With Ronda Rousey finally making a long-awaited debut appearance for the WWE last year, 2019 will undoubtedly be a year that continues the trend of the lines between pro wrestling and UFC being blurred. It is not just in terms of personnel that this process could be accelerated; the mannerisms seen in fight promos, and the behaviour of main players like McGregor and Nurmagomedov, are also more reminiscent of the WWE’s madly-theatrical overtone. For better or worse, this is now a norm within the UFC franchise, giving the powers that be some solid justification to revive WWE themes as UFC walkout music in 2019.
WWE themes as UFC walkout music in 2019
Of course, many WWE fans would naturally resent the themes of old legends being used, and there is the obvious fact that the gimmick-specific ones wouldn’t fit a UFC fighter at all. For all that 25 years’ brand evolution is worth, there is still a lot the UFC doesn’t know about audience reactions to corporate decisions. Thus, the impact a wrong theme could make upon a fighter is underrated, potentially affecting not only PPV buys, but other elements – such as merchandise sales, and even how much revenue they make in the world of sports betting.
Event betting can also be affected
Indeed, it is the latter area – marked by how many promotional bets (such as deposit bonuses of over $100 CAD) are placed online on the biggest UFC events – that provides increasingly-relevant clues as to who could benefit from a persona change or any other type of development. As the sole factor that heralds a fighter’s transition from the dressing room to the aisle, walkout themes have always been a primary element in a fighter’s persona, from the very beginning to the most recent UFC event. A walkout theme can definitely give a fighter an advantage. With no further ado, our first suggestion is strong with precedent:
The themes we’d like to see
Heavy on the guitars, with introductory chimes adding some gravitas, this theme is easily recognizable for any WWE fans who saw beyond the hype of ‘Stone Cold’ et al during the halcyon days of the ‘Attitude Era’. Given that the man associated with the theme comes from a martial arts background, it should be an effortless transition for it between 1990s WWE and modern-day UFC.
Some purists will argue that UFC needs to – unlike the Shamrock family – return to its roots and lay off the drama. Yet, with buy rates fuelled by it, there is no pleasing an entire world. The idols which are hero-worshipped and backed on all the top sports betting sites like 888sport and bet365 live to entertain and fight in equal measure, but there also needs to be some variety within the more rigid parameters of UFC. With that noted, here are two more themes that could be seen at an octagon near you this year:
Marc Mero
As a boxer-turned-wrestler, Marc Mero could be considered something of a pioneer in regards to crossover, even though he never truly ‘made it’ in the WWE. Nonetheless, this oft-forgotten theme has all the ingredients needed to justify a revival in the UFC. It has an unforgettable baseline and is high on the sort of intense energy that the very best fighters need to project as they enter the arena. It has already been used elsewhere, as a lineup theme for NASCAR on TNT around the late 2000s, but very few remember it compared to themes like ‘Rattlesnake’ or ‘Sexy Boy’ – most certainly neither of which would be welcome in the UFC.
Dwayne “Rocky Maivia” Johnson
Generic ‘jabroni’ theme – or is it? The guitar solo gives it some credibility and relevance, and the key change gives it a real sense of build-up. For that reason, this would be put to good use as the theme of a relatively unknown quantity in the UFC, but one with masses of potential – such as Alexander Volkanovski and Petr Yan. An ‘unknown quantity with potential’ is exactly how the man who would yet become ‘The Rock’ was seen back the mid-1990s, and those of a superstitious mind above stairs may have the perfect opportunity to revive it for a new generation in a different sport altogether.
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