Episode 27

full
Published on:

22nd Oct 2025

No Name Tim on Guerillas of Destiny Theme, Ace Austin Entrance Theme, Brittnie Brooks Entrance Theme

No Name Tim has been crushing it in the music industry for years now and you've heard his music everywhere. Tim and I, John Kiernan, sat down to talk about some of his iconic themes he's written for talents such as Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa as Guerillas Of Destiny (GOD) in New Japan Pro Wrestling, Ace Austin AEW theme, Brittnie Brooks, Fallyn Grey, and many more.

We also play our favorite game on the show, Music City Rumble, where No Name Tim names the musicians he'd book in a wrestling match: one men's match, one women's match, and one tag team match!


Enjoy!

-

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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
Speaker:

When my buddy Ace Austin asked me to make his newest theme,

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we were out in Vegas together.

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he said, I'm looking for something that's a little more new metal ish guitar ish.

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I was so excited because no one had asked me to make a theme like that yet, I'd always

wanted to.

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So to be able to do that and show, guys, I can also do this within this space.

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was a real door opener and even eye opener to me because I'm like, I think I can do this.

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I really want to do this.

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Can I do this?

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So back before I started doing themes pretty heavily, and as I've been a fan in wrestling,

one of the themes that I had heard that I was just like, all right, cool, this goes on the

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playlist, this is at the gym every day, is the Gorillaz of Destiny theme.

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And I'm like, oh, cool, No Name Tim, he must be pretty sick.

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And then all of a sudden I start hearing all this other music come from No Name Tim and

same thing.

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This must be a really cool dude, great.

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And then all of a sudden we start talking, all of a sudden you're on the show.

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So I feel like even before us being like, cool, we occupy the same space.

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It's just like, man, these songs are awesome.

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And now you're on the show.

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And I thank you for making the time, my friend.

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Dude, thank you so much for having me.

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I feel like this has been an extremely long time coming.

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You and I, can't remember when we had our first interaction, but uh I just remember it

being just very natural, like just kind of like, you know, kindred music spirit type

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stuff.

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um and I've been, when you started the pod, I remember being super excited for you and,

and, and, and proud of you and thinking it was such a cool thing to, you know, highlight,

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you know, not just musicians, but music and wrestling and that connection and the through

lines and.

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you know, the various people that have been a part of it.

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ah But at the same time, I'm like, man, like, why hasn't, why hasn't John asked me to be

on yet?

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And then last week, it just so happens you hit me like, Hey, did I ever send you the link?

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And I was like, I never got a link.

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And then it was, and then we made it happen as soon as we could.

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So I'm super excited to be here.

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a little bit behind the scenes too, which is for many people who's like, I want to come on

the show.

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Or many people I want to get on the show and it's like, Hey, let's make it happen.

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A lot of the times like awesome.

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And then I wait like a couple of weeks or like a month.

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I'm like, Hmm, I wonder.

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And then I'm like, did I ever send the link?

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They're like, Like great.

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So one one for anybody who wants to do their podcast with guests, always send your link,

always send your calendar link and then check like 10 minutes afterwards to make sure you

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did.

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Cause otherwise you'll end up like this schmuck.

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But yeah, but yeah, I'm happy.

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I'm super excited to be here.

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Super excited to talk to you.

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Same here.

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And one of the things for, like I was saying before we had even started talking was you

have a lot of these songs that precede you both in wrestling and out of wrestling.

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one thing that I've always really appreciated about composers and producers is the

composers and producers that can kind of go into different styles, right?

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I think that there's in the industry and just not just wrestling, but in music in general,

you have people who are very much one style and that's great.

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They're really good at that style.

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You get what they get from that style.

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Right.

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But then, especially when you're working in an industry where you want to be able to

create the sound that anyone's asking for, you know, you think of Hiku Leo, Natalatanga in

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WWE.

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You think of like Fallen Grey.

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You think of Brittany Brooks.

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You think of all these people that you've worked with and all of those have very different

feels and different styles.

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So for you, I'd love for you to walk a little bit through some of your process in terms of

creating a theme when you're talking to a talent and then.

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You know, for me, know my kind of primary style is heavy rock and metal, things like that,

but you're able to do all these different things too.

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So for you, is there more of a style for you that like, this is my comfort, or are you

just kind of like, hey, I'm the jack of all trades and whatever you need to do, we got it

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done.

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So I do pride myself in being uh extremely versatile across the board.

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uh Chalk that up to just 21 years now of being in the music industry and being a producer

and being a writer and working with uh rappers and R &B singers and pop artists and bands

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and just kind of accumulating that over the years.

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uh I would say that the rap and

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pop realm is more of my comfort zone.

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And when I started uh doing themes, it was where I settled and what people were kind of

coming to me for.

