D-Generation X's Theme Was Originally Written For Shawn Michaels

Entrance music is such a huge part of wrestling that it's hard to imagine there was a time when wrestlers came to the ring in silence. Well, not silence, just the sound of the crowd either cheering or booing. Now a theme can set the mood for the match or moment ahead. Throughout the Attitude Era, you knew stuff was about to go down when the glass broke.

Break It Down Was Intended For Shawn Michaels

Speaking of Stone Cold's instantly recognizable entrance theme, former WWE composer Jim Johnston was responsible for that piece of music. Johnston was with WWE for more than 30 years and is responsible for pretty much every major entrance theme you will have heard in the company since the late 1980s. However, he recently revealed on the RRGB Podcast that there's one iconic song he wasn't responsible for.

RELATED: Why Ric Flair Vs. Shawn Michaels Was The Perfect Retirement Match

Johnston clarified that he didn't write Shawn Michaels' Sexy Boy theme. He did write a song for HBK, but it wound up being used for something else. “I did write a theme for Shawn Michaels and that was D-Generation X, I originally wrote for Shawn Michaels, Johnston revealed. By the time the song was ready, Michaels had paired up with Triple H and others to create DX, so the Break It Down theme was used for the whole group instead of just HBK.

Johnston Thought Vince McMahon Would Hate It

Johnston goes on to talk about the composition of the DX theme in detail, explaining that he thought Vince McMahon would hate it when he first played it for the boss. “I thought Vince was going to say, 'What's with the 20-second intro before we get into the hook of the song?'.” Most of the best themes at the time had something to kickstart them like Stone Cold's glass break or The Undertaker's gong.

That wasn't the case for the DX theme which starts with a rather quiet and pretty long intro. Luckily the chairman liked it and the rest is history. It would have been interesting to see how it would have worked if Michaels used the song alone, though. It's hard to imagine HBK coming to the ring alone to anything other than Sexy Boy. The theme he stuck with is also another great example of entrance music that kicks off with a bang and gets going right away.