Episode 15
Eric Young on His Entrance Music for Violent By Design, Sanity, NXT, and His Show Vinyl Obsession
Wrestling entrance theme song composer John Kiernan speaks with TNA Wrestling's Eric Young about his passion for music, particularly vinyl records, and the significance of entrance themes in wrestling.
They discuss the evolution of Sanity's entrance theme in NXT, Violent By Design's theme, and the collaborative process throughout his wrestling career working with Dale Oliver and more. They also talk about memorable guests on Young's show 'Vinyl Obsession', the ritual of vinyl collecting, and the collaborative process of creating entrance themes that resonate with wrestlers' characters.
Young shares insights on the importance of music in storytelling within wrestling, the challenges of music rights, and his personal favorite themes that reflect his journey in the industry.
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About The Show:
Do you like wrestling? Do you like music and stories from the road? Join John Kiernan, wrestling entrance theme song composer, and professional musician of over 10 years for stories and interviews with your favorite wrestlers, rock stars, and personalities!
About the Host:
John Kiernan is a wrestling entrance theme song composer with over 150 themes written for wrestlers in various promotions such as NJPW, WWE, ROH, MLW, and many more. As a professional musician, a veteran in the podcasting space, an avid pro wrestling fan and wrestling personality by way of creating the soundtracks for your favorite wrestlers, John Kiernan forges his latest podcasting venture into diving into stories of music, stories from the road, and wrestling from all walks of life from your (and his) favorites of all time.
Are you looking for a custom wrestling entrance theme or walk out music?
Contact via email at johnkiernanmusic@gmail.com. Or fill out this form here! https://johnkiernanmusic.com/custom-wrestler-entrance-themes/#contact
Take a listen to my themes!
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIkQOXc7x9NFiIHsYDov27nsUJpcIYJ49
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Transcript
Welcome to this episode of the Ropes and Riffs podcast.
2
:This is your host, Jon, Wrestling Entrance Theme Song Composer.
3
:So as you know, we talk all about music and wrestling and wrestling entrance themes.
4
:And today we're going to be speaking with somebody who is both a huge wrestling
personality and someone who's huge into music, which you probably know from his show,
5
:Vinyl Obsession.
6
:I'm talking about Eric Young.
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:We're going to go ahead and talk all about vinyl obsession, his passion for music, which
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:Obviously will coincide with my passion for music as well as talk about all of the
different themes he's had over his career from TNA to WWE and NXT.
9
:I'd like to dive into a little bit of the sanity theme with him also, cause that one's a
banger and then even up to violent by design.
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:So we're to talk about all those things.
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:We're going to jump here in a second, but before we jump in, thank you for checking out
the ropes and riffs podcast.
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:you can check us out anywhere you listen to your podcast.
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:So Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, any of those outlets that you listen to, go ahead,
check it out, subscribe if you like the show, and leave us a comment over on any of those
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:outlets.
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:Love hearing the feedback from you, the fans, love hearing that you love what we're doing.
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:And I love doing this for you guys.
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:So it's...
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:Let us know what you think of the show.
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:If you go ahead and leave a comment over there, I'll go ahead and read it on the show here
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:So again, Apple Podcasts and Spotify, YouTube, wherever you pick up your podcasts, go
ahead, subscribe on there, like and follow, do all those fun things and leave us some
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:comments.
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:I love hearing what you guys are thinking of the show and I love interacting with you
guys.
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:We've had a lot of great things happening over on YouTube and over on all the podcasting
directories.
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:So thank you so much for your support.
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:I don't make this show without the support from you guys.
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:So thank you so much.
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:On top of that,
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:As always, if you donate $10 or more to PayPal at Ropes N Riffs, that's R-O-P-E-S, the
letter N, R-I-F-F-S, $10 or more gets you a shout out on the show.
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:And again, I love hearing from you guys.
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:I love shouting people out on the show.
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:Without further ado, and without any further ado, let me introduce my guest at this time,
the one and only, Eric Young.
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:pretty wild.
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:I feel like nowadays the sicknesses are just kind of elongating.
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:Like I was just having this conversation with somebody yesterday.
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:It's like, I feel like when I was younger, like 10 years ago, okay, you'd get sick and
then it would be gone.
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:Now it's like, I guess you're sick for a month now and your voice is gone for at least two
of those.
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:So yeah.
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:Yeah, that's where I'm sitting right now.
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:So I feel mostly fine.
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:uh
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:Well, let me know if anything happens and I'll cut this part out.
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:Let me know if at any point you're like, dude, my, my throat is gone.
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:No worries.
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:I mean, I'm used to it always kind of sounding like this.
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:Well, talking about that, you have been somebody who have wanted to bring on the show
since before we even got started.
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:was sending you some messages saying, Hey, you have vinyl obsession.
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:You're somebody who obviously is so passionate about music.
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:You're somebody that has so many different themes.
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:you're like the staple person I wanted to bring on this show.
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:And we bring in a lot of different wrestlers and musicians and talk about all different
things.
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:But as somebody who just launched such as such an awesome show in vinyl obsession.
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:and is bringing on so many different guests, all ranging from like Steve Vai to John Five
to Melissa Joan Hart.
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:It's like, let's just start there.
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:Let's just talk about and nerd out on some of that music stuff.
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:So vinyl obsession, I say it just came out, but it's been going strong for a little bit.
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:Now you're already in season two.
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:Yeah, this is season two.
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:They didn't have a host in the first season.
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:So it was the same show.
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:It's just there wasn't a host to kind of tie it together.
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:Obviously, I'm a very small part of the show.
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:The star of the show is really vinyl music.
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:And then the one B would be some musician that's been making music and people have been
buying their music for 40-plus years or.
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:you know the list goes on and on, they had a lot of great guests on the show.
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:ah Really proud of the show.
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:uh I don't think there'll be a season three that going a different direction at Access TV,
but there are some other things that worked.
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:I got the show because I pitched another idea that I gotta keep under wraps, but about
vinyl music and then.
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:great name, I am obsessed with vinyl myself.
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:got over 2,000 albums downstairs in my record room and ah yeah, just super proud of the
show.
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:mean, I don't think a lot of people watched it, which is why it's not going to continue.
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:ah There's lots of stuff we can get into about that.
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:It has nothing to do with the show or me or the guests or anybody that made the show.
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:ah
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:But the truth is, it was on at a weird time and not enough people watched it.
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:But everyone that watched it had good things to say about it.
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:And you know how social media can be.
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:There's a negative Nellie in every group, but there was very, very few of those.
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:mean, the thing that's really cool about Vital Obsession 2 is you have so many people from
all across the board coming into the show.
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:And on top of all that, you know, you're getting them in a way rekindling a little bit of
what they felt when they first listened to like that first record or that first vinyl.
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:And, you know, you see that with everyone from like Melissa Joan Hart to John 5.
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:And it's just cool to be able to see.
