Jim Johnston’s ten favorite WWE entrance themes, as named in a 2013 WWE interview, were presented in no particular order. The list below keeps those ten source-backed picks but orders them by editorial judgment: how sharply each theme fits its character, announces the entrance, and works as music in its own right. It is not an official WWE ranking.
How this list is ranked
Johnston described themes as a “soundtrack to the movie of this person,” shaped by character and story. That makes character fit, the force of the entrance, the distinctiveness of the music, and the speed of recognition useful ways to compare these selections. The order here is an editorial assessment, not a measured audience vote or a ranking Johnston supplied.
WWE published Johnston’s ten favorites on January 23, 2013, and explicitly said they were in no particular order. Read WWE’s interview and original selection list.
The 10 best Jim Johnston WWE themes
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Stone Cold Steve Austin
The glass break is an entrance announcement and a character reveal in one: before Austin appears, the sound tells the audience that The Ringmaster is gone and the defiant “Stone Cold” has arrived. Johnston said he developed the effect by combining three glass breaks, a person falling downstairs, and a car crash. The result is memorable not just as a hook, but as a cue that changes the temperature of the room.
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The Undertaker
Johnston began with a delicate piano funeral dirge, then expanded the idea with organ, chorus, and bells to match the character’s scale. He recalled that “It became an opus.” Few themes make such a strong atmosphere before the wrestler enters; the slow, ceremonial arrangement makes the walkout feel like part of the composition rather than a pause before it.
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D-Generation X
Johnston wanted a rebellious sound and built anticipation around a theatrical, teased entrance before the song’s identifying opening kicks in. That delay is part of the effect: the crowd gets a moment to recognize what is coming, then the track gives the group a loud, unruly launch. Chris Warren sang the theme.
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Ultimate Warrior
Warrior’s explosive sprint to the ring and the music amplified each other. Johnston remembered the energy as “500 degrees”—an expressive recollection, not a measured statistic. The theme earns its place because it feels inseparable from the movement it accompanies: speed, intensity, and an entrance that rarely invited anyone to settle in.
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Triple H
Johnston treated Triple H as a category because he wrote multiple themes for him. He singled out “My Time” as a favorite and also discussed later Johnston-written themes performed by Motörhead: “The Game,” “Line in the Sand,” and “King of Kings.” That run shows how a wrestler’s music can evolve with the character while retaining a recognizably imposing identity.
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Val Venis
WWE highlighted the saxophone sound and its fit with Venis’ provocative persona; Johnston’s own concise praise was, “I love the groove to the song.” The relaxed, swaggering feel gives the track its identity. It stands apart from the grand, aggressive entrance formula by committing to a character-specific groove.
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Randy Orton
Recorded by Rev Theory, Orton’s theme opens with the lyric, “I hear voices in my head/They counsel me/They understand/They talk to me.” The words establish the character’s unsettling inner voice before the entrance has to do any further work. Johnston later said the song reflected his own unspoken anger, adding a personal dimension to the track’s creation.
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Hakushi — “Angels”
Johnston wrote “Angels” without a wrestler in mind, imagining it for a white-clad counterpart to The Undertaker. It later suited Hakushi. That unusual path—from an independent musical idea to a character match—helps explain why the theme feels less like a generic entrance cue and more like a self-contained piece of atmosphere.
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Maria — “With Legs Like That”
Johnston and Zebrahead collaborated on this simple punk song, which Johnston said was inspired by his wife. Its brisk, direct approach made a clear contrast with the more dramatic themes on this list. The track works because it embraces a compact pop-punk identity rather than trying to sound larger than the character needs.
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The Prime Time Players — “Making Moves”
WWE identifies the track as “Making Moves,” with rap by Sugar Tongue Slim. Johnston said he watched Titus O’Neil and Darren Young to settle on a tempo, aiming for something obvious but not too obvious. That aim gives the song a useful balance: it supports the team’s presentation without reducing their entrance to a single musical joke.
Other Johnston themes worth hearing
Johnston named five honorable mentions alongside his ten favorites: Kofi Kingston’s “S.O.S.,” Shane McMahon’s “Here Comes The Money,” Strike Force’s “Girls In Cars,” the Gangrel and Brood theme, and the Dude Love theme. They are meaningful alternatives, not additions to the ten above.
Johnston’s WWE tenure as musical director and composer ran from 1985 to 2017, according to his official biography. WWE’s June 25, 2008 announcement described him as having written thousands of entrance themes and documented music compilations released at that time; it does not establish that a particular compilation is currently available or contains all ten selections.
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