Former WWE Music Composer Jim Johnston Doesn't Like Current WWE Music

Former WWE Music Composer Jim Johnston who wrote the themes for Undertaker, The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, D-Generation X and many others recently took part in an interview with Newsweek to discuss his departure from the company after being let go after 30 years with the company, which as had been rumored wasn't on the best of terms.

He commented on his last few years with the company which he described as being "filled with a lot of politics" 

“My last few years with WWE were sadly filled with a lot of politics. It was disappointing because I didn’t think I could contribute in the way I would have preferred. It was probably best I’m no longer there.

I was not happy with where things were going musically in the company and I wasn’t contributing in the way I wanted to. So when Vince [McMahon] gave me the leaving orders, that was probably the best thing for us both.”

On the subject of where WWE has taken their music with current producers CFO$:

“I’m not working with them so I don’t know what their directives are. All I can react to is what I’m hearing. I’m sure they’re talented guys. But what’s being produced just feels too homogenous. It’s just music that plays—it doesn’t feel like each guy is really themed. All the women have a dance music kind of thing. And it’s lots and lots of loud sound effects.

What makes me the worst is not anything that happened to me, or any negativity towards those composers...I feel bad for the talent trying to build careers for themselves when I just don’t feel they’re being served well enough to become stars. Before “Stone Cold” was “Stone Cold” he was The Ringmaster. The Ringmaster’s theme was something I wrote for him. The music can make such a difference in the person and how they perform. That same guy who was dead-in-the-water as The Ringmaster, a couple of tweaks, different music, different attitude, and he becomes one of the most popular people in the history of the genre.

I’m wondering who is working currently at WWE who is an absolute superstar but, who, because they’re wrapped in a homogenous piece of clothing, they’re stuck and can’t break out? I would hope they would try to really brand each guy and each woman as an individual.”

You can read the full interview with Johnson here.