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:You know, at least for me, musicians that I've grown up with that I've respected nerding
out and just having such a good time with music that helped raise me.
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:And I'm sure it was very pivotal to them too.
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:And it was funny too, to see Melissa Joan Hart on there too, cause you know, she is a
wrestling fan.
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:So there's that cool connection there, but it's just, it's so interesting.
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:The guests that you had on who's been your favorite guests that you were able to interact
with on the show.
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:I each one has its own kind of thing.
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:Obviously, know, Dave Mustaine getting to talk to him, like, look, I'm not even what I
would say like a massive Megadeth fan.
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:Like I respect the music and I like it, especially while I'm working out.
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:ah But in that like thrash metal space, he's a God, you know, his metal guitar playing is
considered some of the best, if not the best of the world.
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:ah And in that...
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:realm of music and that bubble of music, he's considered one of like the forefathers of
thrash music in North America.
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:uh know, stuff like that is cool.
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:um I was a huge Bush fan.
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:Still am a huge Bush fan.
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:So, and Gavin Rossdale is...
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:I thought he'd be cool.
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:And then I got to hang out with him for a day and he's like, you're like, somehow he's
cooler than he looks and it's wild.
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:ah But you know, like like your, to your point was, I feel like part of their guard is
down because they're in this thing.
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:They're not asked to be talked about themselves, which can be a fit line for people that.
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:are creative and you're being asked to talk about yourself but you don't want to come
across as egotistical.
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:um You want to be personable but if you're only talking about yourself you don't seem
personable.
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:There's a person very low down in that world, I can tell you that it can come across that
way when it's not even meant to be.
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:And they had this opportunity just to talk about things that they like and that they're
passionate about.
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:And I think it really...
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:their guard comes down and they become very relaxed ah and all of them seemed genuinely
happy to be there and happy to be flipping through the boxes and chit chatting about
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:music.
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:That's really the base of the show because we can all identify anyone that is a collector
of vinyl or a lover, even just a lover of music in general.
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:What's better than talking about your favorite music?
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:That's what the whole show is.
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:And I think it's even different than is, than if you were to say, you know, let's just
come on, let's go ahead and look through an iPod with some of your favorite music, that
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:kind of thing.
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:You know, it's, you're actually, yeah, you're going into the record store and you're kind
of getting them back to when they were a kid, not just from what they were listening to.
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:But you know, for me, while I wasn't necessarily old enough to be able to go to vinyl
stores and whatnot, for me, it was CDs, it was tapes, right?
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:Right.
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:Going into all that.
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:If I ever go into a place that still has all that, I'm just like, man, this is the coolest
thing in the world to just see new records and things like that.
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:Cause everyone can go on their phone now and pick out the songs that they loved when they
were like two, three, four, 10, all that stuff.
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:But to be able to go in and like you said, flip through the record.
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:Sometimes you don't even know what you're going to get.
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:Sometimes you don't even know if they're going to have the record that inspired you.
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:And then all of sudden you'll come across another one.
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:You're like, my God, I remember what I was doing that thing.
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:Totally.
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:Yeah.
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:Yeah, yeah.
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:And I think, you know, being from a certain vintage, like obviously, even me, when I got
into purchasing my own music, was CDs.
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:And I've always been around records because my parents had records.
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:But we had records even when we didn't have a record player.
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:I'm very thankful.
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:I used to think that was insane.
132
:I mean, I think I still do think that's insane, but I was very thankful because I got my
mom and dad's record collection, which was massive.
133
:A lot of stuff that I grew up listening to and there you can hear that a bunch of the show
is there's always this like familiar connection or You know, this was you know a sister a
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:record my sister listened to over and over and she was older than me and then I stole it
from her and that's how I got into punk rock music and like there's a lot of things like
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:that, but I think there's something very animalistic and uh ritualistic about the whole
process of vinyl of
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:The hunting gathering.
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:know this is going to sound like I've thought about it way too much and maybe I have, but
like the hunting gathering thing is something that's in as a human being.
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:It's like, part of our genetics and it be erased like a dog that hurts or, uh, you know,
um, or a dog that barks or a dog that hunts.
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:It's, they just know these things, right.
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:And hunting and gathering has been part of the human condition for thousands as long as
we've been.
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:So going to a store and looking and searching through, it touches on that.
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:And then there's like this kind of ritual of like taking it out of the seal and pulling it
out of the sleeve, dropping it on the needle on the, holding it on the edges, don't
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:scratch the vinyl.
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:like it's, there's something very ritualistic about it, which I think is appealing to all
people, even if they know it or not, it's appealing to them at like such like a
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:primalistic level.
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:And it touches all of those things.
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:And you know, we're sitting around the campfire swapping stories about the first time we
heard this album, or first time we saw the cover, or the first time we bought a record or
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:whatever it is.
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:And that's like the beauty of the show.
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:It's just touching on this thing that everyone can identify with in some way.
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:Music is such a combining thing.
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:It's like something that's kind of prevalent in everyone's life, whether it massively or
even just I listen to music for 15 minutes.
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:when I drive to work.
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:uh Music is part of everyone's life so it's just a great show and uh I wish there was
going to be about 100 more of them.
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:And you know what, though, vinyl is one of those things where it was also a different way
to listen to music.
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:Like you said, completely different experience.
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:You're taking it out of the wrapping, even so much to where side A has one thing, side B
has another thing.
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:And this was also back in the day where, you know, if you release a record now and you
want to do something kind of cool at the end, like, okay, your last song hits, then
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:there's like 10 minutes of silence and then you've got this little hidden thing at the
end.
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:On a vinyl, you used to be able to do that and people would be like, oh my God, that's
super cool.
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:Cause they didn't expect it.
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:They didn't stop at these kind of let the record go.
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:Now, all of a sudden you'll pick up like a record and the last track will be 15 minutes
long, but the song is three minutes.
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:And you're like, all right, there's a thing there or iTunes or Apple or whatever.
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:We'll go ahead and say hidden track.
166
:And then like, it'll be like 13 silences.
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:And then one last thing at the end, which they had to name.
168
:you're like, even back then the discovery of what may be at the end of a record or
something else that's just even more creative is embedded in kind of the artistry.
169
:of being on a vinyl thing.
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:Even CD didn't.
171
:CD had that a little bit, but again, you see the timer go up, but vinyl gave like even
more credence to being even more creative, I think.
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:Yeah, I think there is really something to that.
173
:Like a lot of people talk about it wasn't something that was like crazy appealing to me,
but always kind of part of the process was the cover art.
174
:And that like was a part of CDs, like you can, you you get the little plastic case and you
slide that little, you know, the little insert out.
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:That was, you know, it similar, right?
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:It was like kind of the new age version of what, if there was like a record insert.
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:a lyric insert or there was just an art insert in the middle.
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:And a lot of times the cases would fold to reveal other art on the inside that you didn't
know that was there until you bought it and opened it.
