggest someone like Miz or Swagger having one that's more over the top just to piss the fans off more. Maybe Swagger has Red, White and Blue lights and presents himself as a "man of the country" but yet we hate him. But what else do you want? Should Evan bourne fly in on a zipline with black arena and a grey spot like and airplane? That would be cool, but it might be over the top. I suppose if you prefer an over the top product, than over the top entrances work, but that doesn't seem to be today's product.

I personally enjoyed some of the entrances you mentioned. I loved the Brood entrance and I used to love Mysterio's when he popped out of the ground too. I was also a big mark for the New Age Outlaws actually talking through their entrance and would love someone to do something similar today. However, think of the main eventers other than Undertaker. Mankind, Rock, Austin, Angle, late HBK, all had simple entrances. Only HHH with the lights out and the "My time" theme music was really a big production. Usually midcarders need the crazier entrance because they aren't over as a character. Perhaps the direction to go is to do that for midcarders, and once they connect and start to move up, things get simplified. This is a good topic, and again, I like the entrances to be nuts, but I also get amped up from pyro and a good hard rock song so it can go both ways for me. I love the Brood's entrance and I love Batista's. If it fits the character, I'm cool with it.

 

[Final Form Snyper.]

I really would have to think that WWE would rather use an entrance theme to death then rather than replacing it all together because they get more use out of it. They would simply remix it in parts (ie: Shelton's theme). I haven't really thought much of many of the themes/entrances. I always got pumped up hearing:

Glass Shatters - Disturbed (Stone Cold Steve Austin's entrance)
The Game - Motorhead (Triple H's longtime entrance)
Metalingis - Alter Bridge (Edge's entrance)

These are some of the themes that most people would agree on as some ofthe best in the business.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

JJYanks, you make excellent points, and I feel you are very much on target with why you feel the entrances have been toned down. And the answer is because it is a direct reflection on the characters themselves being toned down. And a lot of that, I feel, is a result of MMA.

But this again is a reflection of WWE being more so marketed (in a way) as more sport, than Show/Entertainment .... which is a direction I've been highly critical of.

If I were going to a wrestling show, speaking for me personally, I would like to see more of an actual light show that you would see ... similar to a concert ... as opposed to a bunch of white lights circulating around for everyone. Just my preference, but it's just a lot more colorful and neat to look at, as opposed to what we see today.

Goes with the toning down of everything else, I guess.

 

[mral82]

out of the PG Era i say one of the best one's is Kofi Kingston's as it fit him and the ramp pyro is awesome when he comes out as it fits him. I'm surprised noody mention him.

He connected w/ the fans somewhat back in ECW but now more than ever on Raw. I say try to have character involvement in the entrances plus a couple of more good ones r Melina and John Morrison. Melina's splits (OMG) and JoMo's wind blow hair effect is kool. WWE and any wrestling company needs to have the entrance fit the person not the fans.

 

[bcg60]

To be honest I have to agree.

Most of the entrance music used nowadays just makes me think my 13 year old neighbor is having a cry because his girlfriend left him, or my other 13 year old neighbor is pimping some hoes.
Where is the ORIGINAL music?
Where is the GOOD music?
I would love to see John Morrison come out to an actual energizing song, he's a fast paced worker and yet we have to listen this slow paced, crap, that someones father would be listening to in the car to impress his kids.
Let's see him come out to the minute around and including the solo from "Beat it", it's nothing short of energizing and would fit well with his character.

How about having CM Punk come out with "Straight Edge" by Minor Threat, or perhaps "Forever" by Throwdown, have him come out during the breakdown in the song, although it would have to be edited seeing as it says "Straight fucking Edge", it's a song that would get the crowd pumped.

 

[Dagger Dias]

More colors with the lights would be nice. The entrances where everything goes to certain colors are great.... green for DX, blue and/or darkness for Taker, red for Kane.... and one of the better ones, all the flashing colors during HHH's.

