Board 8 > paulg Ranks The User-Nominated Wrestler Themes (The Ranking Itself)

(+) Yeah! (+)

There are usually three parts to a wrestler making their entrance to the ring for their match. The first is (in most occassions) the ring announcer announcing the participant(s) making their way to the ring, the second is how the wrestler in question presents himself coming to the ring (is he dressed in fancy gear? Is he trying to get into his opponent's head? or perhaps they are dancing their way down the ramp?). The third of these is the music that plays during their entrance. This can get the crowd hyped for the match about to happen, or set the tone of what to expect from the character. Over time, many of these tunes have resonated with fans, becoming generally beloved and even iconic. Some not so much. This is where this topic comes into play.

First off, thanks again to all ther users last week who nominated various themes for this list. There are a total 104 wrestler theme songs to rank (the full list is posted below), many from WWE, WCW and New Japan, others from TNA/Impact, Ring Of Honor, ECW, NOAH and so on. Despite the variation of promotions representated, there have been some notable wrestlers that failed to get (one of) their themes on the list. This includes (but certainly not limited to) Mick Foley, Brock Lesnar, Goldberg, Batista, Finn Balor, Bray Wyatt, Kane, Booker T, Hulk Hogan, Kenny Omega, all three members of The New Day. and all three members of The Shield. Meanwhile, Triple H was able to get the most themes out of anyone with 5 (of course). There are also certain themes from wrestlers that did get some sort of representation in this list that were snubbed that could've done very well on this list, but we will get into more detail on that as we press forward.

If you're wondering on the criteria that I will rank these songs, it'll mostly come down to my own preference (especially as we reach the upper half of the ranking). How well the theme fits the character(s) and the lyrics will also be taken into account, but how much I personally enjoy the theme will be what decides a song's overall position. I should also admit that I don't really have the best taste in music to begin with, so expect some songs you think are great to place much lower than you'd expect and vice versa.

Lastly, I intend to end most of my writeups (which will vary in length, don't be surprised if some are much shorter than others) with a question to all of you to encourage some additional discussion. Feel free to provide your own thoughts on the stuff that is ranked and I hope you all find some enjoyment in this countdown.
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The list.

AJ Lee - Let's Light It Up
AJ Styles - Styles Clash
Aleister Black - Root of All Evil
Ashley Remington - Smooth Sailing
Asuka - The Future
Bad Luck Fale - The Underboss
Baron Corbin - I Bring the Darkness (End of Days)
Bobby Roode - Glorious Domination
Bobby Roode - Off the Chain Instrumental
Bret Hart - Hitman
Brie Bella - Brie Mode
Brodus Clay (and various other wrestlers) - Somebody Call My Momma
Buff Bagwell - Buff Daddy
Bull Nakano - Boss of the World
Cesaro - Miracle
Chris Jericho - Break the Walls Down
Christian - At Last
Christian - Just Close Your Eyes
CM Punk - Cult of Personality
CM Punk - This Fire Burns
Cody - Kingdom
Cody Rhodes & Goldust - Gold and Smoke
Dean Malenko - Iceman
Demolition - Demolition
Diamond Dallas Page - Self High Five
Disco Inferno - Disco Fever
Drew McIntyre - Broken Dreams
DX - Are You Ready?
Eddie Guerrero - Lie, Cheat & Steal
Edge - Metalingus
Emma - Real Deal
EVIL - Black Deeds
Evolution - Line In The Sand
Hakushi - Hakushi Theme
Heath Slater - More Than One Man
Hirooki Goto - Hadou
Hiroshi Tanahashi - High Energy
Jake Roberts - Snake Bit
Jake the Snake Roberts - Trust Me
Jeff Hardy - Willow's Way
Jeff Jarrett - NWA Theme
Jillian - Sliced Bread
Jinder Mahal - Sher (Lion)
John Cena - The Time is Now
Jushin Thunder Liger - Ikari No Jyushin
Katsuyori Shibata - Takeover
Kazuchika Okada - Rainmaker (extended intro version)
Kenta Kobashi - Grand Sword
Kevin Steen - Unsettling Differences
Kurt Angle - Medal
Lex Luger - Slammer
Lex Luger - The Total Package
Luke Harper - Swamp Gas
Luke Harper and Erick Rowan - He's Got the Whole World in His Hands
Matt Hardy - Live for the Moment
Maven - Behind the Stars
Men on a Mission - Men on a Mission
Mike Awesome - Awesome Bomb
Minoru Suzuki - Kaze Ni Nare
Naomichi Marufuji - Hysteric
New World Order - Rockhouse
NWO B Team - Tear it Up
Orlando Jordan - Do It Big
Raven - Come Out and Play
Rey Mysterio - Booyaka 619
Right to Censor - Censorship
Rikishi - Bad Man
Rob Van Dam - One of a Kind
RVD - The Whole Fn Show
Sandman - Enter Sandman
SAnitY - Controlled Chaos
Santino Marella - La Vittoria e Mia
Scott Norton - Winner Takes it All
Scott Steiner - Holla if ya Hear Me
Shawn Michaels - Sexy Boy
Shinsuke Nakamura - Subconscious
Steven Regal - Real Man's Man
Sting - Seek and Destroy
Stone Cold Steve Austin - Glass Shatters
Sycho Sid - Snapped
TAKA Michinoku - Yamato Part 4 New Edit
Tazz - 13
Ted Dibiase - It's All About The Money
Tetsuya Naito - Stardust
The Big Boss Man - Hard Times
The Briscoe Brothers - Gimme Back My Bullets
The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers - All-American Boys
The Nexus - We Are One (WWE Mix)
The Quebecers - We're Not the Mounties
The Rock - 2003 heel theme
The Usos - Done With That (Day One Remix)
Three Minute Warning - Three Minutes
TJ Perkins - Playing with Power
Tomohiro Ishii - Stone Pitbull
Triple H - King of Kings
Triple H - My Time
Triple H - The Game
Undertaker - You're Gonna Pay
Vader - WCW theme
Val Venis - Hello Ladies
Wade Barrett - Rebel Son
Will Ospreay - Elevated
Zack Ryder - Radio