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:Right, I mean the internet, when I was young, young, didn't exist and when people were
buying records in the 70s, there was no way to know what was inside.
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:And then if they pulled it out and it wasn't just black vinyl, it was colored vinyl or
something different.
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:was it.
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:It would blow their minds, right?
183
:Like, so, you know, and you wouldn't know unless you bought it and you would hear, you
know, like, did you hear that?
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:You know, Ozzy Osbourne's, know, new things are made with bat blood and my goodness, crazy
stuff.
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:That was part of the lore of who he was.
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:Um, so yeah, I'm just infinitely proud of the show and was so happy to be chosen to work
on it.
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:Worked along a bunch of amazing people.
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:from cameraman to producers and executive producers.
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:So it was an amazing experience.
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:And you know what?
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:There's nothing saying that down the road, you can't pick up something like that.
192
:You know, you have so many different people in the industry and so many different people
in music and wrestling that there's so many opportunities to pick that back up.
193
:And you got me now thinking about what was maybe the first vinyl that I had ever seen.
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:Cause my dad, same thing.
195
:had lots of vinyls.
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:And I think probably one of the first experiences with music that he brought me into on
vinyl was the magic mystery tour.
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:And I remember hearing that when I was so young and I wasn't into music really seriously
until it was probably about
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:You know, let's say 13, 14 or whatnot.
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:So this was years before I was even like, okay, cool.
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:Music is something I want to do professionally or do anything.
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:And this is just me listening as a kid.
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:And I remember how like, again, like we all do, or like we all did, we had those giant
cabinets full of vinyls.
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:And it's just, uh, I remember that he would go ahead and pull that out.
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:And that was like a daily or a weekly thing for him when he got home from work to be able
to listen to.
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:And that's where I was thinking like, oh man, the side, a, the side B, all that, man,
that's bringing me back to my childhood too.
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:And this is what would happen on the show, right?
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:Like you, sit down and have these conversations with people.
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:They would see a cover or they would see a band name like, oh, you know, like, you know,
Drain Drain.
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:I haven't thought about that forever.
210
:And me and my, you know, teenage sister went to the mall and we wanted this thing and it
was sold out and it was snowing and like all these like memories can come flooding back to
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:them.
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:And I'm
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:they're living that in real time and it's just so cool how things like that just connect
everybody so easily and so quickly and how something that someone probably hasn't thought
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:of in 20 or 30 years can just come vividly back and that's the power of music, I think.
215
:The number one power of music is that, the nostalgia of it, the reminiscing, you can hear
a song and it can transport you to a time in life where that was playing in the background
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:or those
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:birthday party or that was playing at your first dance with a girl or whatever it is.
218
:It's a really, really powerful thing, And I'm really happy to even be part of such a small
part of that.
219
:Yeah.
220
:And even talking about the marriage of music with wrestling, which is what we're going to
talk about next is the entrance themes or the music in the packages or the music for a
221
:show.
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:Any of that stuff.
223
:Music has played such a pivotal role in the entrance themes in wrestling.
224
:And I would argue to say that even over the last 15, 20 years or so, even going back
further than that, you have so many of these iconic entrance themes that help build the
225
:brand and help build the vision of any of the wrestlers.
226
:And like I said to you before we hopped on air,
227
:You're somebody that has been in the industry and has made such a staple over the last
amount of years.
228
:And you know, you're somebody that has gone through lots of different character changes,
someone who has innovated, someone who has been able to take part in everything from the
229
:most serious of characters to really funny things, to things that are even more outside
the box.
230
:And so for you, think uniquely over many other wrestlers, you've had a lot of different
entrance themes over time.
231
:that evoke lots of different emotions based on what you're doing.
232
:Everything from what you were doing with Team Canada, all the way to Sanity, all the way
to what you're doing now, violent by design.
233
:I mean, with what you were doing, by design.
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:Why can't I say that?
235
:With what you were doing with violent by design and all of the different themes you've had
for anything you've done in your solo run, for you when you're coming up with an entrance
236
:theme or for when you're working with somebody on it you're choosing it.
237
:What are some of the things that you're thinking about in that process of choosing an
entrance theme?
238
:I mean, the biggest thing for me is mood and feel.
239
:I can even pick a song that I don't even like hearing, just depending on the mood that I
want to set.
240
:And I think it's, know, Edrids themes and package themes, that's the soundtrack to
wrestling.
241
:Like if you were to release a soundtrack, you release wrestling themes.
242
:And...
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:The truth is people hear that before they even see you.
244
:There are so many iconic entrance scenes like, you hear that, who's coming, then his ass
breaks and here he comes and someone's getting their ass kicked.
245
:That's just so iconic and it's such, I mean of course, because I've been this diehard
wrestling fan for so long.
246
:But anyone that has even kind of loosely watched, if you said that riff to them, they
would know who that is.
247
:It draws a picture in their mind.
248
:They don't even have to see them.
249
:it's having the right song can really set the tone for who you are.
250
:And I say this, if I do seminars and things like that, like you got to pick a song that
fits.
251
:When Jason Voorhees is creeping around through the woods, they're not playing marching
band music.
252
:It would take you out of visually of what's going on.
253
:If you're trying to portray someone that's evil, like when I was in Violent by Design,
when you hear that music, it should sound violent and it should sound mean and unforgiving
254
:and...
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:volatile and all of those things because
256
:Once you hear those first couple bars of that song, you know, here comes my son and the
mood in an arena can change.
257
:So it's, mean, it's crazy important, right?
258
:And I've, I've had the, mean, I say privilege.
259
:think some people would look at it differently, but I've done, you know, so many different
characters, but each time, like there's lots of thought put into what the music should be.
260
:And like Eric Tompkins, he's had a production for, for TNA.
261
:More people should know his name because
262
:TNA probably doesn't exist without him.
263
:Certainly doesn't exist in the creative realm that it creates is without him.
264
:And he is a guy that I trust and help me find the right one, right?
265
:They have a database of millions of songs.
266
:You can kind of type in to the database, bluesy,
267
:He's just clicking and listening, clicking and listening.
268
:So my current one is like a spin-off of Johnny Cash covering Nine Inch Nails.
269
:it's, I don't even know if it's good like baby face music, but he said it, sounds like
star music, right?
270
:And it's certainly not upbeat in what you would think about for a baby face, but when you
hear it.
271
:There's, there's some kind of a tone that it sets.
272
:And I mean, in wrestling, it's, it's everything now and a bad one.
273
:Yeah, and you you say it's a matter of like the baby face or the heel but really I think
you dialed in on a second ago is it's all really about your character, know, it's what are
274
:you trying to evoke even further than okay?
275
:Am I gonna be a bad guy tonight?
276
:Am I being a good guy tonight?
