10 Bands Synonomous With WWE

WWE.comWWE and music have enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship since the roaring days of the 1980s. The millennium then brought us waves of bands whose angst-ridden songs were the perfect soundtrack to the shifting world of professional wrestling.

From the guilty pleasures of the past to the more modern, bombastic boastings of WWE's preferred artists, music has been an integral aspect of many a superstar's persona and the projected characteristics of specific PPVs. The perfect song choice can do wonders for an event or wrestler as it acts as a musical shortcut for fans to ride to the desired conclusion.

Being associated with WWE isn't always a badge of honour, and there's a good few bands that have endured the stigma of being the soundtrack to oily slap fests. For those bands, it's clear to see the frustration. But a good relationship with Vince McMahon and WWE has more often than not led to great success with an influx of appreciative and passionate fans.

In this list we will look at 10 bands and artists that have become so synonymous with WWE that they could be linked forever in a game of word association. A quick disclaimer - Fozzy have not been considered as they were linked with WWE from their very conception.

Before Nickelback became the musical punchline of snarky jokes from across the globe, American group Creed found themselves the target in those same cross hairs. Many point to their spiritual and overtly Christian metaphors, formulaic song structures, and singer Scott Stapp's unique singing voice as causes for the criticism.

In 2001 Creed released their third album, Weathered, which was certified platinum six times over and gave the band considerable mainstream success. During the early noughties, WWE were experimenting with using established band's music in their programming with artists such as Limp Bizkit and Marilyn Manson already providing tracks.

WWE began airing "Desire" videos set to the most successful of Creed's recent songs, My Sacrifice, around this time. The videos would showcase a certain wrestler's greatest moments or current highlights, and were an undeniably popular part of programming. As well as providing My Sacrifice, Creed would supply WWE with the event theme for Backlash 2002 with Young Grow Old.

WWE would also use the title track from Weathered sporadically for montages and most famously, The Tribute to the Troops special in 2003.