5 WWE entrance themes originally meant for someone else

Every successful wrestling star - especially in WWE - will more than likely have an easily identifiable entrance theme. In fact, it becomes more than that - it becomes a part of their identity, in and out of the ring. Imagine Stone Cold Steve Austin walking into a grocery store - you heard the glass breaking as walked in, didn't you?

Some classic wrestling entrance themes become so intertwined with the persona of the wrestlers who use them that you would think they were created specifically with the star in mind. This is usually the case, but every so often, it's not. Sometimes, a classic entrance theme was originally intended for someone else.

How many times has this happened? Well, at least five. We're going to name five of these entrance themes for your reading enjoyment. Also, good luck getting some of these WWE themes out of your head. You're welcome.

Honorable Mention: Jerry "The King" Lawler's WWE entrance theme - "The Great Gate of Kiev"

When you first hear the regal horns of this classical composition, you know immediately that WWE Hall of Famer Jerry "The King" Lawler is about to make an appearance. The piece, "The Great Gate of Kiev," was part of Modest Mussorgsky's "Pictures of an Exhibition" suite, and is considered one of the all-time great virtuoso compositions.

However, Lawler is hardly the first performer to use this particular piece. In fact, he's not even the first WWE "King" to use it. It was originally used by "King" Harley Race when he made his WWF debut. This was the beginning of the promotion's unofficial "King" title, used by other stars like Haku, Jim Duggan, and "Macho King" Randy Savage.

Lawler had been going by the "King" moniker since his days in Memphis, so obviously he wasn't a part of that "lineage." But the entrance theme fit him so perfectly that he's been using it since his debut in WWE in 1992.

#5. Brodus Clay's WWE entrance theme - "Somebody Call My Mama" (intended for Ernest "The Cat" Miller)

In 2012, vignettes began to air on WWE programming, touting the official main roster debut of Brodus Clay (he had originally appeared as Alberto del Rio's bodyguard while he was on the original version of NXT). These video packages implied that a vicious monster was about to be let loose and that all of WWE had better beware.

However, when he actually debuted, things were a little unexpected to say the least.

For a wrestler being billed as the "Funkasaurus," it would appear this would have been a tailor-made entrance theme song. Except it wasn't.

The song was originally used for Ernest "The Cat" Miller, who was previously a star in WCW. The entrance theme song pefectly matched his iconic catchphrase... well, you can probably guess what that was.

Sadly, Miller's career didn't pan out in WWE like it should have. When Brodus Clay needed one funky theme song to help him dance his way to the ring, Ernest Miller left behind a banger of a tune that perfectly fit the now-Fox News commentator.

If you don't know, Brodus Clay - now called Tyrus - is a host and commentator for Fox Nation, Fox News's online service. So, this entry got weird quickly. Let's move on.

#4. AJ Styles' WWE entrance theme - "Phenomenal" (originally intended for James Storm)

AJ Styles and James Storm in TNA/IMPACT Wrestling

Over his long and extraordinary career, in all the different promotions he's worked for, has AJ Styles had a better entrance theme song than he does in WWE right now?

When the organ notes and the "yep yep" of the opening of "Phenomenal" began to play at the 2016 Royal Rumble, fans arguably didn't need to see the "I am Phenomenal" tag appear on the Titantron to know who was coming out. It played off of his persona - down-home, religious, regular old Southern boy - who's also the coolest guy in the ring. How could this entrance theme not be written specifically for him? Well, you've read this far into the feature, you know where this is going.

Around the same time Styles was hammering out a deal to go from New Japan to WWE, his former Fourtune stablemate in TNA, James Storm, was also in discussions to sign as part of WWE NXT. He even appeared on an episode back in 2015.

According to "Road Dogg" Jesse James, during an episode of Table For 3 (one of the more underrated shows on the WWE Network), the song had originally been intended for Storm had he signed a long-term deal with the company. Instead, Storm decided to return to IMPACT, leaving a perfectly good entrance theme just laying about for someone to stumble across.