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um But over the years, thankfully, I've had other people reach out and request something

that's a little more rock oriented or a little more metal oriented.

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um

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When my buddy Ace Austin asked me to make his newest theme, he was like, hey man, I kind

of want something.

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Thank you.

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He's like, Hey, I, we were out in Vegas together.

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Um, and he asked me if I would be down to make him something new.

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And I said, absolutely.

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And he said, I'm looking for something that's a little more new metal ish guitar ish.

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I'm, I was so excited because no one had asked me to make a theme like that yet, but I've

always, I'd always wanted to.

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So to be able to do that and show, guys, I can also do this within this space.

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um, was a real door opener and even eye opener to me because I'm like, I think I can do

this.

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I really want to do this.

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Can I do this?

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Um, but as far as like the, the process was working with talent and, and, and creating a

theme for them, for me, it all starts with, okay, who are you?

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Um, what is, you know, as a gimmick and as a person.

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And it really just comes down to me saying, Hey, send me three to four references of.

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of what you're looking for, the vibe.

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I wanna get in the world, in the space of what you're looking for so that I'm not just

kind of throwing darts at a wall.

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I wanna be able to dial in the sound and then move forward from there, make sure I'm in

the correct space and then we can go.

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I love that.

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And it sounds so similar to the way that I've done it too, is, you know, what do you want

people to know about you before you hit the ring?

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And you kind of nailed on something that I think is important that a lot of people don't

think about.

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It's the gimmick, right?

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Obviously of the wrestler that you're working with, but a lot of the times and in

wrestling and in media, you can say there's a lot of sameness to, okay, cool.

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Like it's an undead character or they're just a really good wrestler or something like

that.

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But when you dial into who the person is kind of outside of that,

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even if you're really sticking to the gimmick, you can still throw things in there that

make it very focused about that wrestler.

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I think that I forget what YouTuber I was watching a while ago, but it resonated with me

about like, they do rebookings and things like that.

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And they were just like, everybody in wrestling kind of has a similar trajectory of like,

I enter wrestling, I want championships, I do good or bad things, you so there is a level

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of like sameness there.

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but every person's individual story is unique.

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And if you focus on those points, then you're able to drive that home.

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So I'm always excited to hear it's like, hey, it's not just the gimmick that we're

focusing on, but we're also focusing on who you are and what would this mean to you and

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how can we deliver that to the audience?

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Yeah.

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Right, right.

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Exactly.

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Because I want it to be as much as an extension of the character as it is the person.

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I mean, maybe that's going like a little too deep and unnecessary, but to me, it's the,

that's coming from, you know, working on records for major label artists and that kind of

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thing.

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It's, it's about telling their story is, you know, as they've lived it.

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So a lot of times those personal things are also informing the character of the wrestler.

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And I remember I set that tone from the gate when I did uh the G.O.D.

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theme.

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Well, first I did a uh unreleased new singles theme for Tama.

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That's how that ball kind of got rolling.

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uh Yeah, yeah, yeah.

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He originally contacted me asking me for new solo music because they were going to rebrand

him a little bit.

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But then him and his brother continue to get bigger and bigger as G.O.D.

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and that kind of ship sailed.

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And then he circled back almost a

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calendar year later to some of the other ideas that I had worked up for him was like, I

think this will work great for me and my brother.

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Can we, you know, repurpose this into a G.O.D.

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theme?

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And that's kind of how that started.

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uh But I remember talking to him and being like, I want this to represent you as a person

as much as it like I want you it to be something that you would listen to in the back

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before you hit the curtain, as much as it be the connection to you and the fans, because

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That's something a lot of people don't think about is in wrestling, first, if you're at a

show, right?

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Your first connection to your favorite wrestler isn't necessarily seeing them.

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It's audibly hearing the music that represents them.

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And that's why I feel like it is so important to have something that is dialed in, that is

personal to you, that represents you because of that connection.

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If you don't have that connect, it's not going to be as powerful as it should be.

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Yeah, absolutely.

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And you think about someone like Gorillaz, a Destiny 2, and that was kind of around the

time of the Full Bullet Club and that they were doing all those things all in, you know,

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and you have such a difference in voice.

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And specifically you, think, with that song at that time, because, you know, we, the

composer that works generally with New Japan and has for a while has a sound that they

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have, even if they're going for more of a hip hop style or rock or metal style, it sounds

very much like a him.

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And then you go over at that time to WWE and you know, you have CFOs who were doing great

work too.

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And we know a lot of the different composers over time, but when you hear something like

your song, the Gorillaz of Destiny song, and you think about it at that time, it felt so

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different than what you hear for everybody else too.