We will begin soon with the first (last place) song of the bottom tier: "MINUS FIVE STARS".
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Aw no one nominated The WWF Hogan theme I may have if I'd realized
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Jillian Hall's song to get dead last.

Glanced through, think my last place would be AJ Lee's theme. It's obnoxious and unlike some other themes on the list isn't obnoxious in an intentional character building way.
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I considered but what was I gonna do not nominate the song from Over The Top?
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This write-up took much longer to complete than it warranted.

104. RVD - The Whole F'n Show!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZNHPj4LUec" data-time="

This project was probably the first time I've ever listened to the song from start to finish. I wasn't watching TNA at this time, but after hearing negative things about this song over the years, I got curious a couple of years back and checked it out, and completely understood in a matter of seconds why this was garbage and clicked the back button about less than a minute in.

Hope you like the same 6 second guitar riff playing in continuous loop over and over again, because that's the entire song's tune in a nutshell. This wouldn't be as bad if this was just the intro to the song and then it builds to something more exciting or intense, but instead it's Rinse, lather, repeat.

I would say the vocals could've salvaged the song if they were good, but that would be a lie because the tune is so bad that it's beyond rescuing. Instead, the vocals might be even worse. Aside from the same four (two) lines of chorus being hammered into your brain every 13 seconds 8 or so times throughout the song, the lyrics in the verse are even lazier. Take a look at some of these;

A chair shot straight to your brain
Straight to your skull crack!
You can't stop the chair to your brain
Straight to your skull crack!

I will fly high
5 Stars Frog Splash
You can't stop me
Five Stars Splash

It's like they couldn't be arsed to think of good lines when making this song and went "Screw it, just repeat some of these, maybe switch out part of the original line with "You can't stop..."

It's all about the Yin and the Yang
The balance to power, the sin
You can't stop the Yin and the Yang
The balance to power, the sin

Then there is the self-insertion of the band's name in one of the verses. I don't mind artists dropping their names into songs that much, but not when it's lazily added in.

Van Damninator
Van Terminator
Van Crushinator*
Van Assassinator!

*The band's name is Kushinator, but it sounds so similar that I'm jumping to my own conclusion.

There is nothing good about this song. At least with the themes coming up, I'm either able to find SOMETHING to like about them or understand the reason why they're bad. This is the best TNA can come up with one of their biggest stars at the time? It is no wonder that company fell as hard as they did.

Question #1 - What is your least favorite entrance theme?
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paulg235 posted...

Question #1 - What is your least favorite entrance theme?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWJRM17b8JA" data-time="
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I can't really argue with that one at last either.

Though I kinda like it ironically.

Least favorite theme is Stephanie McMahon's current theme (and "All Grown Up" might be number 2). Probably contributes a pretty large portion of why she gets quite so much change the channel heat from me. It's not only awful sounding, but also conveys a message of 'Stephanie is cool' which is not at all what the character should be.
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It's probably not my least favorite theme, but I really dislike Drew McIntyre's current one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=el7BhwZOaGw" data-time="

-It's generic as all hell
-I feel like he'd get bigger crowd reactions with a better theme
-There were multiple times in NXT where I thought they were gonna bring back Broken Dreams, but they didn't and now I also dislike it out of spite
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Yeah I gotta agree every Steph theme since she stopped using My Time has been completely awful because they dont fit her at all

They're all R&B - shes rich white and works for her daddy. R&B isnt for her even if its what she personally likes.

