Legendary music composer Jim Johnston is opening up about his 32 years working for WWE, his relationship with former boss Vince McMahon, how his time with the company ended and his opinion on the state of today’s entrance themes.
Johnston is responsible for countless iconic theme songs, including Bret Hart, The Undertaker, DX, Triple H, Stone Cold Steve Austin and dozens more others. He tells Hannibal TV that he approached each song by studying the wrestler he’d be composing for, including each performer’s unique persona.
Interestingly, he doesn’t consider himself a big wrestling fan, but drew inspiration from a wrestler’s demeanor to organically craft music that fit their characters.
Reflecting on the current state of WWE music, Johnston criticizes the modern approach as “generic” and uninspired, lacking the personalized character branding he strived for. He believes this shift has resulted in music that doesn’t engage audiences emotionally or enhance wrestlers’ personas as effectively as in the past.
Johnson worked with McMahon on a handshake agreement for 15 of their 32 years working together. He considers their working relationship friendly, but says McMahon was a “guarded” and complex figure. He was released in 2017, and recalls things getting “really political in a bad way” during his final years with the company. When Vince informed him he wouldn’t be renewing his contract, Johnson was ready to move on.
“By the time it actually happened, I knew it was coming, and I was looking forward to moving on. I’d actually been looking forward to moving on for a long time,” Johnston said. “In hindsight, I wish I had had the foresight or really the courage to just leave. But the force of habit just keeps you rolling.”
At the end of the day, Johnston is proud of his legacy. He knows wrestling fans want to see him in the WWE Hall of Fame, but he’s not losing sleep over his omission. He has mixed feelings about the Hall of Fame, but is very comfortable outside of the WWE sphere.