I was thinking about an article that would deviate from the ordinary, and I figured, why not incorporate the impact music has had with WWE? WWE started to utilize theme songs to sell their PPV’s at the turn of the millennium and since then, we’ve been graced with some great gems in WWE, some of which don’t get nearly enough love. PPV songs also speak to the context of all of the feuds on the PPV, and can also be a great way to advertise the show. With that said, here are 15 of my favorite theme songs from WWE PPV’s. Before that, here are some honorable mentions.
Unforgiven 2005 – Calling (Taproot)
Summerslam 2002 – Fight (Jim Johnston)
Vengeance 2007 – Gone (Fuel)
No Way Out 2009 – Hunt You Down (Saliva)
Great American Bash 2006 – Lonely Train (Black Stone Cherry)
Vengeance 2002 – Downfall (Trust Company)
No Way Out 2008 – Fake It (Seether)
WrestleMania 26 – Be Yourself (Audioslave)
Extreme Rules 2010 – Time To Shine (Saliva)
Bad Blood 2004 – Sold Me (Seether)
Clash of Champions 2016 – Bulletproof (Young Guns)
No Mercy 2001 – Click Click Boom (Saliva)
Backlash 2007 – There and Back Again (Chris Daughtry)
Backlash 2009 – Seasons (The Veer Union)
Payback 2017 – Born For Greatness (Papa Roach)
15. Backlash 2004 – Eyes Wired Shut (Edgewater)
This was the fall-out, RAW-exclusive PPV from the events that unfolded from WrestleMania 20, and I think this song gave this PPV the edgy feel it needed. Chris Benoit was set to defend his newly won World Heavyweight Championship against the two men he defeated to obtain it, Triple H and Shawn Michaels, in a rematch that proved to be every bit as good as their WrestleMania encounter. In addition, the feud between Intercontinental Champion Randy Orton came to a head, as the young Legend Killer had to defend his title in a No Holds Barred match which proved to be bloody, brutal and painful. I believe this happened to be the performance that put Randy Orton on the map and helped accelerate his career. But I think the song was a great fit for it. Definitely, give it a listen.
14. No Mercy 2016 – No Mercy (KIT)
No Mercy 2016 was a Smackdown-exclusive PPV in November that looked to culminate certain feuds. The name of song by KIT obviously suggests what WWE intended for the PPV in of itself. Dolph Ziggler put his career on the line for one more shot at the Intercontinental Championship, and ended up having one of the best matches in all of 2016 against the champion, The Miz. In addition, AJ Styles had to defend his WWE Championship against the two men he defeated in the previous two PPV’s, Dean Ambrose and John Cena. Randy Orton was taken out by Bray Wyatt at Backlash, and with the theme of No Mercy, the Viper looked to take revenge against the man who put him on the shelf, and he unsuccessfully got that redemption after interference from Luke Harper. This PPV would lead to the feud between Ziggler and The Miz continuing on into Survivor Series season, AJ Styles holding the title for the rest of the year, and a new faction in Orton joining The Wyatt Family taking place.
13. Payback 2013 – Another Way Out (Hollywood Undead)
This song has a very unique feel to it, but the “better run, better run, better run, I’m coming after you…” portion really hammers home the point of this PPV home. John Cena defended his WWE Title against Ryback, who had felt cheated after his match against him at Extreme Rules ended in controversy. In addition, we had Dolph Ziggler defend his newly won championship against the man he cashed his Money In The Bank contract on, Alberto Del Rio. This would lead to a perfectly executed double turn, as Ziggler would turn face and Del Rio would turn heel by consistently targeting Ziggler’s head (he had a concussion suffered by Jack Swagger prior to defend at this event). The best match of the night, however, belonged to Chris Jericho, and a returning CM Punk after taking a hiatus following his spectacular match against The Undertaker at WrestleMania 29. There’s a creepy feel to this music, and I think that’s the point of Payback.
12. Survivor Series 2001 – Control (Puddle of Mudd)
There are fewer songs that bring out the old nostalgia than this one. This song, while really doesn’t connect with the PPV in a big way presents a big fight feel to it. This song was used to promote the huge five on five Survivor Series elimination match that took place with Team WWF (Chris Jericho, The Rock, The Undertaker, Kane and The Big Show) and The Alliance (Stone Cold, Booker T, Kurt Angle, Rob Van Dam, Shane McMahon). This was about as huge as it gets, because the loser’s promotion would have to shut down its doors, and while The Alliance storyline was a failed storyline in a lot of aspects, there was a great payoff with a tremendous Elimination match to end it all. This song was the icing on the cake.
11. Vengeance 2005 – Happy (Mudyvane)
The demonic feel of this song is what sells this PPV home for me, because this RAW-exclusive PPV was loaded. Not only did we have a rematch from arguably the greatest WrestleMania match of all time, Kurt Angle going up against Shawn Michaels, but we also had a Hell In A Cell match between World Heavyweight Champion Batista, and the man who has just about the most experience inside the structure, Triple H. As a side note, we also had John Cena defend the WWE Title against Christian and Chris Jericho in a triple threat match as well as Edge face off Kane in a rivalry that was centered around Lita’s betrayal of Kane. I only discovered this gem just recently, and I’ve been having it on repeat ever since.
10. WrestleMania 29 – Bones (Young Guns)
I love this song and I think it went greatly along with the PPV. To me, the interpretation of the song can vary from person to person, but I think there’s a perseverance element towards it. John Cena was looking to complete his redemption story against The Rock while taking the WWE Championship in the process as payback for The Rock defeating him at WrestleMania last year. Triple H also put his career on the line against the man who had taken out his arm the previous year, Brock Lesnar. There was also the manner of The Undertaker putting his streak up for grabs against CM Punk, who had mocked the real-life death of his former on-screen manager, Paul Bearer. This is also just a great song to listen to overall.