277
:It's really more in the way I've always said it when I write themes for wrestlers is each
wrestler is like a movie each wrestler is telling their own story and you're scoring that
278
:on their way to the ring and
279
:People have that in the back of their minds as you're in the ring.
280
:They remember what happened before.
281
:And like you said, your theme now may not be babyface, it may not be heel, but it's more
something that is when Eric Young's there, you know what Eric Young is about.
282
:You know what EY's come into the ring to do.
283
:And you know, I think that's even true with a lot of the themes that you've had over time,
even something like Blood and Fire, which you've also had a great opportunity to be able
284
:to work with.
285
:As you said, Tompkins over there, but you've also been able to work with a Dale Oliver to
be able to create some awesome music for you too, over the years.
286
:Um, that one's the one for me that I don't know why over all of the themes that you've
done, like out of all the solo themes that I've heard for you, that's the one that always
287
:I remember.
288
:And maybe it was because of the stories that you were in at the time with like MVP and all
that kind of stuff.
289
:But for me, that one was always just like.
290
:whether Eric Young has come to kick ass, whether he's coming to do some comedy work,
whether he's just coming out to entertain or whether he's going to come out to like break
291
:your neck, all of those things.
292
:It just seemed like such, I don't know why it was upbeat, but it seemed so up the middle
of the road for what you were doing.
293
:Yeah, that with Dale was, it was the first time that I was going to be uh a bad guy in a
long time.
294
:And for me, the music is just so important.
295
:It sets a tone in your entrance and all that stuff.
296
:And I heard When the Levee Breaks by Led Zeppelin.
297
:And there's just something about that slow bass line and the
298
:You know, it just, it made me like want to like do this and like bad-ass slow stretch
walk.
299
:And I told Dale, like I want it to be obviously not when the levy breaks, but like a
modern version of that.
300
:So he took that song and incorporated some guitar riffs from a van like Wolf Mother, which
is really heavy, cool guitar stuff.
301
:Ended up, I mean, I really loved the song and I love mostly that.
302
:that point, Dale was writing almost all of it at TNA and getting a chance to decide.
303
:For years, was just like, this is your new music.
304
:And that goes on in a lot of places.
305
:You don't get to pick or have say or any of that.
306
:So it was really cool to be part of the process and uh know that I had nothing to do with
the making of the music, but the vision of what I wanted.
307
:in my career that that
308
:And I think a lot of people think of all the entrance theme song composers that have
existed in different companies, but I think Del Oliver is somebody that, rightfully so,
309
:gets a lot of credit from kind of a hardcore audience of wrestling.
310
:But I don't think he gets quite the credit that he deserves from more of a wide audience
because he was doing some amazing music at the time for you, for everybody.
311
:You know, if you go back and you listen to a lot of what he did, I would venture to say
that a lot of the music that he came up with, you could tell...
312
:you know, maybe where an influence was from, but you could totally hear the uniqueness of
Dale Oliver.
313
:And it's funny, not a lot of people really bring up how the collaborative process was with
him, but it sounds like from your experience with Dale Oliver, it was a really great
314
:process of going back and forth.
315
:I'd love you to outline a little bit as to how it was working with Dale Oliver.
316
:I know you didn't write the music, like you said, but it seemed like it was pretty
collaborative.
317
:Yeah, it's very, very collaborative.
318
:uh first of all, like, I Dale had worked here forever and had like, he's from and around
Nashville.
319
:So we traveled, you know, on the same planes and spend a lot of hours in airports and a
really nice guy, obviously, talented guy plays all instruments.
320
:Dale was really receptive for like this.
321
:He's like, yeah, yeah, I could do something like this.
322
:But like I said, when the levee breaks Led Zeppelin, which is I think one of my favorite
tunes of theirs, is that music just seemed so bad ass and made me want to like.
323
:like just kind of like be in my own head.
324
:And there's also this weird underlining, I think to a lot of Led Zeppelin's music where
it's, it's not angry, but it sounds like it could be, if that makes sense.
325
:Right.
326
:It's, know, and, and when the levy breaks, which is such a cool, slow riff that may for
lack of a better word, I told Dale, it makes me want to strut kind of like a, like a
327
:peacock, you know, and uh,
328
:slow and like this grimace on my face where I'm just kind of taking my own time and you
guys are all here to look at me and I'm gonna do
329
:Yeah.
330
:You know, and I don't even know that it will be, you know, maybe I'll grab a fan.
331
:Maybe I'll grab the referee, maybe I'll whatever, you know, I wanted it to feel
unpredictable and the song itself is very like constructed, but it, I don't know.
332
:It just, I really loved it.
333
:And I think the reason I loved it most is because I was part of the process of picking
what it sounded like.
334
:And I was also, that was a very like a
335
:important part of my career where I was going from being a guy that kind of had been
around a lot and done a lot of things to being like kind of like a main player on the top
336
:part of the car.
337
:And you were a main player, I think through a lot of your time in TNA, especially the, I
want to say like the back half of it going into NXT and then even coming back into TNA
338
:later on.
339
:Like you've always been somebody that's been a staple and to be able to have music that is
recognizable at all stages of your career that tells people what they can expect.
340
:That's huge.
341
:And it's a big thing to Dale Oliver.
342
:I know that you said that Led Zeppelin sounds aggressive sometimes, or like sounds a
little bit more like
343
:be more aggressive than they should.
344
:We can all thank John Bonham for hitting the crap out of those drums harder than most
people ever hit the crap out of the drums.
345
:So it's awesome.
346
:And then you have all this different music that you're using with different groups, with
your solo runs in TNA Impact Wrestling.
347
:And then you make the move over to NXT.
348
:And there was that first theme that you had used when it was you and Samoa Joe in the
ring.
349
:And first off, everybody kind of knew it was happening.
350
:Everyone was like,
351
:What's going on?
352
:That's just what we said, but everyone knew it was going on.
353
:That was probably one of my favorite moments in NXT history, if I'm being honest with you,
because again, you being somebody who had been such a fan of for so long, you and Samoa
354
:Joe, if I'm being honest, seeing you pop up there, was like, oh, this is crazy.
355
:This is cool.
356
:And hearing that theme that you had there, it was an interesting theme.
357
:I...
358
:Don't know if it was as, in my opinion, iconic as what I had heard in TNA, but I'm also
willing to go down the fan road of that and be like, man, I wish they would have just
359
:taken the Dale Oliver theme and just moved that right over.
360
:And that was a CFO theme that you had with them when you would come over upfront.
361
:And we'll get into the sanity stuff in a second, but what was the process working in NXT
and WWE on at least that first theme?
362
:Yeah, the first one was uh I went to I had finished up my contract with TMA wrestling and
ah Triple H had reached out about wanting to meet with me.
363
:There was no offer or anything just wanted me to fly down.
364
:They'd fly me down to an NXT taping and me and him would meet.
365
:That was only, that was it.
366
:That was the only thing that was told and it's kind of an old school rule is.