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And I always felt like Gorillaz of Destiny were kind of like very street, you know, very

tough, very much just like we're going to hurt you in every flavor at any time.

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And it was just like, you hear that.

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And I felt like being in New Japan and even going wherever else, was just like, you knew

that it was something different.

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You knew that it hit differently and you knew that there was another name doing it.

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you know, I'll even say for myself, there are things that I do that if you kind of go

through my catalog, you'll hear little things that are like, that's the John thing,

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whether it's in like a, you know, Spanish trap style or metal style or whatever.

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It's just, there's little things and maybe, maybe you guys don't hear it all the time or

maybe you do.

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I'm just glad that you're so hyper perceptive.

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Thank you.

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Welcome to the show.

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Um, but I'm just, I'm just always like, okay, there are those little things, but with you

and with that one, it was just like, man, it's so different, so unique.

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And, um, it definitely came through for them.

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And then you have all of this other music, like you said, and I want you to highlight a

little bit of what you had said a second ago.

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You said that you've also worked for other major artists as well.

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Yeah, yeah, yeah.

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I mean, over the years I've worked with, um I mean, the list is kind of extensive.

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um yeah, right?

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Yeah, exactly.

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uh Armbar.

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um So I, but the main artists I work with, who I'm kind of like his in-house guys, artists

from Canada, from Toronto named Kofi.

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um I do the majority of stuff.

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executive producers last album and have been on every one of his albums since 2018.

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I've worked on records for the late great Nipsey Hussle, um Simba.

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um Currently, I've been working a lot on stuff for Wale, Chris Brown.

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um Will all those things make projects?

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Who knows?

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It's the, I always joke that my discography of just miss out

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You

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insane, whether it was a sample clearance issue like it was with Schoolboy Q or whether

it's albums getting pushed back and getting songs falling off, that kind of thing.

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uh But uh yeah, I've worked with so many insanely talented individuals uh at the major

label and at the independent level in my career, which is just, uh it's awesome.

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mean, music's the best.

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Absolutely, yeah.

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And you talked about Wale also.

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Wale is big into wrestling also as we know.

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Shout out to all those guys.

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you know, when you talk about working with a lot of these bigger artists, even outside of

wrestling, how has the work that you've done with those guys influenced the music that you

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do for wrestlers?

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it's all, it's all it does.

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know, it's over the years, it's just been, you know, stacking experience upon experience

and stacking, you know, um, just, you know, getting, getting reps under your belt, right?

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uh, it, it's, it's funny to me how, I shouldn't say funny.

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It's very interesting to me how similar the music industry and the wrestling industry is.

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uh You know having having me having so many friends now who are professional wrestlers uh

And you know also having friends in the music business and being in the music industry uh

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It's just the parallels are eerily similar uh You know the the the art is is different but

the ways that the art all the Construction around the art is is very much same uh

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But yeah, it's helped.

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It's helped a lot, whether it's, you know, dealing with artists and being able to

communicate with talent and that sort of thing, or just even from a, uh a creation

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standpoint.

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uh Again, just working in so many different genres and working with so many different

artists, having that ability that uh hopefully whatever a wrestler might be coming to me

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for is something that I can create.

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If it's not, or I feel like it is out of my wheelhouse or something that

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I they would be better off going somewhere else.

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have like, my ego is not too big to be like, Hey, I don't think I'm the best person for

this.

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Maybe you should reach out to John.

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Maybe you should reach out to somebody else because I think that they can give you what

they're looking for better than I can.

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You know, I'm not one to be like, yeah, I'll do it.

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And then just figure it out and give them whatever.

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I don't want to just give them whatever.

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Um, I think everybody deserves to have the best possible.

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song possible.

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Yeah.

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And you also know what that sounds like too, you know, both from working with big artists,

working with lots of wrestlers.

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So for you, you really have a key into what your strengths are and even kind of what your

sub-strengths are.

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Right.

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And that's like, when you think of a certain style that maybe you're not familiar with,

you're like, okay, cool.

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Now you have this rolodex of people that you can reach out to and work with.

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And it's one of these, it's one of these things, like you said, it's about what do know

you can do?

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And I know for me years ago, it was just like,

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Versatility, when I was like, okay, how do you make it in the industry?

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Versatility is key, right?

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And no matter how versatile you are, it's like, there are always going to be those things

that you're just like, man, I could do like 90 % of it, but it's that extra 10 % that's

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really going to push it.

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And if I can't do that, then I got to know who to reach out to.

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And, you know, for me, that's always vocals.

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I just started doing vocals on things, but like when I do vocals on a few things, it's

very like kill, switch, engage, very heat, that kind of stuff, which...

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I love those guys in Killswitch.

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love like a lot of that music and obviously like I talked about, but like then someone's

like, oh, can you bring a rapper in?

