Wrestling Entrances That Were A Total Flop
An entrance is probably one of the most important things in a wrestler's presentation. It could even be said that an entrance can make or break a superstar's career. There are a lot of things that can go right or wrong in an entrance: the look, the music, the pyro, the Titantron video, the graphics, the poses, the crowd participation, and more. Putting all those things together can make a wrestler look like a million bucks. In fact, it could be argued that the entrance is just as important as the wrestling itself, especially in the sports entertainment business.
Fans will never forget a good entrance like The Undertaker's gong, Triple H's iconic water spit, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin flipping the bird, or The Rock lifting an eyebrow. However, just as there are a lot of things that can go right in an entrance, there are also plenty of things that can go wrong. These are just a number of times when entrances in wrestling completely flopped.
Randy Orton's music
For some reason, Randy Orton hated his original theme music, "Burn In My Light." It was a great theme and most fans loved it, but The Apex Predator definitely did not. In a 2008 interview with GameDaily.com, Orton discussed his theme music saying, "For the longest time, I had the 'Burning [In] My Light' or whatever the entrance music was that started with 'Hey, nothing you can say,' and I hated that s*** for all four years. I hated it from the first day I heard it. They even tried to tweak it a bit and I still hated it."
WWE tried more than just tweaking it. On a 2006 episode of "SmackDown," WWE changed The Legend Killer's music and gave him a very familiar song, namely CM Punk's first WWE theme, "This Fire Burns" by Killswitch Engage. "This Fire Burns" is a great piece of entrance music, but it did not fit The Viper at all, and it was incredibly jarring to have a relatively clean-cut Randy Orton come out to such grungy-sounding music. The music didn't stick, however, and WWE changed Orton's music back to "Burn In My Light" two weeks later. The Apex Predator would have to suffer through a few more years of "Burn In My Light" before WWE changed his music in 2008 to the much preferable "Voices" music he still uses to this day.
Cody Rhodes's music and neck tattoo
At AEW Revolution 2020, Cody Rhodes made his standard over-the-top entrance to the ring, but on this particular night, his entrance overshadowed not only his match with MJF, but almost the entire show. It was on this night when The American Nightmare first showed the world his now-infamous neck tattoo. Surprisingly, the neck ink was one of the most talked about things on the whole pay-per-view, with many fans mocking Cody for getting such an ugly-looking tattoo.
The neck tattoo wasn't the only talking point of his entrance, though, as Rhodes' band also came under fire. Downstait performed Cody's "Kingdom" theme, which is a great song. Usually, a live rendition of a wrestler's entrance music brings some gravitas to the occasion, but that did not happen on this night. For whatever reason, Downstait did not sound good at Revolution and fans hated their performance. An amalgamation of these two issues was a hot topic among fans after the event, which somewhat overshadowed the fact that MJF actually beat The American Nightmare. This was something that MJF brought up on a podcast interview with "Pardon My Take" that was shown on "Dynamite" years later. This was the biggest win of Maxwell Jacob Friedman's career at that point, and yet nobody was talking about it. Instead, everybody was focused on Cody Rhodes' bizarre entrance.
X-Factor's entrance music
X-Factor was a WWF stable in 2001, consisting of X-Pac, Justin Credible, and Albert. The faction has largely been forgotten by most wrestling fans. In fact, they are now mainly remembered for how awful their entrance music was. The theme, performed by Uncle Kracker, appears in lists of worst entrance themes of all time on What Culture, The Sportster, and Bleacher Report, and just listening to the music one can see why.
The boy-band ballad that starts after the opening sting is super weird. Then it transitions into a rap or hip-hop monstrosity, which is laughably bad and certainly didn't do the team any favors. X-Pac was decidedly not over, and the term "X-Pac heat" was birthed during this era of the X-Factor. The music probably wasn't the whole reason X-Pac was super hated at the time, but it certainly didn't help. In reality, X-Factor was probably never destined for huge success in the WWF, and the music is still mocked by wrestling fans to this day.
Jeri-Show's awful mash-up entrance theme
Chris Jericho and The Big Show had a pretty good run together as Jeri-Show in 2009. They won the Unified Tag Team Championships and a Slammy Award for tag team of the year, and they also had a high-profile feud with D-Generation X. That all sounds pretty good, but what didn't sound so good was their entrance music. As solo acts, both Y2J and The Giant had great themes, but when their music was mashed together, it became one of the worst tag team entrance songs of all time.
The themes did not gel well together at all, and the way WWE intercut between the two songs was so awkward and amateurish, that it sounded like an unskilled fan-made production. To put it bluntly: It was simply an awful mash up. That theme song stuck with Jeri-Show for a few months until WWE thankfully commissioned new music for the team performed by Maylene and The Sons of Disaster, which legitimately sounded good.