367
:Whether you're booked or not, take your stuff, right?
368
:You take your wrestling stuff.
369
:I was not supposed to wrestle.
370
:There was never mention of me wrestling, none of that.
371
:We met during the day at the Performance Center.
372
:the time, the Performance Center was in a different building and then they taped all the
NXT episodes at Full Sail University.
373
:So you go over to Full Sail and you're there during the day and you're meeting everybody
in the rings there or whatever.
374
:I think the show started at like,
375
:and it was around 4.30, 5 o'clock.
376
:Someone said, hey, Triple H has a question for you.
377
:You can meet him down by ringside.
378
:So I went down by ringside.
379
:He's like, I got this idea.
380
:open the show with an open challenge and then some.
381
:And challenge them.
382
:And you guys just put something together, no problem, main event, no big deal.
383
:You guys have wrestled a thousand times.
384
:I don't think me and Joe had ever really touched.
385
:We certainly hadn't wrestled a singles match ever.
386
:I think we had been in a couple tags, we were six man tags, where we interacted a little
bit.
387
:we really didn't, I mean, I've known him forever, he's still a very good friend of mine.
388
:But it's not like we had all this things that go on.
389
:And was like, do you have any images on your gimmicks?
390
:And I had shared the pin art of those.
391
:That's why it looks all weird, because it wasn't meant to be put on a video screen that
says, and the song, there was like 10 songs.
392
:It like, I'll just listen to any of these.
393
:And that was the one I kind of picked out.
394
:Said, this won't be your music.
395
:It will just be your music for tonight kind of thing.
396
:So.
397
:And it wasn't right for later on what they decided to do with the sanity thing.
398
:That had to be constructed from the ground up and happily to say like part of why I really
like working there, working with the WWE at that point was Triple H was very inclusive and
399
:still is from what I understand still is today.
400
:So he wanted my input and the other guys.
401
:weren't in the group yet.
402
:I was the group by myself, so I had to pick the colors.
403
:I had my first jacket designed and all the jackets that were designed after that were
404
:uh And he doesn't get the, even though like people like him and stuff, don't know if
people get the, he gets the full respect of like a lot of like the best stuff in the last
405
:15 years has come from his head.
406
:And I mean, I think the proof is in the pudding right now, right?
407
:It's, it's on such a, it's just on such a juggernaut level.
408
:And that all starts with him because he's at the top of the tree.
409
:Yeah.
410
:And yeah, huge respect to him of allowing me to choose and I went through that database
for hours.
411
:mean.
412
:He had kind of settled on a few and I settled on a few.
413
:And I said, this is the one I really like, but that song had no heavy guitar in it.
414
:And I said, over top of all that, there should be like a really like heavy like.
415
:Jim Johnson and his crew put it together and mash it up and add in kind of a guitar riff.
416
:And even I think that bass, that perl-m-m, that, you know, that the bass that's in that, I
don't think it was as prominent.
417
:And I think I said that both the guitar riff and that bass should be like...
418
:and the music that they had already wrote and tomorrow our thing and then the final part
is the sanity music which is
419
:Yeah, the sanity music and just the gimmick in general and just the presentation,
everything worked so well together.
420
:That music is, as you said before, it's like the glue for everything.
421
:And with that music, it's interesting to note that from what it sounds like, it was kind
of a combination of like a library track, like, okay, let's look at all these different
422
:things.
423
:And then you give it off to CFOs and they go ahead and say, okay, cool, let's add this.
424
:And they're collaborating with you and they're saying, you know what, let's go ahead and
add all of these different elements.
425
:I think that's something that a lot of people may overlook is the fact that there are
songs that are a hundred percent original, a hundred percent from the head of the composer
426
:with collaboration with the wrestler.
427
:But then there are some that are also direction taken or parts kind of brought into
something that might already exist because there are some already good skeletons and bones
428
:to something like that.
429
:And that kind of sounds like that's what it was with sanity.
430
:Yeah, uh
431
:and then it comes in and like the spotlights would come in on the stage and we'd walk out
and there would be smoke and like it's all really well thought through, right?
432
:Like, I mean, everything that you see is why it looks so good is it's thought of, right?
433
:Like it's for sometimes painstakingly for hours and hours.
434
:So it's a, that's definitely one of those labor of love things.
435
:And like, I could do that every day.
436
:Like it's just such a cool process and fun process.
437
:just music is just such an important part of what we do.
438
:It's the first part of us, of any character that you hear or see.
439
:I'm behind the curtain when it plays, and most guys are behind the curtain when it plays.
440
:And you want that start.
441
:those first few notes to hit and the lights come on a certain way and certain lights go
off in a certain way and the smoke is in a certain way, people can anticipate who's coming
442
:out before they even see them, right?
443
:The anticipation is a huge part of what we do and a huge part of, I mean, music, right?
444
:Like how long have people been like, thank you guys and leaving the stage and then
everyone claps like this?
445
:leave and walk off stage.
446
:The only person I ever have seen not do that is Dave Matthews.
447
:He just said, you know, like, this is the part where we walk off and then you guys clap a
bunch, but we're kind of up against the time.
448
:So we're not going to leave.
449
:We'll just play a couple more songs.
450
:So he could play a couple more songs.
451
:He's like, can clap for like a second.
452
:One more song.
453
:Got it.
454
:Great.
455
:Let's go.
456
:You guys know the trick because we've all been to a concert where they do that.
457
:And like, don't, I like when they do it because it makes people clap and get even louder.
458
:And it's fun to be part of that and thinking, Oh, like we clap loud enough and they came
back out.
459
:They couldn't say no.
460
:Like it happens in every building at every show, almost anywhere in the world.
461
:And, but I feel like if some artists didn't do it, you would feel disappointed.
462
:You know, like it's part of the experience.
463
:And that's like to your point of like music being part of the wrestling experience.
464
:It's not a rock and roll show, but it's definitely music is such a massive part of pro
wrestling and the pro wrestling.
465
:Close enough to a rock and roll show.
466
:mean, with all the things that happen, absolutely.
467
:Totally.
468
:Now, one thing I do want to bring back real quick to the sanity theme is one thing that
I've always really loved about it too is you have the group sanity theme.
469
:But then one thing that I've loved if, you know, it doesn't happen all the time in
wrestling, but it's happened with a couple of different factions.
470
:It's happened with wrestlers that I've worked with over time that have come from a group
and gone solo or vice versa is
471
:you can take elements of that theme and bring them into even solo versions of an entrance
theme.
472
:And from that sanity theme came the version for Nikki Cross where she has like that brutal
female scream and then there's a little bit of a beat drop in deference.
473
:You the one for Big Demo where it brought in more of like the bagpipes and things like
that.
474
:And it was really cool to be able to see that for each individual person.
475
:there were still these little elements of we're all part of sanity.
476
:It shouldn't be that all of sudden we leave the group.