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And I'm like, yes, please.

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Cause I can't do that.

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And then you all of a have this roll of decks of people.

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It's like, oh, it's, cool to be able to see those merge.

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And, it's humbling too.

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Cause you'll see that someone's like, man, I just did this.

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I hope this is okay.

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And this is like, okay for millions of years to come.

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Like, geez, man, like, I don't know how you do that.

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And I've always said that about everybody.

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Yeah.

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But yeah, I'm just, I'm the same way if something like I am, I like to say, uh, like, um,

you are a guitar player.

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I am a guy who can play guitar.

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There are, there's a huge difference between that, right?

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Like if I need a guitar player, I need somebody else to come in and play guitar.

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If I can just like, whether I'm, you know, stacking some stuff.

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power chords and rhythm stuff, cool, but that's not my bag.

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um Same with vocals, like not a vocalist.

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Gonna have to find somebody else.

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But like I know enough and can do enough to get things to where they need to be um on my

own, which I do take my pride in.

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again, certain things you just, you can't help but kind of go out and bring someone else

in, which is, you know, again,

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It's just knowing when that needs to be done.

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Yeah, but the thing is too, like even don't undersell yourself on guitar too, because

again, Ace Austin and the Fallen Grey theme, which is the theme that I had most recently

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heard before we hopped on our interview here.

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I know you just did the one for Britney, but I had just heard that one and I was just

like, okay, cool.

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This is, I would say number one, the theme is awesome, but number two, the guitar, I was

like unexpected.

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I'm like, I love that.

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And it's unexpected because, you know, with again, talking about some of the catalog that

you have, it's just like, okay, cool.

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Tim can really rip on this too.

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And you know, with Fallen Grey, she's somebody who's been coming up recently and she's

been doing banger work.

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She's somebody that just, again, like talks about promos on socials and really tries to

bring her brand out.

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And for her to be working with you, number one, good show, Fallen, great taste.

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Fallen, great taste, absolutely.

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Talk to us a little bit how you started working with her too.

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So that was through Brittany Brooks.

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uh So I met Brittany through Chris Bay.

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Chris Bay is one of my best friends in life.

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uh Met Brittany.

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Chris Bay too, I'm glad he's doing a little bit better, but ugh, man, everyone just give

all your love to him.

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dude, he is just one of the best humans walking this planet.

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Um, from just a personal friendship standpoint and every other standpoint and measurable

metric there is, um, love him to death.

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Um, I could, I could talk a whole podcast about him if we had to.

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yeah.

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Um, so we, but I, Brittany, I had done, um, I had done the theme for Brittany previously.

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And then from my understanding, ah Grey had talked to Brittany and then Brittany was the

one that made that connection.

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She gave her my contact info.

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She reached out to me and was like, Hey, I'm looking to get a new theme done.

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ah Would you be willing to take a shot at it?

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And I said, absolutely.

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So that was kind of like how that whole communication started there.

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I love that too.

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And one thing that I think goes undersold, and a lot of people come and they're like, how

do you get started doing themes, you know, and how do you reach out to people?

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And I tell people all the time, like, yes, I do a lot of client outreach.

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I do do a lot of client outreach.

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And you know, that's through whatever, socials, Facebook, email, whatever you can.

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And with a catalog like you have, could be like, hey, here's the stuff that I've done.

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It's great that you have names that people may recognize too, but I tell people, listen,

if you're doing great work and you're really selling to...

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any of these wrestlers who really need something, because the music is part, just like

their gear, just like their walk out to the ring, just like all of this stuff.

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The music is so important.

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If you're really delivering to them, the referrals that you'll get from people are so

beneficial and so important.

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And I tell people who are getting into this, I'm like, never just do the bare minimum,

because you may think that it's the you may think it's like, OK, cool, just get this one

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done and then we're done.

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But people will notice.

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And then those referrals don't come.

275

:

And then you are working with Brittany and she's like, Hey, Fallon needs something.

276

:

You're the first person on her mind, you know, or even at that, they love that theme.

277

:

Fallon is probably just like, Hey, you know what?

278

:

I'm going to go ahead and just ask Brittany who did yours.

279

:

And then it just, the flood gates open from there.

280

:

So the fact that you're doing that great work is awesome.

281

:

so Brittany, again, you've worked with for a while, you did a theme for her before, and

then you just ended up doing a brand new theme for her, which is sick.

282

:

We'll just keep using that word.

283

:

No name, fame is sick.

284

:

That's what it is.

285

:

oh

286

:

it.

287

:

Yeah, that was a fun one.

288

:

Let me flex the pop chops a little bit.

289

:

um But yeah, to your point about the...

