6. The Sandman
ECW really helped themselves to stand out by using "real" songs for entrance themes, instead of having 99% of their roster coming to the ring to generic music produced in-house. It wasn't a feasible financial strategy once they started appearing on pay-per-view and television regularly, but by that point, the music had helped to create icons in the business, based off of entrances alone. The Sandman may very well be the best example of this. Coming to the ring to Metallica's legendary hit, "Enter Sandman", his entrances were often longer than his matches. It would take the entire song to complete the entrance, but it had everything... fan participation, entire crowds singing a song word-for-word, cigarettes, copious amounts of beer, the occasional wet t-shirt, foreheads busted open thanks to beer cans, and much more. As the fans sang along, Sandman would slowly make his way to the ring, through the crowd, pausing to take puffs on his cigarettes and to drink beer. Mind you, a lot of this was done before "Stone Cold" Steve Austin had ever touched a beer of WWF programming. Sandman's entrance was something special and something unique to wrestling fans. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etF5YdJwBmY Many fans would say that bringing in "real" music would benefit wrestlers and promotions alike. Fans already have connections to the songs, making them easier to get over in the business. It worked well for Living Colour's "Cult Of Personality" when it was brought in for CM Punk. It worked well for Europe's "The Final Countdown" when Bryan Danielson used it for a cult classic entrance on the independent scene. It even works when WWE uses songs for WrestleMania, giving one-night-only entrance packages to people like The Undertaker or Triple H. WWE could be helped if they decide to use more "real" songs, but sparingly, and not for everyone on the roster. That would help them to stand out a bit more.