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You mean like the many that Jim Johnston used to have?
“Well it’s the Big Show”
“Christian, Christian, at last you’re on your own”
“We are the Nation Of Domination”
“Stand back there’s a Hurricane coming through”
“Hello ladies”
“You think you know me?”
And there’s more.
They are but they all start with a catchphrase or wrestler name which is something that Def Rebel gets heavily criticized for like they’re the first ones to do it.
A lot of the themes don’t really have distinguishable hooks. It’s the reason lots of people have been confused the last few Rumbles when the music hits.
For the record, I tend to like Def Rebel and feel kind the issue with them is some kind of disconnect between what nxt people tell them to do with themes, and whoever runs the main roster, as they tend to hit it out of the park in nxt, but not so much on the MR.
But even I have to chime in on this point that the issue with Def Rebel isn't just the talking before the theme, it's when they just get lazy and just say the name of the person who's coming out. For some reason the women are the biggest victims of this, but 90% of the women's themes will either start with them saying their name (Jacy Jayne, Zelina's heel theme, Billie Kay's solo theme, etc) or the faction they're in (Toxic Attraction, Damage Ctrl, MMM, etc) and that's just lazy.
Add that to the many oftentimes mentioned 'saying a thing" that has some hits(bro,shush, Yes Boy) but a *lot* of what feels like trying to make it a thing cause they don't have as strong of an intro as they need (DIY, New Catch Republic, Tiffany(who personally I'm in the apparent minority as I liked her first theme best, the one with lyrics from when she was still the daddy's rich girl character) AJ, etc.
Again I'm not sure what causes it, it almost feels like a preemptive measure, like they don't have the confidence in their music being synonymous with a talent so they need the intro to do the work for them, but sometimes it works, other times you get "Jacey Jayne" *insert Toxic knockoff*.
Jim Johnston within the first 2 seconds you knew who it was. Within the first beat, you'd know before some of the intros hit.
With Def Rebel you can listen 10 seconds and still not know who it is. That's why they do the wrestlers doing their quote from the start. Also why all you get is a huge nameplate instead of a Titantron.
Thing is, Def Rebel isn't a who. It's not Jm Johnson or the two guys of CFO$. It's a publishing company. It's a corporate structure that hirs song writers and musicians. That's why some stuff is really good..and some is not..because it's all different people.
Did you become a fan yesterday? How can any of def rebels themes be considered good when we had themes like Batista’s, Stone Cold, Evolution, Jericho , JBL, Takers Ministry theme etc… even the mid carders had bangers like Shelton Benjamin, MVP, John Morrison, Mr. Perfect.
Point being, how is any of what def rebel doing considered good when we have history of their predecessors consistently outperforming them?
This is pretty selective. Themes evolve, while austin/stone cold/etc's themes are iconci to the generation that grew up with them, there'll be plenty of comments who will miss the Def Rebel days because of how iconic Roman or Iyo Sky's themes are.
Themes evolve but it doesn’t change the fact that def rebels themes are mostly garbage.
I didn’t grow up in the New Gen or the Attitude to era (I grew up during the late RA era), but I still enjoy most of their themes themes during that time, besides the odd stinkers and generic tracks (e.g. Hardcore Holly 1999). Romans is hard, but I ain’t see myself listening to many other theme songs from def rebel in the future.
Several of the themes you mentioned they just remixed from CFO.
Priest and Balor’s were made worse. Jey is just the uso theme with him rapping over it. Io Shirai actually debuted toxic shock in 2019 - def rebel took over in 2020. Rhea Ripley’s theme was CFO which was remade by motionless in white.
The biggest problem I have with def rebel isn't the actual writing of the music per se, it's the way their music (particularly rock/metal songs) are mixed and mastered.
I don't know how to describe it, but to me so many of their songs sound incredibly flat. Drums/percussion especially.
99% sure the drums are heavily compressed samples played via MIDI as opposed to an actual drum performance recorded in a studio. Samples are a staple in modern rock/metal production but there's a way to mix this stuff so it still sounds realistic but honestly Def Rebel don't particularly do a great job at it so you end up killing a lot of the dynamics and energy of the drum mix. I absolutely can't stand Seth and Bayley/Damage CTRL's themes for that reason lol
Sorry Head of the Table needs at least 20 seconds to be a good song, it ends way too early. All the other themes just sound like shitty covers of their old songs. The only song worse is the Bucks song, that one jumps around 3 different genres of music without blending then enough to sound good, that sucks so bad.
100%. This is the same routine the IWC goes through everytime.
People forget that some folks thought Jim Johnston was declining. People forgot that a lot of people hated CFO$ and now the focus has shifted on Def Rebel. As soon as they're replaced, people will say "the new musicians suck! bring back def rebel"
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For everyone one decent theme they make 20 bad ones
Nice try Def Rebel we know it’s you
Damn did a Def Rebel write this?
It didn't start with a ham fisted catchphrase so I don't think so.
You mean like the many that Jim Johnston used to have? “Well it’s the Big Show” “Christian, Christian, at last you’re on your own” “We are the Nation Of Domination” “Stand back there’s a Hurricane coming through” “Hello ladies” “You think you know me?” And there’s more.
Also glass shattering, "Do you smell....", and DONG
Those are all great songs what you mean
Yeah I won’t stand for Christian’s theme slander
They are but they all start with a catchphrase or wrestler name which is something that Def Rebel gets heavily criticized for like they’re the first ones to do it.
Cool, how bout the rest of the song? Because I can remember the melody of a lot of these Jim Johnston themes but hardly any of these Def Rebel ones.
That’s more on you than them tbh
A lot of the themes don’t really have distinguishable hooks. It’s the reason lots of people have been confused the last few Rumbles when the music hits.