290

:

If you do great work and you can stand on your work, if you can do great work and be a

solid human and just...

291

:

I'm convinced that maybe...

292

:

10 % of the work I've gotten is because my work is good and the other 90 % is just because

I'm a good hang.

293

:

And, you know, I respect people and I respect their space and, you know, I'm just me and

authentic and I try and take care of people the best I can.

294

:

Like, I really truly believe that because there's millions of talented musicians and

composers and creators out there, but like,

295

:

you know, to separate yourself, like you do have to be solid.

296

:

And I truly do believe that.

297

:

Yeah, absolutely.

298

:

And that's not even just gear or anything.

299

:

That's just being able to dial into what a talent needs, right?

300

:

Being able to write what makes sense to them and just being, you know, I also tell people

a lot of the time, like this is a business side of it too, but it is personal, like you

301

:

said, and you got to be able to work with people and if they've got feedback for you, it's

not a you thing.

302

:

It's a, okay, cool.

303

:

This is what I'm looking for.

304

:

All right, cool.

305

:

Let me see what I can do.

306

:

Here's what makes sense.

307

:

You also got to be a little bit of a translator and that's something that I think is

really important.

308

:

wrestlers would be like, I'm sorry if I'm not explaining this correctly.

309

:

I'm like, you're not supposed to, I'm supposed to be able to take what you're saying and

figure out how to make that come into your ears and out of the speakers in the way that

310

:

you're describing.

311

:

you know, I just,

312

:

it's, it's, that is a communication thing where it's, you know, it, it is a talent in

itself, right?

313

:

Because most, most wrestlers aren't also creators or understand how music works or

understand how composition works.

314

:

And they might ask for some things that just aren't possible or don't make sense can

textually as a song.

315

:

And you have to kind of.

316

:

figure out a way around that to give them something that still hits what they're looking

for, but also will make sense in a music context, right?

317

:

uh Which can be difficult or they might not know to explain it or they might...

318

:

Some guys are really...

319

:

And girls are really good at it.

320

:

They just kind of get it.

321

:

They know it.

322

:

Some just don't care.

323

:

Like some people are really particular.

324

:

Others are just like, do your thing.

325

:

You know, like...

326

:

I'd be like, Ace gave me no references.

327

:

He was like, I'm coming out to this right now on the Indies and it's cool.

328

:

So could you just kind of make something?

329

:

And then very first thing I made, he's like, yep, that's it.

330

:

Other people are like, I want it like this and it needs to be like this and can we have it

like this?

331

:

Or can you try this?

332

:

Can you do this?

333

:

Which is also fine.

334

:

There's no one right or wrong way or uh perfect way to make it.

335

:

Sometimes things just come together.

336

:

Sometimes things take a little more moving around, shuffling around, depending on the

situation.

337

:

But to your point, yeah, you're not, they're not necessarily supposed to be able to

perfectly communicate to us.

338

:

It's for us to sift through and be like, okay, that's a really cool idea.

339

:

Okay, that works too.

340

:

Let's build off of that.

341

:

That's why I kind of asked for three or four references because they might send a couple

that are just kind of like.

342

:

way out there that like, yeah, these are really cool songs, but they might not

contextually work for you.

343

:

But this other thing, this, this vibe, this space right here, this musical space, this can

work or, know, I want to combine this in this.

344

:

Well, we can't because they're way too polar opposite and it's just not going to work.

345

:

But if I do an intro that's kind of like this and then build it into something that's like

this, then we're good to go.

346

:

uh

347

:

And I think that's important to be able to take those references and be like, Hey, you

know what?

348

:

Like maybe from this, you're talking about this.

349

:

And from this, you're talking about the complete vibe.

350

:

usually when talent will send something gratefully, there haven't been a lot of times

where it's been like, all right, cool.

351

:

Guess what?

352

:

I'm going to send you a salsa theme, a heavy metal theme, a rap track, and then Zydeco or

something.

353

:

it's like, you know, gratefully, it's not that, but at the same time you are right.

354

:

Where sometimes you'll get three or four completely different things, but you'll kind of

listen in and you're like, all right.

355

:

The thing that I'm hearing here is maybe these are in kind of the same tempo.

356

:

And what you're talking about is, okay, like that's the feel that we need, at least for

speed and things like that.

357

:

But you sent over this song and this song, for example, like has choruses or something

like, let's say someone sends over Seth Rollins theme or someone sends over Bailey's theme

358

:

where it started with the choir and stuff.

359

:

it's like, okay, cool.

360

:

This is what you're talking about.

361

:

And you're able to kind of take those elements and be like, well, here's what I did from

this.

362

:

See if you dig it.

363

:

And if you're, if you're in that.

364

:

then we're in the space.