477
:And if the group's not disbanded, then all of a sudden there's just a complete 180 degree
shift.
478
:was like, it's this continuity that I think modern wrestling for TV is really able to do
because then it becomes more like a movie like we talked about earlier, more like a TV
479
:show.
480
:You have this group and wherever they go, you're thinking of this group.
481
:Or this faction or this person as they evolve over time, there's little elements, little
musical themes that it's like, Oh, they started here now four years later, they're here,
482
:but this is where it all started.
483
:Everyone talks about Roman Reigns theme where it's like, you had the shield thing for
awhile.
484
:And then even in like that new theme, you hear little elements of that, like the little
guitar riffs slowed down, brought in.
485
:It's just cool because it makes that continuity happen even more for an audience member
between, okay, we're here.
486
:And now we're here until you do that 180 degrees shift where you're like, I'm no longer
with the group.
487
:Now it's a brand new thing.
488
:Yeah, yeah.
489
:And that's it's important for those three lines, because some people can get so connected
to that piece of art.
490
:That is who you are.
491
:You know, like if Steve Austin, he's had a couple different versions of his theme, right?
492
:in the start of every one, once they got to that part where you hear that glass break,
that was the cue for the crowd to scream.
493
:Yeah.
494
:And without that, it wouldn't feel like is.
495
:And there was like the disturbed version and there was, but it was all the same kind of
rift and same kind of feel because if you didn't get that, felt ripped off as a customer.
496
:And I think when they did the San Diego ones, was cool because we wanted to feel not like
an actual group, not like a wrestling group.
497
:Like if you notice on the show, it's like, barely did any interviews on the set because we
didn't want to feel like we were
498
:part of that world.
499
:wanted to feel like we're from this other world coming to take this world kind of thing.
500
:like we, we Triple H, this is part of his vision too.
501
:And I agree with it was shooting, you know, in, we shot the bowels of the center stage in
Atlanta.
502
:We shot on the roof that full sail, right?
503
:With the light, you know, spotlights kind of looking up.
504
:You can't tell where we are.
505
:You were just on this crappy tar roof from the school, but it looked and felt different.
506
:And um having Nikki have her own and like, know, the Celtic music and demos and me and
Wolf when we tagged was slightly different from when Wolf and Damo tagged.
507
:And it was, I think, kind of like, not like a cookie, but fans pick up on it.
508
:Yeah.
509
:It makes it each entrance feel special.
510
:Also, if we were wrestling, you know, if Nikki had a match and then I had a match and
maybe the other guys were having a tag, you would hear the same thing three times.
511
:People get tired of it.
512
:So they're having those slight variations.
513
:It also just is more important because each individual wanted to feel individualistic.
514
:And with the, we're just using the same music.
515
:It's a lot harder to do.
516
:And now we go into the Violent by Design music that you have, which is Nine Lives.
517
:Right?
518
:It's a theme that you've used on your own.
519
:It's a theme that's been used with Violent by Design.
520
:That one, I believe, is from a band.
521
:Or was that from everything that I've seen.
522
:That one's from a band.
523
:eh
524
:Yeah, a lot of the T &A themes are from bands.
525
:there's, don't know what it's called, but it's like a database where as a band, you can
submit your stuff.
526
:And I think that database will send you, you know, like X amount of dollars every time
it's used, or maybe it's one fee per album.
527
:And then now your music, I know, I don't know who it was.
528
:want it to someone in AEW.
529
:used a song, the Violent by Design theme as like a package for, because they're using the
same database.
530
:Wrestling Minds All Think alike, so production person there was like, this sounds cool.
531
:this is a song I've been using on TV for a year and a half, but you're welcome to use it
because it's available to everybody on this database.
532
:So.
533
:And I think both companies fall from that same database, it's literally millions and
millions of songs.
534
:And some of it is just people that make music with their computer, some as bands, some are
just singles, it's all kinds of different.
535
:It's funny because for me, with some of the music I've worked on for even talents over at
TNA, you know, we've done Brian Myers theme with It Lives It Breathes, Masha Slamovich's
536
:first theme when she came in was something that I did.
537
:And when I started doing themes, I was always just like, you know, how do you even start
doing that?
538
:And a lot of it has been just communicating with wrestlers such as yourself saying, hey,
I'd love to be able to work on something with you.
539
:And then over time,
540
:You end up seeing that there are all different places that people that places pull from.
541
:And especially when it comes to TV, it comes to rights.
542
:And that's why the libraries are so big.
543
:It's like, can look and see, here's all this different music.
544
:But it's funny because over time now it's like, it's gone from being what I would just
call like production house music or like, just royalty free music all the way to becoming
545
:like, yeah, like you said, actual bands are putting this out and the music's awesome.
546
:You can always go to a composer to get something really specific, which a lot of people
still do.
547
:But a lot of that library music that WWE, AEW, TNA pull from, it's really quality stuff
because you're actually getting it from bands.
548
:And you know, if you're not working with those bands one-on-one, I think they're doing a
real good service on being able to get wrestlers really high quality themes that can rep
549
:them and also saying, Hey, let's work with musicians who are actually putting things out
and bring that into the fold too, while keeping the rights as.
550
:simplistic as possible and good for all parties.
551
:Yeah, I mean, like, as you know, like, it's just such a, uh, an impossible industry to
break through.
552
:I've got a very distinct story about it.
553
:I, I'm not going to use his name because I don't want to get him in any trouble, but a
buddy of mine has a band here in, Nashville.
554
:Um, and they tour all over North America.
555
:They're bigger in the United States because rock and roll music is still alive and well
over there.
556
:Yeah, really cool rock band.
557
:had just released a new album and him and his band.
558
:I think he, I can't remember what label it's a big label.
559
:want to say it was Sony.
560
:was under.
561
:They, you can get, they can come after me.
562
:don't care.
563
:But they, we basically were doing this thing yet for Violent by Design.
564
:And I went to Eric Tompkins and said, this song for this thing that we're doing would be
perfect.
565
:He listened to it.
566
:He's like, man, you're right.
567
:Can you reach out to him and see if it's cool?
568
:And I did.
569
:And he said, yeah, absolutely.
570
:Here's my manager.
571
:He'll set it all up.
572
:Talk to that guy.
573
:And then we got this email from Sony saying like, you got to pay $800.
574
:And like,
575
:It's going to be played for nine seconds.
576
:And the most people in North America are going to hear his music.
577
:We're not going to pay.
578
:We'll just use one of the songs off the database that we already pay for.
579
:But if you want to, we could watermark, you know, so and so and so any music at the bottom
and they wouldn't budge, you know, they wouldn't budge.
580
:And I can say a lot of people here now, him included are doing it themselves.
581
:I feel like he was kind of embarrassed.
582
:He apologized to me and I like, I felt bad for him.
583
:This is music that he wrote.
584
:that he produced and recorded in his own house.
585
:played lead guitar, did lead vocals, and his band did the rest of music.
