The Top Six Intros in Wrestling [Updated]
The following is a contribution from guest poster David. This posting will be updated as David completes the entries.
Few elements of a packaged wrestler are more important than the initial introduction theme music and choreography. It sets the pace for the match to come and gets the fans excited. The best intros combine audio and visual effects to set the hearts of fans racing even before the first collar to elbow tie-up. Since the wrestling wars of the mid to late 90's the WWE and now defunct WCW worked hard to improve the quality of their intros so most of the great ones are recent. Here is my list of the top six.
6: Scott Steiner (as Big Poppa Pump)
Scott Steiner is one of the most talented in ring performers ever to lace up a wrestling boot. His mic work however left a lot to be desired. The tag team of Scott and Rick Steiner had neither the aura of the Legion of Doom or the charisma of the Hart Foundation but they made up for it with in ring creativity. Scotty in particular was amazingly coordinated and agile for a big man. Unfortunately the Steiners were saddled with one of the worst theme songs in history (Steinerize) and the two brothers seemed to be in heated competition for the title of worst on the mic. Neither appeared to be capable of sputtering out a complete sentence. The WrestleBlogger and myself used to do imitations of Rick Steiner struggling to get out a promo before descending into incomprehensible dog barks.
In the late 90's the Steiners broke up as a tag team and Scott's body was clearly wearing out. He no longer showed the athleticism that made him famous and seemed to have doubled or tripled his dosages of 'roids. What Scott did at this point was nothing short of amazing. He repackaged himself as Big Poppa Pump and did his level best to create the latest incarnation of Super Star Billy Graham with the multicolored beard and brash attitude. The new Scott Steiner was slower, bulkier and prone to injury but he was also considerably more intimidating and better packaged. Big Poppa Pump continued to struggle mightily on the mic but in this case he was able to change it from a liability into a strength. All he had to do was punch out his catch phrases and toss some childish taunts. The new intro was nothing more than a blaring siren and the awesome physique of Big Poppa Pump. It was a minimalist approach that worked perfectly to establish Big Poppa Pump as a dangerous brute and finally helped to create serious fan attention. Too bad the awesome packaging came about a decade too late for Scott's body.
5: Triple-H
WWE has tended to have problem producing great intros for their top wrestlers. Steve Austin's was fairly good with the crashing glass and heavy beats. Bret Hard had a recognizable and memorable tune but it was Triple H who got the best intro with a song produced by Motorhead ("The Game" not the new and inferior "King of Kings"). I've never been much of a fan of Triple-H. I think he has too much backstage influence and tends to like to involve himself in whatever the top angle in the company currently is. On the other hand he is an incredibly hard worker who's willing to bust his butt for the company. The man finished a match with a torn quadricep for God's sake. What the WWE did was a masterful job of demonstrating intensity and ferocity. From the stage lights shining upwards to the spraying and snorting of water Triple-H looks animalistic and brutal, a far cry from his WWF beginnings as the snooty blue blood. Trips has made a great strides since his goofy days as Shawn Michaels DX sidekick and I have a feeling that this DX reunification will one day be seen as a major step backwards. After years of doing the same intro, Triple-H's has inevitably become a bit stale but from an execution standpoint it still does a marvelous job of establishing the seething fury about to be unleashed.
4: Ric Flair (circa late 80's early 90's)
Ric Flair's gimmick is arguably the most blatent ripoff/homage ever for a top star performer (although Hogan's emulation of Superstar Billy Graham is up there). Wrestling has seen a long line of 'beautiful' male wrestlers with flowing golden manes and sequenced robe. Even his nickname 'The Nature Boy' was borrowed from the previous Nature Boy Buddy Rogers. What Flair did was to take the gimmick and perfect it. In fact Ric Flair pretty much killed the "gorgeous" gimmick because he was so good at it that no one else (save the lamentable Maestro) would ever attempt to emulate what Flair had mastered. Ric Flair LOOKED like a champ. He held himself like a champ and when other people wore the heavyweight belt it always felt like they were just borrowing it from the real champ. Ric Flair is perhaps the only wrestler in history who could be introduced to the theme music to 2001, spin around in a purple sequenced robe while fireworks exploded around him and NOT look goofy. Ric Flairs intro told the entire story. The champ was in the house.