So, when Styles signed - rightfully skipping NXT altogether - WWE gave him Storm's intended theme music.

That's not to say the entrance theme wouldn't have been a good fit for "the Cowboy" had he decided to stick around. But, after all this time, it's hard to imagine it playing for anybody else than "the Face That Runs the Place."

#3. Luke Gallows' second WWE entrance theme - "Massacre" (originally used by The Big Show)

Throughout his tenure in WWE, Paul "The Big Show" Wight had one of the most memorable entrance themes in the history of the business. At the very least, it had one of the most memorable openings.

"WELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL... Well, it's the BIG SHOOOOOOOOW!"

Well, it couldn't be the "BIG SHOOOOOOOOOW!" until he actually adopted that name. When he originally moved from WCW (where he was simply The Giant) to the WWF, he started out using his own name - just like he's doing in AEW now. That's why he had a totally different theme song - called "Massacre." Needless to say, he didn't use it for very long.

It wasn't long before Mr. Wight took the name "Big Show" and the WWF decided to give him a new song (Fun fact: When I was a kid, I legitimately thought Big Show's theme was sung by Eddie Vedder).

Jump forward a number of years and Luke Gallows needed a theme song once he was no longer in the Straight Edge Society (or Festus).

It would be nearly a decade later when Gallows would return to WWE, along with his Bullet Club teammate from Japan, Karl Anderson, and finally get some entrance theme music of his own.

#2. Hulk Hogan's WWE entrance theme - "Real American" (originally intended for the U.S. Express)

"Real American" by Rick Derringer (who was a pretty successful rock musician in the 1970s and 80s) will forever be associated with WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan. Of course, unfortunately, so will that one Jimi Hendrix song he used in the 1990s. But that's for a whole other list.

The entrance theme is so well known that even former President Barack Obama used it to open his speech at the 2011 White House Correspondent's Dinner.

Believe it or not, however, the tune wasn't originally intended for the Hulkster. After first appearing on WWE's "The Wrestling Album" in 1984, it was given to the tag tandem of Barry Windham and Mike Rotundo known as the U.S. Express. However, the team would leave the company before the album would see the light of day and thus history was made.

The team did use the entrance theme to make their way to the ring at least once, however.

The rest is history.

#1. Robert Roode's WWE entrance theme - "Glorious Domination" (originally intended for Shinsuke Nakamura)

One of the most epic moments in WWE NXT history - well, two actually - involved two TakeOver event entrances by one Bobby (now going by Robert) Roode. The first being NXT: TakeOver Brooklyn II (see the video below):

Then later that year at NXT TakeOver: Toronto (see the video below):

This wouldn't be the end of the Glorious One's epic NXT entrances, but these two are among some of his best.

While Roode was, and still is, an incredible performer, it was his entrance theme music "Glorious Domination" that really sent him over the edge in terms of popularity in the Black and Gold brand. It's such an epic piece that it seems to draw inspiration from both the classical themes used by stars like "Macho Man" Randy Savage ("Pomp and Circumstance") and Ric Flair ("Also Sprach Zarathustra") as well as the music of Queen.

However, it seems the entrance theme was going to be used by Shinsuke Nakamura at first. According to Roode himself, before his NXT debut, he had a different entrance theme picked out - only to have it walked back by Triple H. In a 2016 interview, Roode explained:

"Triple H came to me and said the song I chose originally really didn’t fit the character that he saw. We talked in great lengths about how I wanted to portray myself as a character. I wanted to bring back the robes and wanted to kind of go back to the character I portrayed before. The ‘Glorious Domination’ song was created for someone else and it just happened to be there, not being used, and I got to listen to it."

Fortunately, Nakamura himself wound up with an iconic WWE entrance theme song of his own, so everything worked out in the end for everybody. Well, at least until Roode ended up on WWE's main roster. But that's also a whole different article.

What are some of your favorite WWE theme songs? Let us know in the comments down there.

"Obviously my bank account": A'ja Wilson describes how she would have acclimatized to NIL deals and modern college money

5 WWE entrance themes that were originally meant for someone else