I would change up a few things, especially for the guys who either are at the top (cena, orton, etc) or those who are getting huge pushes. They should have the following things:

1- A really badass song. (or one that fits the character very well.)
2- more pyro
3- more colors (with the lights and stuff)
4- movements or motions that only that character uses.

If they did all 4 of the above with everyone who got a huge push, then that might make the entrances seem less lazy.
_

 

[bcg60]

More colors with the lights would be nice. The entrances where everything goes to certain colors are great.... green for DX, blue and/or darkness for Taker, red for Kane.... and one of the better ones, all the flashing colors during HHH's.

I would change up a few things, especially for the guys who either are at the top (cena, orton, etc) or those who are getting huge pushes. They should have the following things:

1- A really badass song. (or one that fits the character very well.)
2- more pyro
3- more colors (with the lights and stuff)
4- movements or motions that only that character uses.

If they did all 4 of the above with everyone who got a huge push, then that might make the entrances seem less lazy.
_

I agree, I'd love to see Orton with some ambient music similar to the Undertakers, I think it would sell the insanity gimmick more, maybe having him accompanied by a doctor or something of the sorts, they could use the storyline of Cena threatening to sue WWE if they don't do something about Orton trying to blow him up @ Bragging Rights, sort of like they did with Paul Heyman/Heidenreich.

I don't really see what else Cena could use. He's a run of the mill "I wanna be black" character, nothing special.

 

[Southwind]

With Randy Orton at least they try to have a song that fits his gimmick the lyrics "I hear voices in my head" are trying to say Orton can't control himself sometimes and is borderline psychotic.

All of the older stars songs and entrances fit but the newer talent could really use an upgrade. Guys like Swagger Morrison etc, could gain a lot with more refine entrances that fit their characters.

Songs have a huge effect on the way wrestlers are accepted and treated listen to the crowd when Orton's music first hits, listen to the crowd when HHH's music first hits. It's iconic and gets you pumped thus making the wrestler more successful.

Another fine example of creative being lazy, none of the new wrestlers entrances establish any originality or separation between them. It makes in harder for talent to be a success if their themes aren't any good or don't stick out.

Look at Kurt Angle his song seemed simple on the outside but in reality he was able to develop entire programs due to it's overall success.

 

[spinningtorturerack]

This is something that has really been bugging me of late i have to say!

I think a good entrance needs that decisive intro that tells you exactly who it is. Edge's "you think you know me," smashing of the glass for austin, gong for taker, even the countdown for Y2J.

Also i miss the days of a blackout before the entrance starts, like Kane when it used to go black and then his organ intro would start or Y2J had a blackout inbetween the countdown and pyro. This added to the excitement ALOT for me, its just the anticipation of knowing something exciting is going to happen.

The theme songs are definitely too complicated they should be simple, like benoit, austin, the rock or angle.

 

[Lee]

Is this not linked to Owen Hart? His major different entrance in 1999 really backfired .

I like the different entrances, but when it's overused it just becomes samey really. Do we want to see a special Kofi entrance every week or should it just be kept for PPVs? The influx of three shows a week, a PPV every month at least does mean that even a 'special' entrance loses that.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

I'll share a couple potential types of entrance songs I have in mind. Although I will re-iterate that a lot of my tastes are different then what wrestling fans have been accustomed to over the years. But I am all about doing things differently and not the "same old same old" that everyone is accustomed to. In it, I like a variety of types of music used.

Let's take Kane for instance. Here, the guy used to be a monster .... and now he is portrayed as more of a psychotic mental patient in his current character, which was toned down from what it once was.

I am a big fan of horror icon John Carpenter ... his movies (Halloween, Prince of Darkness) as well as his music ... composed for his movies.

With Kane, I want something that really sets the stage and gets inside of you, unlike his current song.

