wrestling / Columns

The Professional 3 6.02.13: Wrestler Performed Theme Songs

June 2, 2013 | Posted by Jon Harder

Welcome everyone to another edition of the Professional 3 on 411wrestling.com! I’m Jon Harder and yet another exciting week in the world of pro wrestling. I’m very pleased with the responses from last week’s Macho Man Moments column, and this week’s should be no different. Hopefully, one way or the other, you guys will be talking about this week’s P3…or maybe singing. Who knows?

Before we go any further, check out this week’s Hardway Podcast on TheJonHarder.com with independent standout Steve Off! The United States champion for the Bodyslam Wrestling Organization, Steve brings it out to the table for this week’s edition. Next week on the Hardway, I have a great interview with the one and only JJ Dillon of the Four Horsemen! This is the first ever WWE Hall of Famer I’ve ever interviewed, so it is most definitely a big deal and I can’t wait for you guys to check it out.

Also, follow me on Twitter at @TheJonHarder and let me know what you think of not only the P3, but the Hardway as well. I love your feedback.

Now, onto this week’s column. After last week and talking about the Macho Man’s rap song with Men on a Mission, I really started thinking about wrestlers and music. More importantly, wrestlers PERFORMING their own music. Even though Macho Man had a rap album, there have been other wrestlers that have released different genres of music. Jerry Lawler attempted pop music in Memphis in the 1980s. Hulk Hogan played bass on a rock album in Japan in the 1980s. (The 1980s tend to have a lot of this.) However, in this generation, we had one MAINSTREAM album come to the public released by a wrestler.

John Cena’s “You Can’t See Me” was released in 2005. Alongside his cousin the Trademarc, Cena was the first wrestler in quite some time to go mainstream with his talents. Combined with his marketability, Cena used this CD as a launching pad for one of the most recognizable theme songs in history: “The Time Is Now”. For theme songs alone, John Cena’s self-made rap is the greatest example of wrestlers doing their own theme songs and displaying another level of depth to their characters.

A plethora of other wrestlers over the years have done the same thing when it came to their theme songs. There have been some good, some bad; yet they are all entertaining one way or the other. I have THREE personal favorites of wrestlers doing their own themes. Since I have a column that is STRANGELY based around the number 3, and my viewpoints are ALWAYS 100% Professional (87% agree with that statement), I think it’s time to unleash to the world…

THE PROFESSIONAL 3: Wrestler-Performed Theme Songs

1) CURT HENNIG’S “RAP IS CRAP”

In 1999, Master P was such a major commodity with his No Limit Soldiers in the music industry. Trust me, “Make Em Say UHH!” is a song that I still utter when I hear it in passing. WCW President Eric Bischoff, who was always on the tip of pop culture, decided to bring in Master P to WCW in June 1999 to feud with Curt Hennig and his newly formed “West Texas Rednecks”. In a “rap vs. country” rivalry, everyone expected Master P to be beloved by wrestling fans galore, especially with Master P’s incredible popularity in the late 1990s. Yet, in the South, where WCW was primarily based, the country loving rednecks were beloved.

To further the rivalry, Curt Hennig actually made a theme song to demonstrate his hatred of rap, entitled “Rap Is Crap”. Not only did this become the theme of the West Texas Rednecks, it became a CULT hit on country radio stations! As well, it was released on the WCW Mayhem CD in August 1999. This theme song, actually sung by Curt himself, is a prime example of what happens when you are given an inch and take a yard. And remember kids, “…it’s a bunch of crap. I hate rap!”

Another moral of the story: if you are an entertainer and need a quick fix on money, go into wrestling. Master P made $5 million screaming “Hooty Hoo”. Real talk.

2) FABULOUS ROUGEAU BROTHERS “ALL AMERICAN BOYS”

Although Jacques Rougeau is the all-time king of personalized theme songs, this was the one that started it all. Along with his brother Raymond, “All-American Boys” was released in early 1989, as the snobbish French-Canadians changed their allegiances to America. Thankfully to the fact that Jimmy Hart, their manager, had a long history of designing theme music for the WWF, the Rougeaus had easy access to doing so. It still remains a very catchy theme to this day. Jacques also released two other catchy theme songs: “I’m the Mountie” and “We’re Not the Mounties” with Carl Outlette in the early 1990s. If there is anything that I gathered from this song, Jacques Rougeau loves Barry Manilow and the preppy look.

3) MILLION DOLLAR MAN’S “MONEY, MONEY, MONEY”

Debuting at WrestleMania 6 in 1990, it was amazing that it took the Million Dollar Man 2+ years to get this customized theme song for him. In true reality, this song completed who Ted DiBiase was in the WWF. His evil, maniacal laugh kicked off the theme and just lyrics that FIT like a glove. No one else could have pulled this off as well as DiBiase wound up doing. It truly is the personification of an evil wrestling theme.

Who were your favorite wrestler-performed theme songs? Comment here or tweet me @TheJonHarder. Have a great rest of your week guys.

#Professional3

Jon Harder

[email protected]