Jim Johnston is the man who created many of the iconic theme songs in the history of WWE. From Bret Hart, to The Undertaker, to Flash Funk and everybody in between, Jim Johnston was responsible for the soundtrack to many wrestling fans’ childhoods.
In a rare interview with VICE, Johnston opened up about creating entrance music for what was at one point the most unlikely WWE superstar in history, the boss, Vincent Kennedy McMahon. Ironically enough, Jim Johnston says that the cast was assigned to him at a moment when he was upset with the boss and realized that against him, you have no chance in hell.
“When I was writing Vince’s No ‘Chance In Hell’ entrance theme, I had been really upset with him about something at work. I found myself thinking: ‘You’ve got no chance against this guy!’ He’s got the power, the money, and in terms of pro-wrestling, he was pretty much the only game in town. I had written the guitar groove much earlier, and I found myself singing ‘No Chance…No Chance’ over that groove. Rather than a song about one man, I wanted it to be about ’The Man’.
The song is about the work system that imprisons us all. It’s got a thrust of someone who’s kind of like marching like they’re the kind of ‘big I am’. What I loved about Vince was how he liked to be surprised. He let me take risks and if I surprised him with something and it was good then he would be delighted. But if it wasn’t good then boy he would tell you about it! I will always class him as a friend. We were creating something entirely new as the business Vince had bought from his dad didn’t have any music for the wrestlers. Our work together radically changed things and made it so much more theatrical. I’ll always be proud of that.”
WWE music today is produced by def rebel. Not much is known about who is behind the group but WWE does own the trademark for their name.
