AEW: Top 5 Wrestling Theme Songs (That’s Not “Judas”)
AEW has some really great theme songs. The most recognizable theme for fans is “Judas” by FOZZY (led by frontman and inaugural AEW World Champion Chris Jericho). Fans began singing along on a weekly bias. During the Pandemic Era, the wrestlers who made up the crowd continued the tradition. Since fans have been back, it has carried on.
Tony Khan has gotten the rights to several songs for wrestler’s theme songs. Jungle Boy uses “Tarzan Boy” by Baltimora. This is the type of song where the chorus gets stuck in your head for days. Orange Cassidy now uses “Where’s My Mind” by The Pixies and was an instant fan favorite.
Besides “Judas”, the most recognizable theme song is Jon Moxley’s. For his Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch with Kenny Omega, he used the original version of “Wild Thing” as a tribute to Onita, who invented said match. The version by The Troggs didn’t really fit “The Death Rider”. However, the version by X fits him like a glove. This version was made popular by the Major League movies.
As someone who has attended a couple of AEW live shows this year and heard all of these songs live, I can confirm that the fans LOVE them. They sang along with each song and it really took the energy to another level.
Original songs from the mind of Mikey Rukus
These songs deserve the love that they receive. However, there are plenty of other bangers that are originals. Most of them come from the mind of Mikey Rukus. He has discussed that each theme he creates has recommendations from the talent themselves. They also approve their theme songs.
If you follow Rukus on Twitter, then you know that he’s always experimenting. In fact, he’s working on symphonic versions of some of the themes he’s created. According to this tweet, he has nearly 100 themes getting the symphonic treatment.
Since 2019, Rukus has created multiple themes from Brodie Lee to MIRO to Nyla Rose along with the show theme songs. Sometimes, he gives a look behind the themes to talk about how they came about or what he’s looking to achieve.
https://twitter.com/MikeyRukus/status/1420086343066083337?s=20
Top 5 AEW theme songs
This list was really hard to narrow down. AEW has some really cool themes. Some of these are Rukus originals and some come from other creative minds.
5. Big Swole
This is one of those songs that sets the tone as soon as it hits. Within seconds, the fans begin chanting “Swole, Swole, Swole”. Not only does the crowd get hype, but so does Swole. She knows instantaneously the fans are on her side and uses that to get in her opponent’s head.
4. “Ghost Town Triumph”- Hangman Page
You’ll be ready for some “Cowboy S–t” when you hear Hangman’s theme. The galloping horse hooves take this theme to another level. This song is a vibe and just remember, you don’t need a hat to be a cowboy.
3. “Superkick Party”-Young Bucks
“Superkick Party” is one of the most recognizable themes in all of wrestling. The song was created by Papa Buck, Matthew Lee Massie. Even as heels, the song still works.
Since they’ve been the Super Elite (The Elite plus Good Brothers with Don Callis, Brandon Cutler, and Michael Nakazawa), they’ve started using the “Being the Elite” theme song. It was also created by their dad.
2. “Kingdom”-Cody Rhodes
“Wrestling has more than one royal family.” What a statement to set the tone for Cody Rhodes. “Kingdom” sounds like something you’d hear on the radio. Downstait is a rock band that has also created theme songs for The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, and Zack Ryder.
“Kingdom” was also parodied on “Being the Elite” by Dark Order, notably with John Silver singing the lyrics as “something, something, Cody Rhodes, WHOOOOOAAAAA!”
1. Best Friends
This theme totally fits the vibe of Best Friends and Orange Cassidy. The video that goes with it is even better: friends holding hands, puppies, and aliens. A whole mood or whatever.
Next. AEW: Interview with Dark Order's 10. dark
As I said earlier, it wasn’t easy narrowing down the top 5 AEW theme songs. The list changed several times. I could’ve included honorable mentions, but even those are hard to narrow down. If anyone of these themes gets stuck in your head, you’re welcome.