Sept. 16, 2026
Jim Johnston on Creating Iconic WWE Themes, Scoring Wrestlers Like Movies, Triple H’s My Time Theme
Legendary composer Jim Johnston is the creative genius behind some of the most iconic entrance themes in professional wrestling history, crafting unforgettable music for Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Undertaker, The Rock, D-Generation X, Triple H, and hundreds more. He sits down with host John Kiernan on Ropes N Riffs to discuss how a chance meeting at a sushi bar led to his start in WWE, why he views entrance themes as movie scores, why heels originally didn't get music, collaborating with bands like Downstait, the accidental sound behind Triple H’s "My Time," and the new music he is preparing to release.
How did you get your start composing music for WWE?
"I met a guy at a sushi bar, back in the days when there were no sushi bars here—it was just a Japanese restaurant with a great chef who set up a little thing with six chairs. I recognized this guy, and one night he came in and asked, 'Didn't you say you write music? I have to put together a video for my boss, and I know how to put together the visual, but I have no clue how to put together music.'
This was really early in my career, so I basically lied and said, 'parser: Absolutely, I know how to do that.' He was the art director for Vince [McMahon] at the time, right after Vince had bought the company from his dad. There was no music. I composed something for a cable TV conference, played it for Vince in a meeting, and Vince liked it. From there, he asked what else I could do, and we just kept doing different things."
Why do you treat entrance music like a movie score rather than just 'cool wrestling music'?
"It’s not kinda like a score. It is a score. That wrestler is a little movie, and the entrance theme is the title theme to that movie.
Composers often fall into the trap of wanting to put something together that will be perceived as impressive, like 'Wow, what a great piece of music!' But if the second question is 'What was that for?', then the music failed. There has to be something about it—particularly for a successful entrance theme—where when you hear it, you feel the character. Just like with Jaws: a chill goes up your back thinking of sharks. You don’t sit there thinking, 'Are those cellos or double basses?' You just hear the emotion."
Did bad guys or heels always get entrance themes in the early days?
"No. For a long time, only 'babyfaces' (fan favorites) got music. Heels did not get music. That was like an ironclad rule, which I fought for a long time. My argument was: look at the movies. Oftentimes the villain has the best music—Darth Vader, Jaws. It's a powerful thing scoring bad guys.
When heels finally started getting sounds, at first they got toilet flushes and things like that—it wasn't exactly musical. But eventually it became musical, and I generally enjoyed writing for heels much more than babyfaces. Babyface scoring is often conceit songs: 'Look how great I am, I'm the most beautiful thing ever.' It’s challenging to keep coming up with new ways to express a relatively shallow thought."
What made Downstait a band you kept returning to for theme collaborations?
"Their attitude, for sure. When working with outside bands, having an opinion and creative discussion is great, but sometimes things got out of hand where what I got back sounded nothing like the original theme, and that doesn't work when we have characters to protect.
Downstait was always flexible. They would try things, but they were completely cool if I said, 'That's a step too far out of the box.' And bottom line, they're just a great band."
What is the fastest turnaround time you ever had to write a theme for Monday Night RAW?
"An hour, maybe? Back then, we used to send music out to wherever the show was being filmed via satellite. The satellite feed went out at 6:30 PM for the 9:00 PM show. That was a hard deadline. A lot of times, someone would turn from babyface to heel, or a whole new character would arrive, and I'd get a call at 5:00 PM asking, 'Can you come up with something for this guy?'
It would be a basic, bare-bones taste of hopefully what it would eventually become, but it had to sound like a legitimate theme right then and there."
How important is an entrance theme to the wrestler performing it?
"Of all the people in the arena, the person who really needs to be most inspired by that music is the wrestler. When they are backstage at Gorilla position—right before they walk out—when they hear their music hit, something magical has to happen. They have to transform from the person on their driver's license into the character they play in this movie and give a performance."
Were you confident that the D-Generation X theme would work when you wrote it?
"The idea of Shawn Michaels coming out to anything other than 'Sexy Boy' was pretty shaky ground. Shawn is a smart guy and understood, 'This isn't necessarily the music I'm listening to at home in my living room, but this theme works for my character.'
When I came up with DX, I was not sure it would sell to Shawn or Vince. First of all, it had what was usually considered the kiss of death for entrance themes: a long introduction with basically nothing happening except a kick drum and Chris Warren talking. But it clicked."
Do you think wrestlers are the best people to determine what their own entrance music should be?
"Absolutely not. Just like Harrison Ford is not the best person to ask about who should score the movie he’s starring in. The director and the composer need the distance and the wide swath of the whole movie, the story, and how that character interacts with everyone else.
When you deal directly with the performer, it often becomes a shallow conversation of: 'When I drive in my car, every time this song comes on I drive faster.' That may be a great song, but it has nothing to do with whether it should be the score to your career."
What is the story behind the unique synth sound and title for Triple H’s "My Time" theme?
"That sound came from a blue Korg synth, purely by accident. I was messing around and working the pitch/mod wheel in a really extreme way to the rhythm of the song.
The title and concept came from Chyna. She and Triple H were talking backstage during a transition point in their careers. She was being so kind and reassuring to him, and she suddenly said, 'You know, it's your time.' And I went: 'It's my time.' That was it. You have to be open and curious as an artist, because little clues and treats are thrown out all around you all the time."
What advice do you have for theme composers and musicians today?
"Go with your heart and do what you think should be done. If a boss asks for something specific—like 'give me something Metallica-like'—give them that, but then say, 'I was also messing around with this other idea, take a listen.' Vince McMahon was always open when I brought a strong second option.
Also, keep everything when recording! Keep all the flub takes and mistakes. The number of times I’ve found golden little nuggets in a flub take where someone says a phrase just perfectly—capturing the actual emotion behind the words—is unbelievable. Modern music often gets so pitch-corrected and rhythmically cleaned up that the emotion is stripped right out of it."
Are there any unreleased tracks or new music you are preparing to share with fans?
"I have a few tracks I wrote for myself that never got placed. I’ve recently been resurrecting two of them to get them into final recorded form and release them soon on Spotify: one is called 'We Are The Lucky Ones' and the other is 'I Make You Feel Alive.'"
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