Cody Rhodes' cringeworthy Throne-Breaker entrance
AEW Double or Nothing 2019 was the company's first-ever official pay-per-view. As the first event as genuine competition to WWE, fans were excited to see what a legitimate alternative could offer. Things took an interesting turn when Cody Rhodes made his entrance. For his entrance in his match against his brother, Dustin Rhodes, The American Nightmare took a sledgehammer to a Triple H-stylized throne, a clear shot at WWE. The moment was greatly discussed after the show, but not exactly for all of the right reasons.
Some felt the shot at WWE was unnecessary and more of a TNA move, which fans were hoping AEW was above. Cody Rhodes was never shy about taking shots at WWE and Triple H specifically, even bringing out a golden shovel in one of his last-ever AEW matches. All of these shots look a little awkward now that The American Nightmare is happily back in WWE.
Jenna Morasca's lewd TNA Victory Road entrance
Victory Road 2009 has gone down as one of TNA's worst pay-per-views of all time. Not only that, but on the same show was legitimately one of the worst matches to ever take place: Jenna Morasca versus Sharmell. The awfulness of that match has been spoken about at length, but the terribleness of Morasca's entrance needs to be remembered. Jenna Morasca was not a wrestler; she was a reality TV star who won the "Survivor: The Amazon" season in 2003. TNA presumably wanted to use her mainstream appeal to draw in some casual fans. It didn't work.
On "The Bryan and Vinny Show," Bryan Alvarez described Morasca's entry to the ring as "the lewdest entrance I've ever seen." Alvarez described it as a cross between the entrances of The Beautiful People and Melina. Meanwhile, Vinny said, "It was an entrance designed to show off her a******. Not just the a**, but her actual tunnel."
Vinny then added, "It looked for all the world that Jenna had gone on 'Survivor' and earned her money, and her goal was now to channel this success into a career in hardcore pornography."
Austin Aries' behavior
On a 2013 episode of "Impact," Christy Hemme was the ring announcer and was introducing the heel tag team of Austin Aries and Bobby Roode. In doing so, Hemme accidentally introduced the wrong team, instead introducing Aries and Roode's opponents, Bad Influence. Roode and The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived looked understandably annoyed at the mistake, as any heel team would be, and made Hemme reintroduce them the proper way. But then A-Double took things a little further, as he cornered Hemme in the turnbuckles, then stepped up onto the middle rope, putting his crotch in her face.
TMZ reported that Aries was given a "severe fine" for the incident and TNA President, Dixie Carter, revealed on Twitter the punishment was swift: "TNA has ZERO tolerance for inappropriate behavior. The incident with Austin Aries was taken very seriously and handled immediately."
Christy Hemme called the incident unacceptable on Twitter. Years later fans brought up the incident again as a part of the Speaking Out movement, with Austin Aries being labelled as a sexual harasser for his actions.
The Shockmaster
What can be said about The Shockmaster? Everyone remembers the awful name, the glittery stormtrooper helmet and, above all, the trip and fall. That fall has gone down as one of the most famous botches and most hilarious entrances in wrestling history.
Speaking to WWE.com, Fred Ottman, the man behind the infamous stormtrooper helmet, recounted the entrance saying, "The wall itself was just built like a wall in your house, like sheetrock with a 2x4 every 12-15 inches off-center — kind of like you'd build a normal wall in your house. And there was a board just below my knee that was there for support. I got there, and when it was time to go, they said, 'You're going to have to hit this wall really hard to bust out,' because it wasn't a gimmick wall. So I put my hands above my head, double-axe handle, and when I got the cue, I was going to blast through the wall. Well, I blew the top out, but didn't take that bottom board out, so I basically was a human teeter-totter." Ottman continued explaining that after he fell on the floor, he quickly put the helmet that had fallen back on, and stood up so that Ole Anderson could continue as planned and deliver the promo from backstage.
Many focus on the fall, but even without that, this was still a terrible idea for an entrance, not to mention one of the most awful gimmicks that was clearly dead on arrival. The man was wearing a glittery stormtrooper helmet for goodness' sake.
WWE's augmented reality graphics
At WrestleMania 34, WWE started using augmented reality graphics as part of their wrestler's entrances. Their inclusion has been the topic of some discussion among fans. At first, it seemed like WWE was using the augmented reality graphics as a replacement for having to actually build physical props for each individual entrance on big shows. Regardless, many feel the augmented reality has never looked very good.
Fans feel the graphics look cheap and their execution doesn't really work in entrances. In theory, they could work, but they rarely have so far. Roman Reigns' augmented reality graphic for his entrance is one that has come under particular scrutiny. For what is supposed to be the WWE's biggest star, The Tribal Chief's augmented reality looks decidedly flat and unimpressive. There are ways these can look good. Their atmospheric graphics look a lot better than some of the ones for the wrestlers, but, as a whole, they have never been very popular among fans, even after all these years of WWE using them.
