Music is central to the professional wrestling experience. From the days of the Fabulous Freebirds and the first WrestleMania to artists such as Bad Bunny trading their microphones for wrestling boots, the sports-entertainment world owes much of the grandeur and occasion it carries to music. Be it through licensed music from outside artists or wrestling companies’ own in-house composers making themes for the performers, there are songs that are forever linked with the men and women who walk down that aisle to them.
WWE, known as the WWF before those damn pandas and British judges got involved in 2002, understands this, and one of their greatest musical projects ever put together by “The Fed” was Forceable Entry, a compilation album released on March 26th, 2002, shortly after WrestleMania X8 by the company’s SmackDown! Records imprint. Amassing eighteen of the era’s most popular bands in hard rock and heavy metal, the album was filled with theme tunes for the wrestlers and the weekly television shows, and it serves as a time capsule of the beginning of the era known today as “Ruthless Aggression.”
First off is Drowning Pool’s version of “The Game,” written for Triple H. This take on the Motörhead track is typical nu metal fare, but for those who had grown accustomed to the original, which itself was a reworking of Triple H’s 1999 theme “My Time,” it can be jarring. That said, it is also one of the last recordings of the band’s original vocalist Dave Williams, who would sadly pass away on August 14, 2002 from heart disease.
From the swaggering to the sleazy comes Kid Rock’s cover of ZZ Top’s “Legs,” done for Stacy Keibler. For as much shit as we give Kid Rock on this site (and maybe we don’t give enough), this take on the Texas trio’s ode to gams makes sense for entrance music, especially for the effervescent Keibler, though the turntable break halfway through is certainly a choice. This tribute may have forecasted Kid Rock’s turn towards country and blues music in some respects, but it does fit within the hard-rocking early days of the Detroit native.
For the company’s Backlash pay-per-view in 2002, the WWF licensed Creed’s “Young Grow Old,” and given that this is the show where Hulk Hogan unseated Triple H for the WWF Undisputed Championship, I suppose that tracks.
“Glass Shatters” was the Disturbed makeover to “Stone Cold” Steve Austin’s iconic “I Won’t Do What You Tell Me” theme, taking the Rage Against the Machine-inspired joint and giving it a contemporary coat of paint. It is musically the same as the original, but it is one of the last vestiges of Disturbed’s original nu metal sound, which would start to fade with their subsequent album Prayer and disappear almost entirely with Ten Thousand Fists three years later. Given that this theme is associated with Austin’s entrance at WrestleMania X-Seven, widely hailed as the best ‘Mania of all time, this song often finds a special place in the hearts of wrestling fans.
The Undertaker used Limp Bizkit’s “Rollin’” for his entrance music during his American Badass biker era, and what else can really be said about the song that is among nu metal’s best-known and most sung-along-to? Other than the fact that the last lines of the first verse sound especially awkward and funny with all of the censored “fucks.”
“Whatever” by Our Lady Peace was the theme for Chris Benoit, and if you know, you know. Hell, the band themselves only recently dug up this relic of the past, after over a decade and a half of leaving it on the shelf out of respect for the tragedy that took place in June 2007. For better or worse, it’s one of the Canadian act’s best-known songs, and a dead-simple riff with enough pinch harmonics to make Zakk Wylde blush.
Rob Zombie’s “Never Gonna Stop” was Edge’s theme for much of his singles run in the early 2000s, and the Black Cat Crossing mix on this compilation is an interesting one. Chopping up the guitar parts, adding a guitar solo, and using a repeated sample that actually features on “Feel So Numb” (which is on the same album, The Sinister Urge, so fair enough), this version is not what was heard on television, but it is a deep cut of a remix that should appease diehard fans of the Phantom Stranger and the man who would become The Rated-R Superstar.
“One of a Kind” is a fitting track for Rob Van Dam, and may be folks’ only real exposure to the band Breaking Point. While fans of the original ECW will know that Mr. Monday Night used to walk to the ring to “Walk” by Pantera, this headbanging track is emblematic of one of the most underrated talents of the time. The song was so popular, the album Coming of Age was re-issued with “One of a Kind” as a bonus track.
Though it was briefly used as the theme for RAW in 1997, Marilyn Manson’s “The Beautiful People” is best known in pro wrestling spheres as the theme for SmackDown! in the early 2000s. This WWF Remix takes the drums out of the first verse, makes the bass guitar line more prominent, and does something with the cymbals that is anything but beautiful. Again, they used the original song on television, why the remix? Unlike the earlier Rob Zombie remix on this album, this is a downgrade.