365

:

But yeah, it goes back to what we were talking about, right?

366

:

Just really try to figure out like each wrestler hears what makes the most sense for you

based on what you're delivering.

367

:

Again, you send us all the information and we make it happen.

368

:

And on that, before we get to some of these other questions here, what has been one of the

toughest themes that you've had to do and for who was it?

369

:

Ooh, toughest themes.

370

:

Honestly, it would.

371

:

I won't say toughest, but the challenge, the biggest challenge was the one for Grey.

372

:

um Because it was a lot of different parts.

373

:

was a lot of me really kind of fitting things around and piecing things together.

374

:

And then also just really being like, okay, like I had gotten the, um the Ace Austin theme

out.

375

:

You know, so, so I had, I'd proven that like, okay, I can do some heavier stuff, right?

376

:

I can do a more rock theme, but now it was like, okay, now you got to show you can do it

again.

377

:

Cause anybody can do it once.

378

:

I had to show that I could do it again.

379

:

Like I can do all these other types of records, you know, no problem.

380

:

But now I got to prove that I can do this for someone else again.

381

:

So that was a little, a little daunting to me.

382

:

um

383

:

But I wouldn't say it was a difficulty because I had a blast making that thing.

384

:

I had a blast with that.

385

:

But again, was more so the pressure of, got a show, I can do this again.

386

:

not just to her and to them, but to me.

387

:

So that was probably it uh as far as like kind of pressure and complexity and that sort of

thing.

388

:

That's how I felt when I did Mercedes Martinez and Diamantes theme too, because I've

worked with Mercedes over the years.

389

:

thank you.

390

:

Thank you.

391

:

That one was probably one of the ones I'm most proud of because that was the first time I

had done, I guess you would call it like Latin trap, Spanish trap.

392

:

um Please, I am a six foot one gringo.

393

:

So excuse me for a second here.

394

:

But this was one of the ones where Mercedes, I had worked with her for years and she was

like, all right, cool.

395

:

Here's this theme and then here's Diamantes theme that they did for AEW.

396

:

And there was kind of this merge of like, I don't want to make a mashup because I'm also,

I also don't come from the mashup world.

397

:

So I'm very weird when it comes to like, Hey, taking these two things, putting them

together, licensing things like that.

398

:

So for me, I'm always just like, I'd rather create something in the vein.

399

:

And, you know, I had never really done Spanish trap before and or Latin trap.

400

:

And one of the things that I've told students of mine over time is what are the most

important skills you can have in music is to be able to just listen and analyze whatever

401

:

that looks like.

402

:

However deep you decide to go into that, you need to be able to listen in and be like,

okay, cool, pick out different things.

403

:

What's going on?

404

:

What are some of the rhythmic things going on?

405

:

What are some of the instruments?

406

:

And I remember going into that when I'm being like, this might be one of the ones I got to

pass on, but I was just like, you know what, let me see if I can really hit something

407

:

hard.

408

:

And it took a little bit longer than it usually does, but at the end they were like, dude,

this is sick.

409

:

Like it represented them.

410

:

hear them using it in AEW and Ring of Honor.

411

:

And I'm just like, dude,

412

:

months ago I probably wouldn't have been able to do something like this but that was one

of the ones where even like there's no guitar in that one and Yeah, as the silly guitarist

413

:

wittily middly all that you always try to fit in guitars somewhere even if it's like a

harmonic

414

:

just subconsciously start to reach for it where you're like, wait, no, no, no, no, no.

415

:

Keep that down there.

416

:

I don't need it.

417

:

Yeah.

418

:

Right, right, right, right.

419

:

but that one was like, yeah, there was none of it.

420

:

And you just kind of rely on like, okay, cool.

421

:

Here's what we're going for.

422

:

And that's when you really lean into what the wrestler is asking for.

423

:

And like, all right, cool.

424

:

Let's really get it there.

425

:

And then like you said, doubling it again, there's an unreleased theme that I had done for

Tessa and Raina Esi out in, I forget if it was in CMLL or AAA, I think it was CMLL.

426

:

And that one was a very similar thing.

427

:

That one's probably another one of my favorites, she had gotten, Tessa had gotten put back

into singles competition.

428

:

So that one may not make the light of day soon, but that one was another one where was

like you said, you got to be able to do it again.

429

:

You got to be able to figure out, okay, can I do it again?

430

:

And yeah.

431

:

of surprise yourself and you're like, okay, no.

432

:

And then you just build that confidence, right?

433

:

So now it's, you know, when I do have people asking for those kinds of things, there's

still that little bit of like, Ooh, like I got to do it again.

434

:

And it's, you know, it hasn't been, you know, what I've been known for.

