Jim Johnston helped give WWE some of the most unforgettable entrance music ever made, but even he wasn’t walking around thinking every idea was bulletproof. When he came up with the D-Generation X theme, Johnston knew he was messing with Shawn Michaels’ presentation in a major way — and he wasn’t convinced either HBK or Vince McMahon would go for it.
While speaking on Ropes N Riffs, Johnston was asked whether he ever created a theme he thought might completely miss with the wrestler, only for it to become iconic. Johnston initially said no, but then immediately remembered one pretty massive exception: Shawn Michaels and DX. The problem was “Sexy Boy.” Michaels had already become completely tied to that song, so suddenly asking him to walk through the curtain to something else was playing with fire.
“No. But but a lot of some kind of going in the other direction. example would be Shawn Michaels NDX when when that whole storyline happened and just the whole notion of Shawn Michaels coming out to anything other than Sexy Boy is some pretty shaky ground. You’re wondering, you know, how are you going to sell it to him?”
Johnston said Michaels ultimately understood something that plenty of wrestlers don’t: entrance music isn’t supposed to be whatever song you’d personally crank up in your living room. The only thing that matters is whether it fits the character fans are paying to see.
“uh even though I think he was really ready for something different, but he was he is a smart guy and knows that not exactly the music I’m listening to at home in the living room, but this theme works for my character.”
That still didn’t mean Johnston felt safe when he put the DX track together. He openly admitted he had no idea whether Shawn or Vince would hear it and immediately shut the whole thing down.
“Um, and you’d be surprised the number of wrestlers who do not get that connection about a theme is not something not music that you personally like to listen to when you’re driving around in your car. It’s the right score for that movie, the movie you’re the star of. Uh, so I when I came up with DX, I I was not sure it would sell to I mean to to Shawn and to Vince.”
Then there was another huge problem: the song didn’t exactly explode out of the speakers. Johnston knew the opening broke one of the easiest rules for wrestling music because it takes its time getting anywhere. Instead of some giant immediate hit, fans got a kick drum and Chris Warren talking over it — something Johnston flat-out called the “kiss of death” for an entrance theme.
“First of all, it has the kiss of death for entrance themes, which it uh has a long long introduction, right, with basically nothing happening but a kick drum and Chris Warren saying things.”
That “kiss of death” obviously didn’t kill anything. The slow opening became one of the most recognizable parts of the entire song, and Chris Warren yelling over that beat ended up becoming just as important to DX’s identity as the green glow sticks, crotch chops and chaos that came with the group.
It’s also a perfect example of Johnston’s larger philosophy on wrestling music. He has repeatedly argued that a theme has to score the character instead of simply matching whatever music the wrestler happens to like, and the DX song became proof that something risky can work if it fits the act.
What do you think would have happened if Shawn Michaels or Vince McMahon had rejected the DX theme and HBK just kept walking out to “Sexy Boy”? Drop your thoughts in the comments and let us know.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