586
:Sony has nothing to do with it.
587
:And they're saying, well, now you've got to pay us 800 bucks.
588
:And he's saying, no, it's cool.
589
:I want them to use it so people will hear it and see it on national television.
590
:And they said, no, we don't care.
591
:It's 800 bucks.
592
:And that's a lot of rock bands here.
593
:People that I follow, smaller bands, are self-producing and stuff.
594
:So they don't get into a situation like that.
595
:If they sell music or people want to use their music or they want to
596
:to use their music, get their music out there, they have full rights.
597
:And I think that might be the best way to go now.
598
:Now with these big, I mean, obviously being joined to a massive music company, you're
going to get distribution that you can't get on your own.
599
:But to break through to that point, it seems like it's almost impossible, especially for
rock and roll music in North America right now.
600
:oh So that's a bit of like the behind the scenes kind of pull the curtain thing of the
song was perfect.
601
:use it but we ended up not being able to use it.
602
:One, know, $800 is not nothing.
603
:And they already pay for the rights of millions of these songs in this database.
604
:They're not going to pay for a song that we don't really need.
605
:I think it would have made the video better and so did Eric.
606
:And that's why we reached out to the guy that wrote the music and
607
:produced it, but in the end he didn't own it.
608
:So now that's a couple years back now and now he in the last year or two he's kind of made
it announced.
609
:And all of that was part of the thing that of straw that broke the camel's back, but I
feel like it was.
610
:And I mean, I hope he's doing well.
611
:We're not.
612
:is that he's in a better spot and at some point we can use another one of his songs and he
can just say yes and then.
613
:you just saw AW use guns at roses like that.
614
:I mean, I can't even imagine the price tag for the rights to be able to use that.
615
:It was funny.
616
:I was at the media scrum for that and I had asked Tony Khan.
617
:I was just like, you know, what do you think the impact is of being able to use like Guns
N' Roses, November rain for some of the hype packages?
618
:Because it's a well known song.
619
:It's not a song you got from the library.
620
:And he's just like, I thought it was great.
621
:I thought it great numbers.
622
:And you know, this is the first time that using Guns N' Roses, November rain.
623
:It's the first time they ever got paid for it.
624
:So don't know who he was slighting with that, but I was just like, I don't know.
625
:Yeah.
626
:It's cool though that you talk in that respect too, because
627
:And a lot of the times where I've worked with wrestlers and they end up going and using
themes all over the place, there's different things as a musician.
628
:got to understand, like you said, is, know, you, if you, if you're signed with a major
label, a lot of the times that major label owns the music, regardless of you did it, know,
629
:and if you've done the music, then you have the ability to say, you know what?
630
:You can use it here.
631
:can do custom contracts.
632
:You can do all those things.
633
:The distribution then comes down to you, right?
634
:The distribution comes down to you.
635
:the talent that's promoting it.
636
:And I will say though, and I've said this on so many different of these shows and
interviews and whatnot.
637
:You guys are like the nicest people in the world, wrestlers.
638
:I know that like there's everything that you see on TV and not to pull the wall so far
back, but like, I feel like musicians and wrestlers have this symbiotic relationship of a
639
:rising tide raises all boats.
640
:And you know, I know for me, my career in music wouldn't be where it was without
professional wrestling.
641
:And
642
:You know, I will say all the companies that I've worked with have always been really cool
once they understand the rights and things like that.
643
:There's always that, Hey, we need to make sure that X, Y, and Z is covered, not pulling
the wool back too much.
644
:But there's always things that as a musician who writes his own music produces it, and
then is licensing the contracts out, there are certain things that you kind of know you
645
:have to do and certain things that.
646
:You know, you know, that those songs won't be able to do.
647
:But the point is it's like, if you really want to do music like this.
648
:then there's a couple of ways right there is like reach out to talent and work on
one-on-one or like you said, there's these really great libraries that these companies are
649
:using now.
650
:And the music is great quality and just hope that if you're signed to a label that you can
go ahead and get the rights for it.
651
:Cause those can be costly.
652
:Absolutely.
653
:Yep.
654
:Yeah.
655
:Very tricky.
656
:mean, it's in the end, it's business and bureaucracy exists and everything.
657
:And the truth is that those checks and balances aren't in place.
658
:People are just stealing it.
659
:know, Guns N' Roses makes this amazing song and a company pays for the rights for it and
has the right to make money off of it because they're the ones paying Guns N' Roses and A
660
:&W just played it and they made no money.
661
:That's not fair to them.
662
:So like they said, I think with the invention of uh the digital music space and Spotify
and iTunes and databases like the one TNA and AW and WWE all use is there's this ability
663
:to get your stuff out.
664
:You've got to do all the work, but there are avenues for it.
665
:um I think a lot of artists don't like it.
666
:um
667
:especially big money artists, because they feel they were making more money when it wasn't
available to everybody.
668
:I understand that.
669
:But I think if they were in a different place, you know...
670
:for a band, a smaller band that doesn't have distribution like that and isn't connected to
a thing for whatever reason, they can put up a couple things and one of their tweets goes
671
:viral and next thing they know they've got 1.5 million listens on a track that no one even
knew about.
672
:oh it's, right, there's good and bad to it.
673
:um It's a, business can be an ugly world.
674
:My buddies in It Lives It Breathes always talk about the Will Ospreay theme that they did
elevated.
675
:And they were just like, you know, we wrote that for Will when he was out doing like Rev
Pro and doing some of like the more independent events.
676
:And he's taken that theme out to AEW.
677
:He's taken it to Wembley.
678
:He's taken it all over the place.
679
:And, you know, if you were to know the kind of like the backstory behind it and all that,
they would never have thought that that song would have transcended into what it is now.
680
:But, you you think about that and you go, if you're willing to work again in this artistic
681
:community environment and you're willing to go, you know what, let's work together.
682
:Let's grow together.
683
:Even if it's like, okay, cool.
684
:You don't have the marketing arm behind you of a record label.
685
:That wrestler goes places that wrestler does a lot.
686
:And you know, as wrestlers do, there's so many places that you guys go.
687
:So your music is going to get heard by so many people.
688
:And if you can really figure out the way to like really work with them and like you said,
create different things to where it's like, okay, cool.
689
:There's music videos.
690
:There's all different ways to promote.
691
:you can really still just be able to be symbiotically related to what happens with that
song and that wrestler.
692
:So it's an interesting dynamic to be that.
693
:Two more things, and then we will conclude our conversation here.
694
:I know that you said that the music that you have chosen is based on the character you
were portraying at the time.
695
:But to EY, all that aside, what is your favorite theme that you've used over time?
696
:And that could be either based on like, my musical taste is this.
697
:Or, you know what, this one was just so perfect for what we were doing that there's
nothing else that I would have chosen for it.
698
:Yeah, I mean, I think it's tough to pick that.