435

:

It's, out of my comfort zone a little bit, you know, and I don't, I don't mind going out

of the comfort zone, but there's always that little piece in there.

436

:

That's like, this isn't really your thing.

437

:

I hope that.

438

:

that I can do it, you know, and I hope I can get there.

439

:

But also too, if I ever make a theme for somebody and it's just not it, I'm like, okay,

that's fine.

440

:

You know, wasn't what you were looking for.

441

:

I couldn't pull it off for whatever reason, you know, like it happens.

442

:

It's no different than, you know, working on a bunch of records for people and then none

of them making the album.

443

:

It's like, I know you recorded to five or six of them, you know, but they just didn't make

the cut for whatever reason.

444

:

And you can't take it personal because it's not personal.

445

:

And then you just kind of build and go off of there, you know, add it, add the unreleased

stuff to the, to the catalog.

446

:

And then you've always got it to pull out in case someone else needs something else or

someone else needs a record like that or those sorts of things.

447

:

I love that.

448

:

So now we're going to get into a little Music City Rumble here where we are going to have

you book one singles match for men, one women's singles match, and one tag team match.

449

:

And we're going to be having musicians versus musicians.

450

:

So you get to pick the musicians wrestling in each of these matches and then say who would

go over.

451

:

Okay.

452

:

Okay.

453

:

Okay.

454

:

Okay.

455

:

So we got, we got men's singles, right?

456

:

Okay.

457

:

So we'll, we'll kick off the card with the men's singles match and we're going to do, um,

we'll do a, like a battle of like the hardcore front men.

458

:

So we're going to do, uh, we'll do, James Pliggy, uh, the lead vocalist from harm's way.

459

:

And I'm trying to think of like, all right, who like physicals, James is a Jack dude.

460

:

James is a big guy.

461

:

And I'm like, who, who are we going to have him go up against?

462

:

So I think the, with the, the, just the overall intensity and aura, we're going to do, um,

Matt honey cut for, uh, the lead vocalist of Kubla Khan.

463

:

We're going to have them fight and it can be in the pit.

464

:

That's fine too.

465

:

We'll do like a, like a no ropes, like blood sport type thing, maybe.

466

:

death match, absolutely.

467

:

yeah, wallet death match.

468

:

then I'm going to put, hesitate to pick any either one of these guys, know, the potential

blowback of the other one not going over.

469

:

But we'll put James over and what would James, we'll do a referee stoppage due to um

470

:

That's a hard, he can, can do like the picking up pennies, punching the ground.

471

:

Like that'll be the, that'll be the finish to the match.

472

:

Referees got to call it.

473

:

like Matt's still tough as shit and you know, no, no submission, no pinfall.

474

:

He's protected.

475

:

He just, know, ref refs got to stop it.

476

:

That's what that'll be the men's singles match.

477

:

Women, the women's match is hard to book.

478

:

Um, cause it's like, it's like who.

479

:

What's two females that I would love to see just have a nice sporting competition here?

480

:

So I'm going to stick with, I'll pick two strong leading women of bands who both in their

own eras kind of.

481

:

kind of broke down barriers and did things that lived in a space where not a whole lot of

females did.

482

:

So we'll uh do Haley Williams of Paramore versus uh Debbie Harry of Blondie.

483

:

I think they would have a nice, respectful baby face versus baby face match.

484

:

Or Debbie could play heel.

485

:

don't think Haley could play heel.

486

:

uh

487

:

Williams would also be in on that match.

488

:

Like think if you got her on the show and she'd be like, yeah, yeah, you know what?

489

:

Yeah.

490

:

Sitting across from Tim.

491

:

Yeah, that's great.

492

:

do it.

493

:

we'll put Haley over.

494

:

And what would Haley's finisher be?

495

:

Phoenix Splash.

496

:

Haley wins, pinfall, Phoenix Splash.

497

:

Real easy, fun match, just like hyper competitive.

498

:

That's yeah, yeah, that'll be the women's match there.

499

:

love that.

500

:

And then how about our tag team?

501

:

Tag team will put in main event.

502

:

um This was kind of like a super fun one to think about.

503

:

we're going to do um Havoc and Prodigy of Mob Deep versus um Juicy J and DJ Paul of Three

6 Mafia.

504

:

It'll be a tornado tag.

505

:

No DQ, just all the bells and whistles.

506

:

Two of the most, right, two of the most, two of the most hardcore.

507

:

uh

508

:

of all time just in a a in blood bath- ah all the other members of three six can get

involved and then you know the unofficial third member of- of- mob deep alchemist can come

509

:

down and kind of run them off we can do a whole we do a whole thing or we just keep it

straight up two on two- ah but I'm gonna put over mob deep because they're the greatest

510

:

rap group of all time.