3: Goldberg
Make no mistake, I consider Bill Goldberg to be THE worst wrestler in history. Everything about his career was accelerated from his meteoric rise to fame to his rapid flameout as he grew into a selfish, whiny veteran who believed himself bigger than the show itself. Goldberg is poison in the locker room and dangerous in the ring. Not dangerous like Jake 'the Snake' Roberts dangerous but dangerous like his carelessness ended the career of Bret Hart dangerous. Goldberg will be the first person to tell who he's a magnificent human being but the contrary evidence was clear to many in the audience. On the other hand his WCW entrance was masterful. Goldberg's theme music sounded like a major event was occurring. And then there were the guards. I can only assume that the thinking was that the guards were supposed to represent how valuable Goldberg was to the company. It was a little odd since the guards protected Goldberg in the back but disappeared when he went into the public arena. Goldberg claimed that he modeled his character on mixed martial artists. The MMA fighters often go to the ring with a large entourage so perhaps the guards were supposed to be his own entourage. Whatever the intended reason, the effect was to give fans the impression that Goldberg was larger than life since he was the only commodity in wrestling requiring guards. Add to that a fireworks display that literally bathed Goldberg in sparks until he was snorting smoke and you create the image of a man who fans could believe was unbeatable. The problem was that Bill Goldberg, the man, seemed to have problems knowing where the act ended and reality began. The intensity of Goldberg's intro surpassed even Triple-H but unlike Triple-H the health of the company was irrelevant to Goldberg. Stellar intro, bad wrestler.
2: Chris Jericho (Break the Wall Down)
There are moments in history that can never be captured. These are "you had to be there moments" that are the culmination of events leading up to one shocking moment. In the case of Chris Jericho defecting from WCW to the WWF it represented a turning point in the wrestling wars that would see the WWF return to glory and WCW fall into the dustbin of history. Jericho was a young mid-card talent coming off of several forgettable angles including an ill advised run with Goldberg that showed just how little WCW cared for young wrestlers not named Goldberg. Jericho decided to jump ship to the WWF to try his luck in an organization with a much better record of rewarding talent over politics. WWF started running teaser promos of a millennium clock counting down the moments until… something. Something would happen as the new century approached to change everything. Speculation on who might be the millennium man ran rampant but most agreed it would be Chris Jericho. So you had a mid-card talent coming to the WWF in a moment that would be a surprise to few. In fact, having Jericho as the millennium man seemed anti-climactic leading some to speculate that it might actually be Sid Vicious/Justice. Then on August 9th, 1999 the millennium clock counted down to zero and one of the greatest intros even in the history of wrestling fired up. Chris Jericho, the mid-carder from WCW, was met with thunderous applause as the powerful 'Break the Wall Down' played. Jericho's intro was so strong that the subsequent promo he cut seemed slightly disappointing in comparison. As the years wore on Jericho's intro became old hat but for that one brief moment it was the greatest introduction ever.
1. Gangrels Brood (w/Edge and Christian)
Sometimes all the elements of an intro just fall into place and something magnificent occurs. In the case of Gangrel's Brood the results were spectacular. The music was a perfect blend of heavy beats and a gothic feel. As Gangrel's theme kicked off, the stage would erupt in flames and Gangrel along with Edge and Christian would slowly rise from the floor. I cannot stress how awesome it was visually and the three of them looked perfectly sinister and mysterious. Gangrel would stand there laughing flanked by his two minions. When the Brood finally broke up I was saddened more by the fact that I would never get to see their phenomenal entrance than by anything else. Poor Gangrel was let go soon afterwards after his girlfriend, Luna Vachon ended up crossing the wrong Bimbo Du Jour (Sable). Edge and Christian went on to become one of the greatest tag teams in WWF history and Edge is currently in the hunt for the Heavyweight belt. To anyone who never saw the entrance of the Brood see if you can find it on the internet and prepare to be blown away.
OK, David had his say, but now it's time for me to throw my two cents in. While I am not going to rank them I am going to list some of the more memorable entrances in my opinion.
Chris Jericho's Countdown to the Millenium
Hulk Hogan's Real American Entrance [I am a huge critic of Hulk Hogan, but I have never seen an entrance that gets a better reaction. Especially when he's walking down that aisle and pointing to his opponent in the ring.]
Triple H's post-DX entrances
Sandman's 'Enter Sandman' ECW Entrance [This is perhaps the longest entrance in wrestling history]
Matt Hardy [I really liked how the whole TV screen would turn into a computer monitor and display facts about Matt Hardy]
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posted by J. @ 11:09 AM