Let's say we give Kane the theme song of Halloween 3 and he came out to this, instead:


Buzz words that come to mind when I hear this piece:

Eerie, dark, fear-inducing, somber, frightful


[YOUTUBE]J3o2REOIHIw[/YOUTUBE]

I simply think something like that is a lot more effective and suits him as opposed to what he has today, and what he has had in the past.


Let's switch gears and get your heart pumping with something else. Now, I have nobody in mind on the current roster who would fit something like this, but that isn't the point. A character could be created with which this would fit. The point is to give the audience something to get their energy a rise and produce a great entrance:

Perhaps it may suit a villainous modern-day Chinese character. Ironically enough, another John Carpenter piece:

Start it at 5:34, as the earlier part wouldn't be used for the entrance:

[YOUTUBE]rG06_V_X3PQ[/YOUTUBE]


The following song was used for an 80's horror called Vamp ... during a seduction scene the head female vampire (Grace Jones) was involved in.

I could envision giving a piece like this to Alicia Fox. This would require a character change for her, though. Instead of being a generic bitch ... she would have to become more of an evil seductress .... very slow entrance, spends time looking at the guys and almost taunting them with her appeal. Being that she was a swimsuit model, this would be a perfect role for her.

I would edit it to start at 2:41. Nice slow entrance. All the ring lights in the arena turned off and have her enter to a light blue spotlight. As she gets closer to the ring, the entrance lights also light up to a pale blue color, as she plays to the camera.

[YOUTUBE]lSFyvbDdhp4[/YOUTUBE]


This piece I could see being given to a very emotionless character, complex, very little expression ... portraying a Heel. Just a very strange character that is very difficult to figure out, and find what his intentions are. Very mysterious.

LCD Get Innocuous

Start at 3:38

[YOUTUBE]-Vz_01o6Nao[/YOUTUBE]



Mudvayne- Happy?

Perfect song for a babyface to get the audience pumped.

[YOUTUBE]L5ZbdDDNz3c[/YOUTUBE]





But these are the types of things I would like to see WWE get into. I want them to branch away from using only rock (and bad rock at that) and start expanding their horizons a little.

Show some originality and some creativity in both the entrance production, as well as the entrance itself. It will motivate people to get vested even more in the performers.

 

[The Doctor]

I must say, I agree with you. We need more interesting entrances in the WWE.
I disagree that Edge's entrance is boring, however, as the static, flashing lights, and song get me pumped every time.

Even if special entrances are saved for PPVs, we need more of them. When I listen to my iPod, I often think of songs that would make good wrestling themes, and think of all sorts of crazy entrances to go along with them.

For example:
Imagine if Drew McIntyre came out to this. I would be way more excited for his entrance. I don't care if the lighting is boring, this is just a song to get you pumped.

Imagine this song, with a slow build as lights start out turned off and slowly get more and more insane, with rave effects, dancing girls, the announcer yelling the wrestler's name in rhythm...the works. This would be great for a heel or face, as it could show cockiness or epicness.

I don't care who uses this, but DragonForce is great for pumping up the crowd.

Just thinking about how entrances COULD be makes me wonder why they aren't. The WWE needs to make some special entrances, even if they're PPV-only.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

Lets talk about the actual lighting (light show) for the entrances, again.

The Attitude Era entrances still in use today include:

Shawn Michaels
Triple H
DX
Kane
Undertaker


Now, are there any other lighting entrances, other than Attitude Era entrances that are still in use today, that anybody is particularly impressed with? Why or Why not?

I think all that would be needed in some cases is to simply turn of the regular ring lights while the superstars are making their entrances ... and only use the colored lights for their entrances. That would create a far better atmosphere, in my view. Would I like to see them do more? Sure.

But they are so incredibly dull as they are right now. White lights, White lights, White lights everywhere. I see enough White with the Ring Lights. I don't need to see more White with the Entrance lights as well. Let's get some color in there ... along with some creativity.