511

:

And- we'll do what would mob deep we need cool tag team spike pile driver.

512

:

Love that.

513

:

Spike Piledriver from Mob Deep, they get the pinfall.

514

:

um DJ Paul takes the pin.

515

:

Juicy J would never take the pin.

516

:

And yeah, Mob Deep goes over.

517

:

That's great.

518

:

And then one more question If you had to choose three songs that represent you, no name

Tim, what would those three songs be?

519

:

Okay, um three songs and I'm not gonna pick songs that I have been a part of or have

written um just to kind of give a little bit of representation of what has led me to make

520

:

the songs that I do and that kind of thing.

521

:

song one is uh by Fall Out Boy.

522

:

Fall Out Boy is my favorite band of all time.

523

:

um I've caught a lot of flack for that over the years.

524

:

um

525

:

but I go exactly go argue with the wall.

526

:

Like I'm here to like from under the cork tree is a 10 out of 10 album, zero skips.

527

:

Fini on high is incredible.

528

:

uh Patrick and Pete's uh chemistry together is just second to none as far as a composer

working with someone else writing lyrics and putting things together.

529

:

uh So fall out boy, seven minutes in heaven out of Van Halen.

530

:

That'll be, that'll be my one song uh from a personal standpoint, you know,

531

:

dealing with themes of depression and that sort of thing and things that Pete's gone

through and just musically it rocks and just it's a catchy tune.

532

:

It's probably my favorite of their, you know, super, you know, out there well-known songs

we'll say.

533

:

ah So that's one.

534

:

um Circling back to Mobb Deep, again, greatest rap group of all time.

535

:

ah I'm gonna pick Survival of the Fittest um from Mobb Deep.

536

:

um

537

:

They're just, again, best rap group of all time.

538

:

can listen to Mobb Deep all day, their entire catalog, and their ability to just stay true

to their sound and just evolve it over time.

539

:

Like every Mobb Deep album sounds like a Mobb Deep album, you know?

540

:

And it's just maybe slightly different or slightly evolved, which um is something that

just I've respected over the years.

541

:

And just growing up a hip hop head and...

542

:

everybody who knows me just like, know, rap music was my major thing growing up.

543

:

And so I had to pick one rap song.

544

:

I could have done all three rap songs, but I was like, I want to give a little different

pieces of me.

545

:

And then the third song was kind of like a tough one to pick because again, so many songs

to choose from that I feel like kind of like represent who I am.

546

:

But I'm to pick a Nirvana song because while

547

:

Fall Out Boy is my favorite band of all time.

548

:

think Nirvana is the greatest band of all time.

549

:

But I'm not going to pick one that most people would think.

550

:

ah I'm going to pick ah Where Did You Sleep Last Night off their Unplugged album, which is

an interpolation of the In the Pine song from an old American folk song.

551

:

um That performance from them, uh from the band as a whole, but

552

:

Kurt especially, his vocal, ah is so beautiful and sad at the same time.

553

:

And it's just such a haunting performance.

554

:

But every time I listen to it and every time I hear it, ah that sadness, but also the

power and the beauty in it, it helps me to kind of make sense of the noise that goes on in

555

:

my own head any given day.

556

:

And it's just one of those songs where you just can't quite put your finger on it other

than the performance of it.

557

:

Every time I hear it, just hits me in the emotions.

558

:

It just speaks to me.

559

:

And that's such an iconic, uh not just track, but that's such an iconic performance too.

560

:

And there's so much legacy that goes into it and so much background into that one.

561

:

And it's just like, to choose a song, not just by them, but to choose a song that really

sits in what I would call like a legacy record.

562

:

I don't think that could be understated and that's an awesome choice.

563

:

Well, Tim, thank you so much for being on the show.

564

:

It's uh

565

:

It's always great to talk to other entrance theme composers and one who has done so much

that you have and just be able to chat, talk to shop a little bit.

566

:

Thanks so much for being on the show.

567

:

Thanks for having me, man.

568

:

I'm flattered that you would even consider to have me on here.

569

:

It's still like surreal to me.

570

:

and rifts.

571

:

It's not an entrance theme show unless we have yawn.

572

:

uh

573

:

so much, man.

574

:

I do.

575

:

I do.

576

:

appreciate it.

577

:

I'm super humbled by everything.

578

:

And to just be a part of the music wrestling community is just like the coolest thing.

579

:

ah It was something I always wanted to be a part of, ah but didn't know how to even get in

there.

580

:

And then so the fact that his luck would have it, his chance would have it, I have gotten

to be a part of it is super important to me and I love every second of it.

581

:

So thank you.

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About the Podcast

Ropes N Riffs - A Podcast About Wrestling, Music, and Wrestling Entrance Themes
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.
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