9. TLC 2016 – Ready For War (Adelitas Way)
This is the type of music that lets you know that a big fight is going to go down, and what other PPV can give way to that type of feel than a PPV centered around Tables, Ladders and Chairs? We had the WWE World Champion AJ Styles defend his title in a TLC match against Dean Ambrose. We also had Dolph Ziggler and The Miz end their rivalry over the Intercontinental Title in a Ladder Match. The women weren’t about to be excluded from the festivities either because Nikki Bella took on Carmella in a No DQ match and Alexa Bliss took on the Smackdown Women’s Champion, Becky Lynch in a tables match. There were other matches on the card that really emphasized the theme, such as Baron Corbin and Kalisto engaging in a Chairs match that turned out to be shockingly good. As a random note, this songs happens to be the second most played song in my iTunes playlist.
8. Over The Limit 2012 – War of Change (Thousand Foot Krutch)
TFK happens to be one of my favorite music groups, so I had to get in a selection from them on this list, and I think this is the one I want to use. In this particular PPV, CM Punk defended the WWE Title against Daniel Bryan in a ROH style match. In addition, the World Heavyweight Championship was defended in a fatal four-way match with champion Sheamus going up against Randy Orton, Chris Jericho and Alberto Del Rio. These were the only matches really worth watching on the card (unless you want to see John Cena play around with John Laurinaitis for 20 minutes), but I think those matches enough is what makes the PPV go. The song is also very catchy, so that helps as well.
7. Extreme Rules 2009 – You’re Going Down (Sick Puppies)
“Let’s take a trip down memory lane, the words circulate in my brain…”
This song is talking about pain and inflicting a lot of it. There were a lot of matches on the card that took upon that meaning, and you can really pick your poison. There was a strap match with CM Punk and Umaga, a submission match with John Cena and The Big Show, as well as a No Holds Barred match with Chris Jericho and Intercontinental Champion, Rey Mysterio. Believe it or not, however, there was much more to this PPV, because of Randy Orton, who took out Batista had to answer for his sins as he defended his WWE Championship in a steel cage match. However, what puts this PPV over the top is the culmination of a Decade of Destruction in Edge and Jeff Hardy with a ladder match for the World Heavyweight Championship. There’s definitely a lot of memories between those two, and both this song and PPV are both worth experiencing.
6. WrestleMania 23 – Ladies and Gentlemen (Saliva)
Doesn’t this song just scream WrestleMnaia? You have John Cena defending the WWE Title against Shawn Michaels and Batista defending his World Heavyweight Championship against the then-defeated Undertaker. That is also not including the Money In The Bank Ladder match that included Edge, CM Punk, Randy Orton and the Hardy Boyz. This just has a big PPV feel to it, and Saliva has put out many great songs for WWE, but this has to be one of the top.
5. Tie: WrestleMania 18: Superstar (Saliva)/Tear Away (Drowning Pool)
Whenever I hear one of these songs, The Rock vs. Hulk Hogan comes to mind. As you reach the top of the list of these songs, I find that if I can instantly remember the PPV it’s from, the song must be that powerful. I couldn’t in good conscience rank each song individually because I think each song is special in its unique way, and I think it was definitely worthy of being a WrestleMania-caliber song. Aside from that, Chris Jericho had to defend the Undisputed WWF Championship against a returning Triple H, Undertaker put his undefeated WrestleMania record on the line against Ric Flair and the biggest match on the card of course, Stone Cold took on…Scott Hall. Awesome, yes?
4. Money In The Bank 2016 – Black Honey (Thrice)
This is the most played song on my iTunes playlist, by the way. This song was actually written to exploit the United States’ infatuation with greed, especially with oil (being the black honey). However, this song perfectly translated to how badly the six competitors in the Money In The Bank Ladder match wanted the briefcase, knowing that it would practically guarantee them a WWE Title reign. Dean Ambrose reigned victorious over Kevin Owens, Cesaro, Chris Jericho, Alberto Del Rio and Sami Zayn and would eventually cash in that prize later that night over his long-time rival, Seth Rollins. Aside from that, you’re going to get John Cena and AJ Styles’ first one on one match as well as Seth Rollins wanting to gain the title that he never lost, against the man who held the title in his absence, Roman Reigns. When I tell you I love this song, it does it no justice.
3. WrestleMania 17 – My Way (Limp Bizkit)
The Rock. Stone Cold. Nuff said, right?
2. Bad Blood 2003 – Headstrong (Trapt)
This song is a bit of a nostalgic trip for me. I first heard this song listening to anime AMV’s when I was a child, but then I was surprised to know that it was actually the theme song for a WWE PPV. I think that the song relayed a big fight feel towards the PPV, and while this RAW-exclusive show wasn’t particularly memorable, the song certainly was. Triple H defended his World Heavyweight Championship inside Hell In A Cell against Kevin Nash, Shawn Michaels took on Ric Flair, and that’s really all I can remember about the show. This song is pretty much everything I do remember about it, however, and with good reason for it.
1. Survivor Series 2002 – Always (Saliva)
For me, this song is untouchable, especially considering the promo that they used for the first ever Elimination Chamber match. For me, there isn’t a song in WWE PPV history that captured the anticipation of a big match than this one did. The main attraction of the show was the World Heavyweight Championship Elimination Chamber match involving champion Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Kane, Booker T and Chris Jericho. When I first saw the promo for the match, I was hooked, and since then, I never looked back. This isn’t the entire song, but I loved how the incorporated the song into the promo. Watch for yourself and see what I mean.
So what were your favorite WWE PPV theme songs? Did I miss any? Let me know! Until next time.
