THE ''ROAD WARRIOR'' POP
Before Hawk & Animal, there were wrestlers who made the fans shout and scream, performers who brought the fans to their feet, and competitors that fans clamored to see.
But when these two men entered the arena, something different happened. When the first notes of their entrance music could be heard, fans didn't just react, they popped. An instant and instinctive emotional reaction, the crowd came alive as one in cheering not only for the monsters about to come down the aisle, but for the beating they were about to unleash upon their opponents. This reaction, named by the boys in the back, not by Hawk & Animal themselves, became known in the business as "The Road Warrior Pop", and for decades after it was first heard, this term is still used to describe such a profound reaction from crowds. The phrase even has its own entry with Urban Dictionary!
But when these two men entered the arena, something different happened. When the first notes of their entrance music could be heard, fans didn't just react, they popped. An instant and instinctive emotional reaction, the crowd came alive as one in cheering not only for the monsters about to come down the aisle, but for the beating they were about to unleash upon their opponents. This reaction, named by the boys in the back, not by Hawk & Animal themselves, became known in the business as "The Road Warrior Pop", and for decades after it was first heard, this term is still used to describe such a profound reaction from crowds. The phrase even has its own entry with Urban Dictionary!
BLACK SABBATH
In the early- to mid-1980s, wrestlers in nearly every promotion would employ whatever theme music they wanted, often drawing from popular sounds of the day, as usage rights was not yet a common concept.
When Animal & Hawk chose a theme, they wanted something powerful, heavy, and most importantly, different, like they were. "Iron Man" by Black Sabbath fit the bill, and the song became forever associated with the two men in the minds of wrestling fans from this era. Suiting their personalities and emphasizing their intimidation of all opponents, the initial drum beats would pop the crowd, the first guitar notes would pop them again, and when the team finally appeared, the loudest pop of the night was all but guaranteed.
When Animal & Hawk chose a theme, they wanted something powerful, heavy, and most importantly, different, like they were. "Iron Man" by Black Sabbath fit the bill, and the song became forever associated with the two men in the minds of wrestling fans from this era. Suiting their personalities and emphasizing their intimidation of all opponents, the initial drum beats would pop the crowd, the first guitar notes would pop them again, and when the team finally appeared, the loudest pop of the night was all but guaranteed.
In 1984, as The Road Warriors prepared to make their first appearance in the Memphis territory, manager "The Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart contacted them for an unusual request, as Animal recounted in his autobiography:
"About a week out from our big match against Lawler & Idol, we got a phone call from an excited Jimmy. 'Hey, baby, this is Jimmy Hart. I've got this song you need to come here and let me record. We're going to put it on the radio and do a video, too.'
Hawk and I thought it'd be fun, so we packed and drove all night to get to Tennessee for our big shoot. When we arrived in Memphis, Jimmy met us and took us to this recording studio downtown. We put our paint jobs on and were wearing cowboy boots, jeans, our leather chaps, custom Road Warriors muscle shirts, and dog collars. Jimmy said he had this rock tune he'd originally written for the former NWA World Heavyweight champion Terry Funk and wanted to give it to us.
Jimmy fed us our lyrics line by line until the whole thing was done. It was like our first wrestling match: we had no idea what we were doing, and had to be walked through the whole thing, and the end result wasn't too pretty.
Hawk and I stood together in front of a big boom mic in the studio and took turns singing lines that went something like this: 'There's talk in the street. There's trouble coming down. Hawk and the Animal are coming to town. Everybody's talking; they don't say a thing. But everybody knows what the Warriors will bring.'
It wasn't exactly a toe-tapping classic, but it worked perfectly. When Jimmy took the song to the local radio stations, not only did they start to play it, but it quickly went to the number one most requested song of the week. The video of us in the studio made the TV rounds on both Memphis Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling along with promos from both teams about the big match.
When the day finally came for our big showdown in February, Memphis was electric. The public had been eating up the whole buildup of the match for weeks and couldn't wait to see the drama unfold. To be honest, neither could I."
WAR MACHINE
For a time in the American Wrestling Association (AWA), Animal & Hawk employed the song "War Machine" by KISS. The heavy beat and intimidating lyrics suited them to a tee.
This track would clearly have a very strong influence on the theme created for the team of Demolition in the World Wrestling Federation.
This track would clearly have a very strong influence on the theme created for the team of Demolition in the World Wrestling Federation.
MAKING IT THEIR OWN
When Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) came into its own as a national promotion, and their association with Turner Broadcasting became tighter, they realized that using popular songs on their television shows and VHS tapes would cost them a great deal of money in royalties.
They began to consider new alternatives for their stars' entrance themes, and for The Road Warriors, they decided to write a new, updated version of their original Black Sabbath theme. The result was "We Are Iron Men", which somehow managed to fit them even more perfectly without the high-pitched howl of Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne.
They began to consider new alternatives for their stars' entrance themes, and for The Road Warriors, they decided to write a new, updated version of their original Black Sabbath theme. The result was "We Are Iron Men", which somehow managed to fit them even more perfectly without the high-pitched howl of Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne.
WHAT A RUSH
Ensuring that they had full control over nearly every aspect of their characters, the World Wrestling Federation employed their own musicians to create entrance themes. In 1990, they looked to Jimmy Hart and J.J. Maguire to create "What a Rush!", which became an anthem for a whole new army of fans of The Legion of Doom.
LOD 2000
To go along with their new gear, new hairstyles, and new manager Sunny, The Legion of Doom was given a new theme song when they debuted as LOD 2000. A variation would later be used in 2005 when The Legion of Doom was re-formed by Animal & Heidenreich.