AEW used the wrong version of Wild Thing
On the May 12, 2022 edition of "Dynamite," Jon Moxley debuted new entrance music, "Wild Thing" by The Troggs. Moxley said he was unaware this was going to happen and that he didn't even recognize the song at first. Speaking on "Cincy 360" with Rick Ucchino and Tony Pike (via Fightful), Mox said, "I thought I was hearing 'Season of the Witch' (by Donovan) playing. I was like, 'Why is 'Season of the Witch' playing?' After the match, I heard it was the original, The Troggs 'Wild Thing,' and I was like, 'Ohhh, they must have gotten 'Wild Thing,' I guess that's my music now.'"
The former Dean Ambrose didn't recognize The Troggs version of "Wild Thing" because he had always known the rendition of the song performed by the music group, X, which appeared in "Major League," one of his favorite movies as a kid. The following week when Moxley made his entrance, the music had been changed to the "Major League" version, the one he knew. AEW apparently purchased the rights to both renditions of "Wild Thing," leaving fans to theorize that Tony Khan initially bought the rights to the wrong version for Moxley's entrance on May 12, 2022, and then quickly changed it to the correct rendition the following week after Mox didn't recognize his own favorite song.
Motörhead forget the lyrics to The Game
Motörhead has played Triple H to the ring on two occasions: WrestleMania X-Seven and WrestleMania 21. "The Game" is a great song, one of the best entrance themes in wrestling history, and considering Motörhead performed the track themselves, one would assume they would know the lyrics. Although, for whatever reason, Lemmy (Motörhead's lead singer) didn't seem to know all of the words on both occasions he played it at WrestleMania.
It should be noted that Motörhead didn't actually write the song; it was written by Jim Johnston, WWE's in-house musician. On "Total Engagement with Matt Koon" (via WrestleZone), Jim Johnston says The Cerebral Assassin had even written some of the lyrics himself, much to Johnston's annoyance. "Motorhead did three of my songs. They are my songs, yes. I know that Lemmy changed two lines on something that Triple H naturally made him change without consulting the actual writer of the song. I actually think that Lemmy — who was a wild and crazy guy — was a pretty class act at the end of the day — I think he was pretty uncomfortable with that, because he would know how he would feel if someone took one of his songs and just decided to change the lyrics. It's kind of an unwritten code; you just don't do that."
Either way, it's funny that Lemmy forgot the words, but he is so iconic that the performances still worked out pretty well in the end.
David Flair's hilarious WWE Titantron
David Flair had a rather strange wrestling career. For somebody with seemingly little talent for the business, he managed to achieve some success in WCW. His career in the WWF, however, was a different story. When WCW was sold to the World Wrestling Federation, the WWF picked up his contract and sent him to developmental. With that said, he did make a grand total of two appearances on the main roster in the build to WrestleMania X8, during Ric Flair's feud with The Undertaker.
The WWF's lack of interest in David Flair was apparent in these two appearances: Firstly, he was beaten up by The Undertaker, and then he was squashed by The Deadman in a match a few weeks later. David's Titantron video for this match would make fans laugh for years to come. His theme music was generic, but the hilarity happens on the Titantron's video content. The video shows David Flair doing a half-hearted warm up, followed by a clip of Ric Flair looking disappointed. And that was it! Just those two clips looped over generic jobber music. It was so bad it almost looked fan made.
That was how much the WWF cared about David Flair.
The Undertaker's pyro malfunction
The Undertaker is known for having a legendary, awe-inspiring entrance. The gong and the ominous walk to the ring, striking fear in the hearts of his opponents, is truly one of the best entrances in all of wrestling. At Elimination Chamber 2010, however, his entrance was awe-inspiring for all the wrong reasons.
As The Undertaker made his entrance for the Elimination Chamber match, there was a pyro malfunction which saw The Undertaker become engulfed in a fireball from the stage. Immersed in flames, The Undertaker ran to the ring, tearing off his leather trench coat and intensely stared down all the other competitors in the Chamber. To a TV audience, it looked like The Undertaker was trying to intimidate his opponents — little did they know he was suffering from first and second degree burns to his chest and arms.
On "Broken Skull Sessions," The Undertaker spoke about how he was able to work through such intense pain, "The adrenaline needle is peaked right here; I'm beside myself. I'm looking down at my chest because my chest is just bubbling up right now. Flesh is just rolling..." This was just the entrance of the match, The Undertaker's night had only just begun. He continued, "I know that I've got to sit in that pod for 20 minutes, and then I've got to work another 20 minutes once I get in ... Every time I look down my skin is bubbling up more and more."