 

[Tenta]

I've touched on this before, and while I understand lighting has something to do with it, I can't help but feel that's not all the problem. Sure, lighting added a different feel to every wrestler, but I could still argue that some wrestlers are discernable by their entrances. When you see the arena turn green, you know DX is coming. When you hear "Break The Walls Down", followed up with that loud pyro, you know it's Jericho. Of course, you have The Undertaker's entrance, which is always classic.

Still, on this one, i have to dole out the blame to Jim Johnston, the resident composer of the WWE. While his work used to be tremendous, I can't help but feel now that his work has slipped into the all too common world of mediocrity. As it is in the WWE, I identify four wrestlers by their entrances. That'd be Randy Orton, CM Punk, John Cena, and The Undertaker. Only one of those creations involved Johnston, and has been released in the last three years. If you compare the WWE's themes of past and present, the difference is quite noticeable. While every character of the past used to have music that fir their persona, I can only think of one wrestler in which Johnston has created music for in the last five years that are passable. That would be John Cena's music. Otherwise, Johnston has become borderline bland, and hasn't even touched his heyday of the early- mid 90s. I feel if you want to make entrances less bland, it falls upon Johnston to tap into a character's persona. Something he hasn't done in a good five years.

 

[Sean Valjean]

I too miss the days of the over-the-top entrance. I know his character is different now, but I miss Jericho's countdown. MVP used to have one of the flashiest entrances in recent history with the big tube, the smoke and the monitor columns but, like his character, they've dumbed that down. John Morrison definitely has the coolest entrance of the newer guys; the slo-mo, the wind, the awesome song, it's epic.

I think one reason for the lack of creative entrances is the new HD set. With each superstar getting it's own graphics on that thing, they probably don't see the need to go all out like they used to. The HD set seems like an attempt to "modernize" the idea of over-the-top entrances.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

I too miss the days of the over-the-top entrance. I know his character is different now, but I miss Jericho's countdown. MVP used to have one of the flashiest entrances in recent history with the big tube, the smoke and the monitor columns but, like his character, they've dumbed that down. John Morrison definitely has the coolest entrance of the newer guys; the slo-mo, the wind, the awesome song, it's epic.

I think one reason for the lack of creative entrances is the new HD set. With each superstar getting it's own graphics on that thing, they probably don't see the need to go all out like they used to. The HD set seems like an attempt to "modernize" the idea of over-the-top entrances.

And I speculate that this plays a big part in it, as well. I suppose they figure that if all the lights are going off on the HD set in the background, they shouldn't have to do much of anything else. I couldn't disagree more.

The production of the entrance is just as important inside the ring ... if not more important ... than it is outside the ring. Inside the ring ... you are center stage and that is where a good part of the production should be taking place. The New Generation hit this right on the head, as they used a ton of graphics ... like Bret Hart with the floating hearts in the ring .... Owen Hart ... with his King of Harts card graphic, Ted Dibiase with the revolving dollar sign and $100 bill with his face in the center of the ring, Tatanka had floating tomahawks, 123 Kid had the 1-2-3 numbers lit up ......

All the creativity and effort has just vanished.

 

[Jack Tunney's Ghost]

I 125% agree that a lot of the reason behind the lacklustre entrances today compared to the New Generation's era is mainly due to the new HD set.

It's a helluva cheaper for Graphics to wallpaper an image for the HD set on a computer than to hire guys to set up lights on the grids and stencil certain images for lights to shine shapes in the ring.

But, I think the general arena set up is much different than it was back in the New Generation Era which may play into why WWE doesn't do as much with lighting as they used to. For one, they now mainly use LED lights for the most part to set the arena "mood" lighting (if you will) as opposed to actual "lights" with "bulbs." I'm not sure if the LED lights are as "sharp" or "powerful" as the old lights.

Plus, the lighting grid itself is set up considerably higher above the ring in the arena now than it used to be back in the New Generation Era. So, that may blur the image shone into the ring given the greater distance from the ceiling. My favorite light stencil back then was Owen Harts "King of Harts" shone into the ring. They had to darken the arena so you could even see it, but, I wonder, if they had to move that light higher with the grid, if that image would be so diffused and blurred you wouldn't be able to make out what it was.

