As WWE embarks on its annual “Road to WrestleMania,” the pro wrestling giant is hitting on all cylinders. Well, almost all cylinders – case in point, Def Rebel and the current state of the company’s entrance themes.
Last week, WWE held its annual Royal Rumble event, which marks the official kickoff for the months-long build to its biggest show of the year. And while it proved to be the most successful Royal Rumble in the event’s 37-year history from a financial standpoint, it also spotlighted the lackluster state of WWE’s entrance songs.
While the Royal Rumble is the perfect event to showcase iconic theme songs — think Stone Cold Steve Austin’s glass breaking, The Rock’s “If Ya Smell!!!” or The Undertaker’s gong — many left this year’s event complaining that such signature songs among active wrestlers are currently few and far between (especially in the women’s division).
The issue even made its way to the “dirt sheets” (wrestling lingo for news websites), with Fightful Select’s Sean Ross Sapp reporting that many WWE superstars are also dissatisfied with their entrance songs, the vast majority of which have been produced by the band Def Rebel.
“We’d indicated in the past that no talent that Fightful spoke with have interacted with Def Rebel producers for input on songs,” Sapp reported last week. “Beyond that, we’re told by talent that several have expressed unhappiness with the quality of theme songs, and have made attempts to get their previous themes back.”
During Monday night’s episode of WWE Raw, the situation involving the current state of the company’s theme music from Def Rebel even became the subject of on-air fodder. As Logan Paul interrupted CM Punk ahead of the show’s main event match between Paul and Rey Mysterio (yes, he still wrestles), Punk noted that he didn’t even know whose music was playing as the YouTuber made his way to the ring.
“I didn’t even know whose music this was,” Punk said into his microphone.
“That seems to be a reoccurring thing,” color commentator Pat McAfee quipped on the broadcast.
Logan Paul comes out.
CM Punk: “I didn’t even know who’s music that was”
Pat McAfee: “That seems to be a reoccurring thing”
THE DEF REBEL SHOTS 😭😭😭#WWERAW pic.twitter.com/0Og5AgCfjO
— The Movement – Pro Wrestling (@TheMovementXx) February 11, 2025
While McAfee’s comments might have been controversial under previous regimes, they bring the exact type of authenticity that WWE was looking for when it added the ESPN star to its broadcast crew. Rather than ignoring the world outside of the pro wrestling bubble, WWE has embraced it post-Vince McMahon, blending fiction with reality in its storylines, presentation and commentary.
WWE knows its fans are talking about the underwhelming nature of its current theme music from Def Rebel, so why not acknowledge the issue head on? Then again, perhaps that’s giving the company too much credit and this was merely a case of McAfee being McAfee, who ironically has one of WWE’s better current theme songs.
