Jim Johnston says WWE/AEW are “not creating big stars anymore” and “all the themes just sound generic”
During an interview with The False Face, former WWE music composer Jim Johnston commented on wrestling entrance themes in 2026…
“I’ve been pretty vocal about it. It just sounds like noise to me, and all the themes just sound generic. It used to be, whether it was my music or a Jimmy Hart theme, or an outside band thing, you used to be able to be making dinner in the kitchen with the TV in the other room, and you’d know who was coming out. You could almost follow the program from the other room.”
“Now, I just don’t think it’s like that at all. For some reason, the powers that be have forgotten their roots or something of how powerful music is in creating stars. I further believe that’s why they’re not creating—either WWE or AEW—they’re not creating big stars anymore. There are no new Steve Austins. There are no Rocks around now. it’s because everyone’s sort of in this layer of generic, I suppose. I don’t understand it.”
“I give credit there to Vince [McMahon] because he was always trying to push the envelope forward. Sometimes he pushed it places that I certainly didn’t agree with, but at least the guy was embracing progress and change and asking, ‘How can we make the product even better?’ That was a compatibility that he and I really had because I always wanted to try different things and make the music better.”