Take a look at the old lighting grids of The New Generation Era and compare it to todays. The arenas were slightly smaller then, with lower ceilings, so, the grids were lower. Hell, they were even able to hang the logo banners from the grids themselves and you'd still be able to see them in camera shot.

Then when The Attitude Era took off as big as it was and WWF went into the bigger arenas, the grids were raised a lot highter, the logo banners were hung independently because the grids were out of camera shot, and the use of stencilled lighting was slowly phased out. They still managed to blanket arenas with particular colours (eg. red for Kane, blue for Undertaker), but, even then, the lighting wasn't anything in the Attitude Era compared to The New Generation's lighting.

Then somewhere along the line, WWF REALLY revamped it's lighting grids above the ring, went to that weird grid that looked like a gigantic spider above the ring. It was a grid that even killed the logo banners hung from the ceiling forever more. I don't even know if that spider grid would even allow any extra lights (like the stencilled image lights).

The WWF was also developing entrance way sets to their shows during the New Generation as well. What was once a just a black curtain was now a lit up lighting grid that would be lit in different colors with a WWF logo lit up in neon. Then a large screen was set up to display the wrestler's logo as they walked out. Then came the Titan Tron. So, with video images near the wrestlers, the WWF didn't have to compensate so much with lighting... Diesle would come to the ring with a big semi truck rolling over him from behind. It was cool to see, and you didn't need to depend on the lighting so much. And when the video images was getting stale, pyros played a bigger role... especially as the arenas grew bigger.

Wrestlers, their gimmicks, the WWF/WWE's demographics and general pop culture and music all played roles in developing the current entrance styles we're seeing today as well.

 

[jmt225]

Lol... it makes me laugh that someone said WWE's top guys have gimmicks. Ummm... no, they don't, and their entrances reflects that.

That's ultimately why entrances are so generic today: because every main character is generic. Everybody is themselves, basically. There are no characters in WWE right now, outside of 'Taker, and it's why HE has the best entrance. Sure, it's good sometimes for someone to be themselves (look at Kofi), but Vince took the Steve Austin's success way too far with his main guys. It worked fine for Austin, Rock, and even Vince, but that doesn't mean it'll work for everyone else.

Take Cena, for example. When he was on Smackdown, he had a gimmick, and his entrance was AWESOME. Seriously, who didn't dig him rapping about his opponent on his way to the ring? Everybody loved it, and it was the perfect way to hype up a match before it starts, which is basically what entrances in pro wrestling are supposed to be about. But since Cena's gone to Raw, he became just another guy being an "everyday man" (also another lame guy who thinks he's a comedian), and his entrances reflects that. The only time he has a creative entrance is at Wrestlemania, and even WWE manages to fuck that up sometimes. It's quite pathetic when you think about it.

So, yeah... my point is that you can't have great entrances with just "normal" people, and that's what pretty much every top guy in WWE is: a normal fucking person who you could easily see walking at the mall everyday. The only difference is that they all have big muscles.

As far as the music... I completely agree that it all sucks today, and what's funny is that you know getting the rights to all that garbage has to cost WWE a pretty penny as well. It just shows how worse WWE is today than they were in the Attitude Era and the Hogan Era.

 

[HBK-aholic]

Sidious' threads - More unimaginative, lackluster & uncreative than ever. Hehe, I'm just kidding with you. But do you ever get bored of complaining about something? Why do you even still watch it? Really now, the entrances are taking away from your enjoyment?

The entrances really are not a big deal, and they shouldn't be. We should be marking out for the wrestlers - and we do. Have you heard the arena when someone such as Hardy, Cena or DX's music hits? Who gives a damn if there aren't a few fireworks, I sure as hell don't. As long as my favourites are in that ring doing what they do best I couldn't care less.