10 Uncredited Architects Behind WWE’s Gigantic Success
1. Jim Johnston
How many original WCW compositions can you name, off the top of your head?
Jimmy Hart did some great stuff - the absolute zenith of his run seeing him pen the gloriously camp American Males theme tune - when he wasn't triggering lawyers everywhere with his brilliantly antagonistic ripoffs. Mostly, though, it was only apparent which wrestler was due to emerge from the curtain when they emerged from it. That they seemed to have been recorded in a shed didn't help. The din was indecipherable.
Jim Johnston, WWE's in-house musician extraordinaire, had so much to do with the WWF's Golden Age and Attitude Era mainstream success because nearly everything he composed was both perfectly suited to the acts they were written for and equally as iconic. Unstable, the Ultimate Warrior's theme, was as energetic as the man for whom as it was written. It's a wonder The Patriot didn't get over on the strength of "Medal" alone. Kurt Angle did not long after; the song is the audio translation of triumph. Even something as unheralded as Giant Gonzales' theme was evocative of character, instantly creating a sense of place. Steve Austin, The Undertaker, evil Doink - all themes were different, idiosyncratic, remarkable.
Johnston also popularised the "sting", managing to herald the arrival of a star and generate a pop - within a second - with one shattered plate of glass or guitar squall.
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