Its like Wade Barrett constantly demanding increasingly British Punk songs when he had a popular and recognizable theme.

But my least favorite? Probably the rock version of Flight of the Valkyries because the whole point of using classical at all was to cast Bryan as an old school hardcore fan favorite character in the vein of Savage and Flair. And so its the worst because I'm mad at it
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tag
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103. NWO B Team - Tear it Up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esVL8iRVYtA" data-time="

Well, this certainly feels like a theme for a B team. But unlike Rockhouse (or the Wolfpac them), Tear it Up is a completely forgettable theme that would not get me hyped for the arrival of these guys and wouldn't catch my interest. The music itself is too generic and adding the NWO sound byte (and whatever Eric Bischoff(?) is saying) to it probably makes it even WORSE. Yes, this tells us that this is the NWO (like we couldn't figure this out looking at the NWO logo on the shirts/bandanas/gear of these guys), but do we really need the constant "WE-WE-WE-WE-WE-WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE"?

Not much else to comment on, so if you want a good example of how to do a lower card stable's theme, here it is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2nC2LRwiVo" data-time="

Question #2 - What is your least favorite entrance theme for a stable?
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BTW, I should point out now that the nomination topic has purged that I forgot to save the links to the videos you guys provided me, so expect at least some of the write ups to link to different videos (hopefully the same song).

As for the what I would probably say is the worst theme I have ever heard, it would probably be Bastion Booger's (though Scarlet's answer is a close second).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_2W1AcJXZg" data-time="
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paulg235 posted...

Question #2 - What is your least favorite entrance theme for a stable?

There is not question in my mind that this is the worst:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sDMt19MkRk" data-time="

The beginning is actually worse than RtC's theme.
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102. Right to Censor - Censorship

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9vs4H18dH0" data-time="

I cannot justify ranking this theme any higher than this even if I wanted to because, well, just listen to it. I will say it perfectly suits Right to Censor's gimmick (a bunch of people attempting to censor the risky product of the Attitude Era with some of their members being reformed characters) to a tee and it certainly triggers you to want to boo them. But is it something you'd want to ever listen to on its own? No. The song itself is a bunch of loud obnoxious sirens with a barely audible beat in the background.

I wonder what that says about the two songs below this that I'd rather listen to numerous sirens blasting into my ear than them?

Question #3 - What's your favorite Right to Censor moment?
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paulg235 posted...

Question #1 - What is your least favorite entrance theme?

Quite a few. RVD's TNA theme is a good choice for last, but other themes that were pretty bad include...

Snitsky's ECW theme
Every X-Factor theme
RTC
Linda McMahon's theme (originally the theme for one of the first 2 WrestleManias)

paulg235 posted...

Question #2 - What is your least favorite entrance theme for a stable?

I was about to say RTC, but the real answer is X-Factor. They had 3 themes, ALL of them bad.

paulg235 posted...

Question #3 - What's your favorite Right to Censor moment?

1) Steven Richards' debut with the gimmick. Richards stated in an interview once that he was inspired by Michael Douglas' character from Falling Down. For a solid 10 months, he was a walking heat magnet
2) When the Dudleys fooled the RTC by convincing the world they joined the stable
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bump?
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No need to kill yourself on the write-ups my man. Ultimately, while there is stuff to talk about with music, it is arguably even more subjective than most ranking topic things and most people reading aren't musically minded enough that going into great detail would take priority over getting this done at a reasonable rate.
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(I don't intend to go into as much detail as I have been once we get past the bottom of the barrel stuff and into the mediocre/okay music, but I think the songs that are this low warrant an explaination as to why I detest them. Thankfully, we are almost done with the really bad stuff.)

101. Luke Harper and Erick Rowan - He's Got the Whole World in His Hands

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8tlk_Bq8yU" data-time="

You can faintly hear Jerry Lawler on commentary say "Did they record their own entrance music?" at around the 0:33 mark. I'm not sure if this was him taking a jab at the theme or not, but I have to brutually honest here and say that I am not a fan of this at all.

