Jim Johnston Criticizes Modern-Day Wrestling Themes For Generating No Emotions

One of the most important things about a wrestler's presentation is their theme music. While there have been some legendary theme songs in both WWE and AEW in recent years, many consider Jim Johnston, WWE's former head musical composer, the cream of the crop when it comes to wrestling theme songs. Johnston produced many of WWE's most notable pieces of music until his release from the company in 2017, giving him a firm grasp on what makes a wrestling theme song great.

The legendary songwriter has seen how wrestling theme music has changed in his absence, and personally feels as though something is missing in many modern wrestling theme songs. In a recent interview with Conrad Thompson on "Conversations With Conrad," Johnston explained what's necessary to make a truly great song.

"Music, for me, is all about making people feel something. That's its purpose," Johnston said. "There's so much music out there that is so much better produced than anything I can do... and it doesn't make you feel anything."

Johnston explained why he feels modern theme music has fallen into this area. "It doesn't make you feel anything, it doesn't have anything to do with the character anymore, which I think is an incredible missed opportunity ... It's certainly homogenous and very generic ... It feels like it's thought out like, 'this guy is hard-hitting, so hard-hitting drums!' and it doesn't make you feel anything."

While Johnston has made overtures to AEW regarding producing theme music for them, he has remained away from the wrestling industry in the years since his WWE departure.