10: Dream and Dream Again, Timeless Toni Storm
I’m opening with controversy with a strange choice perhaps, but compared to the others on this list, this classical-sounding, somewhat straightforward instrumental doesn’t scream banger in the way the rest will. Alongside showing Mikey Rukus’ composition range, the song helps instill a sense of excitement in fans from the moment it begins.
Pavlovian, Mikey Rukus’ timeless piece gets us as fans salivating. It’s just a classy, dignified piece that prepares us as fans before the scarlet walks on stage or pops out of the venue’s box to expect the opposite. With all respect to Toni Storm, you know you’re in for smut, sexual innuendoes and the unconventional dressed in Hollywood chic. In the ring, it’s more of the same.
Few themes work so well at priming you for the unexpected, even when you expect it. It’s an earworm that, like Storm herself, gets under your skin and makes you fall in love with it.
9: Ultima ’84, Speedball Mike Bailey
Our first earworm is a theme song that effortlessly sums up the wrestler’s character. It’s a theme that gives me nostalgia each time for things I normally have no interest in, like arcades, fighting video games, martial arts films, and mullets.
Ultima ’84, featuring Vice, sums up Speedball Mike Bailey within ten seconds. With its late-1980s/early-90s pop vibes, repetition, and sense of fun, it gets stuck in my head constantly. Sending my thoughts circling the inside of my head like it’s a roller disco, the song’s quickness is a perfect match for Bailey’s lightning-fast strikes and footwork.
It embodies his Karate Kid/Cobra Kai aesthetic without feeling cheesy or like parody. It’s not ashamed to be old school or different, like Bailey themself.