Yes, the eerie instrumentation fits Harper and Rowan's gimmick well, and I will say that this would be great if used in a video package or vignette, but it's terrible music for having someone come out to prior to a match. I generally like entrance themes that pump you up for the act coming out. He's Got the Whole World in His Hands does not accomplish this (and by this point, I was getting sick of hearing it). Swamp Gas (which they started using the following week) was a better theme. The theme they are using now as The Bludgeon Brothers is even better!

Question #4 - What is your least favorite entrance theme for a tag team?
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And that's one tier down!

"MINUS FIVE STARS"
101. Luke Harper and Erick Rowan - He's Got the Whole World in His Hands
102. Right to Censor - Censorship
103. NWO B Team - Tear it Up
104. RVD - The Whole F'n Show!

Next tier: "Oh dear God... you see, my name's Billy. And I just won King of the Ring, but there's one problem. Everybody still thinks that I ABSOLUTELY SUCK!"
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100. Lex Luger - The Total Package

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HunPakJgnHY" data-time="

This sounds like a poor man's mashup of the Chariots of Fire theme and the King of The Ring 1993 theme. There is probably a good theme in here somewhere, but the music sounds slightly off tune to me. Perhaps this is a case of good concept, bad execution?

Also, I wasn't watching wrestling during WCW's time, but judging by the clips used for the custom tron, did Luger come out to this theme during the turn of the millenium (1999-2000)? If so, this would sound terribly out of place with everything else at the time. This sounds like a theme someone would use in the early 90s.

Question #5 - What is your least favorite entrance theme from WCW?
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paulg235 posted...

Question #5 - What is your least favorite entrance theme from WCW?

DANGER HIGH VOLTAGE
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99. Brie Bella - Beautiful Life

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELHtV5UxS7Y" data-time="

Aside from the audio spiking after after the infamous words "Brie Mode", I think Brie's theme gets bashed around a little too often by the wrestling community. Sure, it's not good, but is it really that different from some of the other women's themes in the last 5-6 years (such as Eva Marie's)? There's been far worse music composed for the ladies than this (though it doesn't help Beautiful Life's case that it loops after 30 seconds, though.

That said, I do enjoy those Botchamania endings that feature it (such as that Mars Attacks clip).

Question #6 - What is your least favorite entrance theme for a female talent (doesn't have to be a wrestler)?
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Eva Marie's last theme was great! Such a good gimmick.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Abq87VJxYJA" data-time="
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scarletspeed7 posted...

Eva Marie's last theme was great! Such a good gimmick.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Abq87VJxYJA" data-time="

I prefer Eva Marie's last theme to Brie's but it would have not done much better on these rankings.

The special announcer does add a lot to it, though. It's such a shame she never got to actually wrestle due to her suspension and lack of interest in staying (though this is probably a good thing in terms of the actual in-ring wrestling part of the division).
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Probably, but I was getting a kick out of that storyline. The announcer is just something else!
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98. Jillian Hall - Sliced Bread

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3Ah7pszgQ8" data-time="

Sliced Bread (what a horrible name for a song) fits Jillian's character at the time (of being a bad singer who thinks she is better than she actually is), but a badly sung song is still a badly sung song regardless if it's intentional. I am curious as to what an updated version of this would sound like if say she returned with her gimmick tweaked that she now autotunes her singing.

The lyrics for the chorus are good, though.

All the chicks just want to be like me,
'Cause all the boys just want to get with me,
And don't be a player hater,
Because you know I'm gonna replace ya!

Question #7 - What is your favorite song that is intentionally bad (it does not have to relate to wrestling)?
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Aw man you don't like The Total Package lame (I actually kinda like Brie's theme too though I know I'm in the minority, and Jillian's theme for a different reason entirely but I realize I'm more forgiving on intentionally bad themes than I should be)

And yeah he used that in late 1999 on-- well, he had a few variants on it. Almost wondering if you'd actually like one of the variants since this one is more "busy" than the others which may have been part of what turned you off.
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I always think of Slammer when i think luger themes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiRWY2LPDTQ" data-time="
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paulg235 posted...

Question #4 - What is your least favorite entrance theme for a tag team?

American Males!

paulg235 posted...

Question #5 - What is your least favorite entrance theme from WCW?

Possibly MISFITS... IN ACTION! Such a hilariously bad stable.

paulg235 posted...

Question #6 - What is your least favorite entrance theme for a female talent (doesn't have to be a wrestler)?

Definitely Linda McMahon's

paulg235 posted...

Question #7 - What is your favorite song that is intentionally bad (it does not have to relate to wrestling)?

Does Mark Henry's "Sexual Chocolate" count? Cause I could never take that seriously but it was so bad that it was good
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American Males theme rules
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paulg235 posted...

