Music in wrestling Music in wrestling serves a variety of purposes . The most common uses of music in wrestling is that of the entrance theme , a song or piece of instrumental music which plays as a performer approaches the ring . After a match , the entrance theme of the victor will normally be played as they exit the ring . Entrance themes are used to alert the audience to the immediate arrival of a wrestler , and to increase anticipation . Entrance themes are often tailored to the character of the wrestler they are written or selected for . For example , Jacob and Eli Blu ( The Blu Brothers ) had an entrance theme in the World Wrestling Federation that resembled a piece of Blues music , while The Undertaker has often used entrance themes which resemble a dirge and include the ringing of an eerie gong . In practice , modern day entrance themes are normally rock or rap music , as these genres of music are popular with the professional wrestling key demographics . Due to licensing costs , entrance themes are often composed by the promotion for which the wrestlers perform in order to avoid having to pay royalties . A promotion might also purchase music from production libraries , which is considered to be cheaper than the royalties of commercial music , or use public domain music , which is available for no fee . Due to less restrictive copyright laws in Mexico , Lucha Libre promotions use mostly popular songs . In addition , ECW used popular music in order to promote a hip , edgy , counter - culture image , despite the greater expense involved . History . The history of entrance themes is not clear , but Glen Stride is often cited as being the first wrestler to be accompanied to the ring by music . Sgt . Slaughter also claims to have introduced the idea to Vince McMahon , Sr . of playing the Marines ' Hymn prior to his entrance at a Madison Square Garden show in the 1970s . However , the practice did not become widespread until the 1980s , when the Fabulous Freebirds , Hulk Hogan and various World Class Championship Wrestling performers began using rock music for entrance themes . Music is also used as a promotional tool during advertisements , video packages , and as the theme of television programs . It should also be noted that many times in wrestling , particularly in WWE , a song will be edited , remixed , or remade for television either for arena themes for the performers or for videos . Such examples of this are Christian ' s WWE theme " Just Close Your Eyes " which was performed by Waterproof Blonde . The arena version of the song is a remix of the CD version which was released on WWE ThemeAddict . The arena version has a violin intro and then jumps to the chorus . There are other notable differences in the arena version as well . Sometimes songs are just slightly altered . Steve Austin ' s theme song has been remixed or remade at least twice . All three versions can be found on various WWE CD ' s . These being WWF The Music , Vol . 2 , WWF The Music , Vol . 3 , and WWE Forceable Entry . Austin also had a song on WWF The Music , Vol . 4 which he never used . This song was also remade . The remake can be found on WWE Anthology . In - house composers . The following are composers known for composing numerous in - house theme songs for particular wrestling promotions :