On the subject of weekly television, The Union Underground’s “Across the Nation” served as the RAW theme song from 2002 to 2006, though it almost wasn’t. In some pressings, the bridge features chants of “TEST,” giving credence to a rumor that the song was intended as the theme for Test, the Canadian powerhouse who threw the best big boot in the business in his time. Aside from that, many younger fans certainly threw in the expletive during the chorus every Monday night, making the full like “move to the music, play that fuckin’ music,” much to their parents’ chagrin.
Sevendust took on Chris Jericho’s theme “Break the Walls Down,” and their take sounds a bit too much like David Bowie’s late-Nineties industrial era until the band kicks in. Lajon and Co. rarely miss, but something about this version doesn’t quite hit the same. Perhaps it’s the missed opportunity of using Morgan Rose’s harsher vocals to counteract Lajon’s melodic cleans.
While many would associate Powerman 5000’s “Bombshell” with The Dudley Boyz during this era, Saliva lent their sound to “Turn the Tables,” which the band also got to play at WrestleMania X8 before the Dudleyville duo’s WWF Tag Team Championship match. If you enjoyed Every Six Seconds, there’s no reason not to like this track, as it has plenty of groove and Josey Scott’s rapping and talk-singing all the way through. Though the line “a little disabled” didn’t age well after all this time…
Monster Magnet may best be known for “Space Lord,” but their song “Live for the Moment” is synonymous with Matt Hardy, and we get the full five-minute version on this record. Imagine a younger me being thrown by the fact that this song had an acoustic intro and a whole verse before the big riffing and chorus kicks in. The sludgy, bluesy vibes fit the North Carolina native’s roots, and hearing this song will surely make one throw up the V1 hand signal before the second verse kicks in.
While the iconic Raven may have peaked in WWF during the Hardcore Championship triple threat at WrestleMania X-Seven, his licensed theme “End of Everything” by Stereomud was appropriately grungy and a product of its time. The members of Stereomud would later go on to groups such as Saint Asonia, Life of Agony, and even Seether, but if nothing else, they’ll always have Raven’s old theme tune to look back fondly upon.
Another band from this time that isn’t talked about much is Neurotica, one of SmackDown! Records’ only signings. They provided the King of the Ring theme “Ride Of Your Life,” though they would break up later this year. Fun fact: their single, Kelly Shaefer, who was scouted by AC/DC vocalist Brian Johnson, would go on to audition for both Velvet Revolver and Drowning Pool before reforming his death metal outfit Atheist a few years later. At least the fast-talking nonsense bridge before the guitar solo in “Ride Of Your Life” is a fun bit of madness.
Cypress Hill gave ECW alum Tazz “Just Another Victim,” reworking their track “(Rock) Superstar” into the phrase “thug superstar” to fit the Red Hook native’s street-tough roots. The samples of Michael Cole’s and Joey Styles’ commentary feel somewhat out of place, though one can see where they were going with including them. What is also surprising is that his long-standing catchphrase of “beat me if you can, survive if I let you” makes no appearance in the lyrics.
Dope give Mr. McMahon’s “No Chance in Hell” theme a grimy makeover, and while I can see why a billionaire wouldn’t enter the arena to a nu metal song were it not ironic, it is still a mystery why neither this version nor Theory of a Deadman’s later cover were never used on television. The lyricism in this track isn’t quite up to the level of lines like “pretty politicians buying souls from us are / puppets, who’ll find their place in line,” and while it’s admirable that Edsel and friends wanted to do their own thing, maybe sticking to the script would have resulted in a more memorable song.
Speaking of memorable, Lita’s ubiquitous theme, Boy Hits Car’s “Lovefurypassionenergy” closes out the record in all of its mystical guitar glory. A reworking of her in-house theme “It Just Feels Right” from the year prior, this song fits the iconic high-flying Diva to the letter, and much like “Across the Nation” earlier, kids all over the wrestling fandom added in the F-words in the chorus of this song. Bewilderingly, there is no uncensored studio release of this song at this time, though live versions have been recorded and released.
WWF Forceable Entry would go on to score a Gold certification by the RIAA, amassing over 500,000 sales. It topped out at number 3 on the Billboard 200 chart and its Canadian counterpart. Sadly, the album is not fully available on streaming services, presumably due to licensing issues, but fans of wrestling, heavy music, and those in the center of that Venn diagram should seek this album out to experience a moment in time in both the sport of kings and the best worst genre of music.