Question #7 - What is your favorite song that is intentionally bad (it does not have to relate to wrestling)?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=318EWPjhuc4" data-time="
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97. Buff Bagwell - Buff Daddy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geUot8zvkXI" data-time="

We're past the songs that I think are bad and now are approaching stuff that I just plain dislike. My main problem with Buff Daddy is Buff Bagwell himself - I really do not like how he sounds here and his voiceover subtracts a lot from this otherwise okay entrance theme.

I also think this song would've benefited from more lyrics from the female singers than repeating "Buff Daddy" over and over again. There is a reason why the "Ohhhhhhhh Buff iiiiiiiissss the stuff" is my favorite part of the track.

Quite frankly, if this and the NWO B Team theme are anything to go by, I think American Males was probably his best theme.

Question #8 - What is your favorite Buff Daddy moment?
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paulg235 posted...

Question #8 - What is your favorite Buff Daddy moment?

I began watching WCW late into its run, so honestly my only answer is the super Buff blockbuster that he nailed on Goldberg at Sin.
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Yeeeessss

I wanted it at the bottom.

I feel so accomplished!
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paulg235 posted...

Question #4 - What is your least favorite entrance theme for a tag team?

I'd like to retract this statement. American Males's opening is blah (as is the repeated saying of "American Males!"), but the rest justifies is not being the worst tag team entrance.

Therefore the winner for this question is still X-Factor.
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Likely no further writeups until Sunday since I'll be out most of the day. However, I'll give you all hints for the next three entrance themes.

96 - Tag Team theme
95 - WCW Theme
94 - Women's Theme
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More later today.
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I should've nominated the shitty Booker T/RVD tag theme
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up
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1 week later...

96. Men on a Mission - Men on a Mission

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4MYJc60iZY" data-time="

The lyrics are the main problem here. Half of them are alright, the other half feel lazily filled in as if they couldn't be bothered to think of anything better, much like I couldn't be bothered to count the number of times Oscar sings "Do it like this", but I swear he says it like a dozen times. "Men On A Mission" is also said way too much to my liking.

All other other managers are now like me

Ah yes, I remember the days where Paul Bearer would cut a rap as The Undertaker danced to the ring.

Question #9 - What is you favorite Mabel/Viscera/Bid Daddy V moment?
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Seeing Viscera without a shirt for the first time was a real eye opener.
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95. Sting - Seek and Destroy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eD68J7kK0Y" data-time="

I have a hard time listening to songs much longer than 5 minutes in general if they don't keep me invested (unless I have them on as background music to something I am doing to which I'm not really paying attention to the music to begin with). Same with movies that run longer than about 2 hours and 45 minutes.

I say this because Seek & Destroy is one of those songs that plays on for too long for my liking and am just waiting it to end. Metallica has made some great songs (one that has yet to be ranked on here) but this isn't one of them.

One last note is I had trouble identifying some of the lyrics until I looked them up. I kept mishearing "searching" as "Sooty", which made me think of this; https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9b/Sooty2011.png

Question #10 - What is your favorite Sting theme?
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94. Emma - Real Deal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73-ufgTgNp0" data-time="

A remix of her older theme "#Emmalution" (see below). I used to prefer Real Deal, but going back and listening to both, I now think it's worse. #Emmalution (yes, the title does have a hashtag in it) at least sounds alright from start to finish, Real Deal just sounds awful at parts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6VQ_AUH5Rc" data-time="

Unpopular opinion: I think "All About Me" (the theme she used before leaving WWE) is the best. It could use without the "EEEYYYYYYAH!" sound bites though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQoozXSB8jg" data-time="

Question #11 - What's you favorite Emma moment?
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93. Vader - Afro Rock

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQFqjxkM-Jw" data-time="
Sounds too generic to my liking and rather forgettable at that. Actually, I would say this is more like the music that plays during a late 80s/early 90s PPV to hype the crowd (kinda like the early Wrestlemania themes) than an entrance theme. Put me down as a "Mastadon" guy (there's a theme that gets you pumped up).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9D2LQioyTOM" data-time="

Question #12 - What's your favorite Vader moment?
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92. Jeff Hardy - Willow's Way

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ab_oUdEm-6s" data-time="
The willow scream is the worst introduction to any song on this list, including BRIIIIIIEEEEEE MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOODE. I hate the use of dubstep in this song and something seems really wrong with the vocals that I can't pinpoint on (they sound like they're auto-tuned/synthesised). There may be a decent song underneath these faults, but it stands as a mediocre track.

Question #13 - What's your LEAST favorite Jeff Hardy moment (aside from the time he showed up wasted for a title match at Victory Road)?
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