699
:Like, that's like saying, like, choose your favorite child.
700
:And I know, like, I was for sure the favorite more than my sister.
701
:Maybe she will.
702
:She'll think it's funny either which way.
703
:Yeah.
704
:Yeah, it's like, pick one of your I think the one that Dale did for when I first became
the world class maniac.
705
:Like that's part of that, I think, is the nostalgia of thinking of
706
:doors that opened for me, not the music itself, but as I was growing into that character
on the show.
707
:It's a very special song and the people I was working with at the time and where I was on
the card there.
708
:The NXT theme, the sanity theme, that's my first time working for the WWE.
709
:uh I would have never left NXT if given the choice.
710
:I didn't want to, that's just how it worked.
711
:uh I loved working for-
712
:a guy I still talk to, uh when given the chance, he's probably one of the busiest human
beings on the earth, so we don't chat a lot, but we do go back and forth still, and so
713
:have really good relationship.
714
:uh But, right now, mean, recently by us too, but I love Johnny Cash, and I love that song
that he covered by Nine Inch Nails, Hurt, having that sample in it.
715
:as part of it and I was very involved in the way this one sounds.
716
:Eric Tompkins is the one that found it.
717
:That complete credit goes to him.
718
:I had kind of picked a different one and then he said, just listen to this one.
719
:It maybe isn't like babyface music, but it feels like star music and when I hear it, it
just makes me feel like I'm important and I don't think that I am, but in that time, when
720
:I come through that curtain, I should feel like the most important person on earth.
721
:People don't want to regular boring me.
722
:People want to watch an elevated version.
723
:And that song can put me in that set.
724
:And I've done a lot of things and been around for a long time and have a ton of equity.
725
:mean, lots of people don't like what I do because it's art.
726
:And that's fine.
727
:There's lots of music that I don't.
728
:goes.
729
:Um, but I think I've, I've heard the respect of being like, you know, he's done a bunch of
stuff because I have, and that song is one of my favorites because it makes me feel how I
730
:should, if that makes sense.
731
:Yeah.
732
:When I'm coming out, you know, there's 3000 people there.
733
:And I say this in seminars sometimes too, that I do, you know, that music is important and
it might be the only time in your life, except maybe your wedding or
734
:time where you have a whole room looking at you.
735
:The only time in your life that may happen.
736
:Every eyeball, you're not sharing it, you know, maybe with your tag partner, but I mean if
it's singles.
737
:That's what that song makes me feel like.
738
:It's like how they have the lights set up and the entrance and the timing of it.
739
:I got to get up on the apron at a certain time and all that stuff is thought through.
740
:But I think what that does is creates a mood and it creates a setting.
741
:And when that music plays in my mind and I'm hoping other people's minds is like, you're
going to get something good no matter what, because I've been doing it at a high level for
742
:so long and I've proven that.
743
:And I think that that's
744
:I agree.
745
:And I interviewed Dijak recently and he said a similar thing kind of that you're echoing
about the confidence piece, right?
746
:He's just like, you know, your music can be whatever your music is, but you have to be
confident when you go through the curtain.
747
:When you hear that, you got to be able to sell what you're doing.
748
:And he goes, same thing.
749
:He goes, when I go to seminars, I tell people that all the time.
750
:He's like, the music has to represent you.
751
:It's got to get you in the mood.
752
:It's got to get you in that mode.
753
:But as soon as you go through that curtain, people got to believe that you believe.
754
:If that's not happening, then no one's going to believe anything that you're doing.
755
:goes, you you don't have people that come to wrestling shows going, I hope I hear this
piece of music.
756
:What they do is they want to see the wrestlers.
757
:And if that piece of music is something that makes you feel confident and inversely,
758
:If you're able to sell the whole package in that music you're confident with, like, you
know what, I'm going through that curtain, let's make it happen.
759
:That's just going to sell your character even more to the audience.
760
:Yeah.
761
:Such a huge part of the experience.
762
:Like I said, like if they're there to see the wrestling in the end, they were the belt,
they want the belt to ring and they want there to be a match.
763
:Yeah.
764
:But if there isn't these cool themes and cool entrances and you know, for lack of a better
word, costumes or whatever you want to call them, you know, that's all part of it.
765
:And it's, you know, there's just nothing like it.
766
:It's just all encompassing.
767
:And if you don't get those elements, even like to a person that would be new to it, I
think they would feel ripped off because they know
768
:That's been, mean, music has just been a part of it for hundreds of years now.
769
:And it's such an important now with how highly it's produced and like, it being on
Netflix, know, raw Netflix the other day, I mean, it's one of the best produced things
770
:I've seen ever, period, full stop, right?
771
:Like not TV, not movie, one of the best produced pieces of entertainment ever.
772
:the world is...
773
:finding something out that I think you knew as a wrestling fan and I knew as a wrestling
fan, wrestling is unreal.
774
:It's just this unreal world and unreal thing that we all get to do and the real world is
figuring out that it's awesome too, right?
775
:It's a billion dollar industry, multi-billion dollar industry.
776
:It's wild to think, it's wild.
777
:so happy to see where wrestling has come over the last, like you said, hundreds of years.
778
:And it's just, you know, they've called it the King sport and where it is now is just
absolutely amazing.
779
:And the last question I have for you before we conclude here and I ask everyone who comes
on this show.
780
:If you were to give people three songs that represent Eric Young as a person that you
throw on a Spotify playlist and you say, Hey, listen to these three songs.
781
:And this gives you a full feel of who I am.
782
:What are those three songs that it would be?
783
:geez.
784
:I think that would depend on when you catch me.
785
:It's pretty early in the morning.
786
:Not early, but early enough for me.
787
:ah Colors by Black Pumas.
788
:I'm a person that ah I want everyone to get along and be inclusive and be included in
everything.
789
:And I think the weird barriers that people have put up that still exist somehow in 2025
are archaic and stupid.
790
:So colors by a brand called Black Pumas, which I love.
791
:ah
792
:Huh.
793
:Three.
794
:And let me think.
795
:I would say...
796
:ah
797
:anything by the testy brothers because the guys Voice just makes me feel good I can tie
I've seen up like three times live and they're just as good live as they are recorded
798
:which is as a musician You know is can be rare.
799
:Yeah And I don't know if we get to where I'll just say after you I won't do what you told
me by Rage Against Machine because I don't like people telling me what to do
800
:And it's not an official list if you don't throw a rage against the machine on there.
801
:Yeah, well, I have to include Rage because I think they're probably my favorite band of
all time.
802
:That's awesome.
803
:Yeah, they're amazing.
804
:And I think anyone would tell you that.
805
:Well, EY, thank you so much for making the time today.
806
:It's been such an honor having you on the show.
807
:You've been someone I wanted to talk to for quite some time.
808
:And I thank you so much for hanging out with us today.
809
:Cheers, man.
810
:You us wanting to chit chat.
