Jim Johnston was probably a big part of your childhood…
If you watched wrestling during the fabled Attitude Era of the late 90s and early 2000s, you will know Jim Johnston’s work. His name might not be as well known as Steve Austin of Vince McMahon, he was responsible for one of the most iconic parts of WWE: the entrance music.
A wrestler’s entrance music is one of the most important parts of who they are. Would Stone Cold have been quite as cool without that broken glass hitting just as he arrived? It’s essential to getting the crowd excited, and making a wrestler stand out from the pack.
Johnston wrote countless classic themes like this for The Undertaker
Stone Cold Steve Austin
Vince McMahon
Randy Orton
The Rock
D Generation X
Chris Jericho
…. and many, many more on top of those.
In recent years, a new duo called CFO$ has started contributing themes for new wrestlers. But Johnston had been been at WWE for nearly 30 years, and basically seemed like part of the furniture. That was, util reports started to circulate this week that he had been released from the company.
Neither Johnston nor WWE have confirmed this, but it is being widely reported on the wrestling internet. Nothing last forever, but if he is really gone form the company, it is truly the end of an era.
Here’s a classic clip of Johnston in the studio:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWIJPDv43EE
