The former music composer to the WWE would love to lend a helping hand to AEW.
When it comes to composing wrestling themes, Jim Johnston has long been considered the gold standard. The composer created some of the most memorable themes during the golden years of WWE and remained with the company up until being released in 2017, his 32nd year with the promotion.
Johnston hasn’t appeared in another wrestling promotion, which has surprised many, but he retains an active interest in wrestling. In an appearance on “Conversations with Conrad,” he revealed that he had attempted to contact AEW about composing themes for them.
“I actually approached AEW at one point to write some themes for them, with no interest,” Johnston said. “Now the way I approached [it], it’s very possible the people in charge never got that memo. I’d be happy to write some themes for them. I’d be happy to write some themes for WWE, but I would never want to get as immersed as I was.”
Johnston expressed frustration with the themes he hears nowadays in both AEW and WWE, to the point that he often finds himself shaking his head at what he hears. He believes the art of composing wrestling themes has gotten away from the core magic he used to attempt to capture.
“What does this music have to do with anything?” Johnston asked. “We’ve gone from a time when you could be cooking in the kitchen, and the TV’s two rooms away, and you could tell who’s coming out to the ring. And now it’s noise to me. I don’t understand how did that transition happen where it seemed to just get down to the pure, noisy spectacle of it all, and we kind of lost that magic of, it’s all about character and storyline.”
