Jim Jonston’s prolific 32-year catalog of WWE entrance themes and scores became synonymous with the wrestlers they represented. Under Johnston, wrestlers tended to be immediately recognized the moment their themes kicked off, leaving many fans clamoring for his return today.
While Johnston once explained just how much goes into creating themes for wrestlers, and how he always used it as another way to tell the character’s story, he personally found it frustrating when WWE wanted certain genres of music for wrestlers based on their ethnicity. “If a Black guy comes in, oh, it’s hip-hop. What a stupid thing! It’s like, why is it not ballet? What, Black people don’t like anything but hip-hop?” he recalled during an interview with “Ropes N Riffs.”
Johnston further expressed that the same thing would happen with Japanese wrestlers, and while in this case he wouldn’t be opposed to having a “Japanese vibe,” he found it ridiculous when it would always end up with “a full-on koto ensemble” instead. “Now you’ve reduced his world to the audience as: he’s the Japanese guy. As opposed to: he’s a fierce guy, he’s an incredible wrestler, he’s incredibly acrobatic, he is really dangerous — oh, he’s also Japanese!” he pointed out. Johnston made the case that ethnicity should be third or forth on the list of importance to a character, and almost something most fans almost disregard.
For fans hoping to see Johnston return to WWE anytime soon, the veteran composer recently indicated that he believes the chances are close to zero, largely because of Paul “Triple H” Levesque, even though he’d be happy to take up the offer.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit “Ropes N Riffs,” and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
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