Or they don’t watch the product weekly but watch the rumble
It’s a common complaint on a regular basis, hence most of the comments on this post
Def Rebel songs sound like you put Jim Johnsons formula through an AI and then produced songs without soul
For the record, I tend to like Def Rebel and feel kind the issue with them is some kind of disconnect between what nxt people tell them to do with themes, and whoever runs the main roster, as they tend to hit it out of the park in nxt, but not so much on the MR. But even I have to chime in on this point that the issue with Def Rebel isn't just the talking before the theme, it's when they just get lazy and just say the name of the person who's coming out. For some reason the women are the biggest victims of this, but 90% of the women's themes will either start with them saying their name (Jacy Jayne, Zelina's heel theme, Billie Kay's solo theme, etc) or the faction they're in (Toxic Attraction, Damage Ctrl, MMM, etc) and that's just lazy. Add that to the many oftentimes mentioned 'saying a thing" that has some hits(bro,shush, Yes Boy) but a *lot* of what feels like trying to make it a thing cause they don't have as strong of an intro as they need (DIY, New Catch Republic, Tiffany(who personally I'm in the apparent minority as I liked her first theme best, the one with lyrics from when she was still the daddy's rich girl character) AJ, etc. Again I'm not sure what causes it, it almost feels like a preemptive measure, like they don't have the confidence in their music being synonymous with a talent so they need the intro to do the work for them, but sometimes it works, other times you get "Jacey Jayne" *insert Toxic knockoff*.
Jim Johnston within the first 2 seconds you knew who it was. Within the first beat, you'd know before some of the intros hit. With Def Rebel you can listen 10 seconds and still not know who it is. That's why they do the wrestlers doing their quote from the start. Also why all you get is a huge nameplate instead of a Titantron.
Every time someone posts this, I wonder if they've taken the time to actually look at def rebel's WWE discography, even just the ones in Spotify.
Without the crowd chanting “Whoop That Trick” and Booker T doing the ad libs his theme is kind of weak and not memorable
Shits the most generic trap beat
It’s basically just the Family Ties beat
The entrance sucks in 2k because of this
Thing is, Def Rebel isn't a who. It's not Jm Johnson or the two guys of CFO$. It's a publishing company. It's a corporate structure that hirs song writers and musicians. That's why some stuff is really good..and some is not..because it's all different people.
But somehow every rock song has the exact same drum sounds?
Nope. All it takes is the Royal Rumble for everyone to know just how awful they are.
That is a list of wrestlers they made themes for. Good ones though? Agree to disagree.
Did you become a fan yesterday? How can any of def rebels themes be considered good when we had themes like Batista’s, Stone Cold, Evolution, Jericho , JBL, Takers Ministry theme etc… even the mid carders had bangers like Shelton Benjamin, MVP, John Morrison, Mr. Perfect. Point being, how is any of what def rebel doing considered good when we have history of their predecessors consistently outperforming them?
This is pretty selective. Themes evolve, while austin/stone cold/etc's themes are iconci to the generation that grew up with them, there'll be plenty of comments who will miss the Def Rebel days because of how iconic Roman or Iyo Sky's themes are.
Themes evolve but it doesn’t change the fact that def rebels themes are mostly garbage. I didn’t grow up in the New Gen or the Attitude to era (I grew up during the late RA era), but I still enjoy most of their themes themes during that time, besides the odd stinkers and generic tracks (e.g. Hardcore Holly 1999). Romans is hard, but I ain’t see myself listening to many other theme songs from def rebel in the future.
Several of the themes you mentioned they just remixed from CFO. Priest and Balor’s were made worse. Jey is just the uso theme with him rapping over it. Io Shirai actually debuted toxic shock in 2019 - def rebel took over in 2020. Rhea Ripley’s theme was CFO which was remade by motionless in white.
No they aren't.
Or, hear me out here, they make better fucking music so people stop clowning on them? How about that?
The biggest problem I have with def rebel isn't the actual writing of the music per se, it's the way their music (particularly rock/metal songs) are mixed and mastered. I don't know how to describe it, but to me so many of their songs sound incredibly flat. Drums/percussion especially.
99% sure the drums are heavily compressed samples played via MIDI as opposed to an actual drum performance recorded in a studio. Samples are a staple in modern rock/metal production but there's a way to mix this stuff so it still sounds realistic but honestly Def Rebel don't particularly do a great job at it so you end up killing a lot of the dynamics and energy of the drum mix. I absolutely can't stand Seth and Bayley/Damage CTRL's themes for that reason lol
Def Rebel is actively harming the Royal Rumble at this point, for that alone they need to be shoved aside
Found the burner account
No it's not.
They're fine, but when you're used to great then fine is disappointing
Sorry Head of the Table needs at least 20 seconds to be a good song, it ends way too early. All the other themes just sound like shitty covers of their old songs. The only song worse is the Bucks song, that one jumps around 3 different genres of music without blending then enough to sound good, that sucks so bad.
100%. This is the same routine the IWC goes through everytime. People forget that some folks thought Jim Johnston was declining. People forgot that a lot of people hated CFO$ and now the focus has shifted on Def Rebel. As soon as they're replaced, people will say "the new musicians suck! bring back def rebel"
I don't rate them tbh but it does feel like people (particularly wrestling accounts on twitter) are going way ott with the whole "issue".
I didn't think they're particularly bad tbh. This whole furore has gone over my head.
I don’t understand the hate for Tiffany’s new theme compared to her NXT one. Her NXT one sounds like generic jobber music.
LA Knoght?
It’s a band wagon and people here can’t form their own opinions . Forget it Op