Back in 2018, I made a decision to expand my focus to include the Movie Trivia Schmoedown – a combination of movie trivia and WWE entertainment. As the brand grew, my writing on here came to an end in November 2018 as I was given the chance to write for their new website, TriviaSD.com along with a number of other Schmoedown bloggers. Recently it was announced that as the crew’s focus is needed elsewhere, it was announced that the site will be coming to an end. This means that the Schmoedown will be making a return to this site!
First of all, I want to give a big thank yous:
- To Schmoedown creator and Chairman of the league Kristian Harloff and TriviaSD.com Managing Editor William Bibbiani for giving me the chance to write for the site
- To the cast and crew, who continue to create an amazing product that is just going from strength to strength
- To the fans, who have helped to create such an amazing community
Over the space of a couple of weeks, I am posting my articles from the site onto here. As some of these are almost a year old, some of them are somewhat outdated and may have proved to be completely off the mark.
Posted to TriviaSD.com 6/8/2019
Music is such a big factor in movies. Imagine Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings without John Williams’ and Howard Shore’s respective scores. The music takes the footage to a new level. In a similar way, music in Schmoedown entrances takes them from a person walking through a curtain to as big a part of the show as the promos and interviews.
Some competitors love a theatrical entrance and use iconic music from the movie they are honouring, whereas other competitors choose to go for a more simple entrance but use the same piece of music ever time, so that you know who’s coming before their name or accomplishments have even been announced.
Today I will be looking at some of the musical selections that have become synonymous with competitors over the years. Before I start, I want to give a quick shout-out to some teams whose song choices did not make the list due to still being relatively new. If we re-do this list in a year, then I think The Odd Couple, KOrruption and the Founding Fathers could be pushing onto the list.
(If you’d like to hear these songs and many of the other classic pieces of entrance music used in the Schmoedown, check out the Spotify playlist!)
Ben Bateman – “The Man”
Ben Bateman started his Singles career coming out to “I’m so Humble” but more recently changed things up and began to use “The Man” by The Killers as his entrance music. This was going to just miss the list originally until I paid more attention to the lyrics:
“I got skin in the game. I got a household name. I got news for you baby, you’re looking at the man.”
This is no longer the young hotshot coming in to cause trouble, instead he is an experienced competitor with confidence bordering on arrogance in his ability to play the game. Could there be a better entrance song for someone that spins again on Spinner’s Choice against his biggest rival?
Ethan Erwin – “Turtle Power!”
Who would have thought that hearing the rap from the 1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film would get a crowd of hundreds on their feet cheering? Such is now the case as Ethan Erwin has made “Turtle Power!” his go-to entrance music. Again, this was another that just made the list, but given Erwin’s success in Singles it has become a song that is instantly recognisable and synonymous with winning.
Josh Macuga – “Wild Thing”
With a nickname like “The Wildman”, how could Josh Macuga not use a variation of the classic “Wild Thing?!” The song is loud and upbeat, just like a classic Macuga entrance. The moment I hear it, I can immediately picture him coming out in a bright/interestingly patterned suit, doing the running man and making his way to his seat. This became so synonymous with him, it was also used in Clarke Wolfe’s entrance against Macuga where she parodied him (above), coming out dancing in a bright suit.
Mark Reilly – Superman
“Yodi” has not always stuck to one entrance song and at points has crossed into doing the more theatrical entrances, but when he has done more of a traditional walkout, his entrance music has often been from one of the Superman movies. He is a man who loves movie scores and has not been shy to show how big of a fan he is of the superhero and its movies – the Wolves of Steel name and logo made that pretty clear – and as someone who has remained a face throughout his time in the league so far, the Superman music is a perfect choice for him.
John Rocha – “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”
While he may have moved away from it more recently, in favor of a fan-made song that could itself make the list in the future, Rocha used to emerge to Ennio Morricone’s main theme from “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”. An instantly recognisable piece of music, it was a perfect choice for a man who dubbed himself “The Outlaw” and considers Westerns to be one of his biggest strengths on the wheel. Combined with his cowboy hat and Guy Fawkes mask, the music helped to make Rocha’s entrances memorable.
Dan Murrell – “Jaws” Theme
There’s a reason that so many of the current Horsemen are making this list, and that is because we have had years of watching them emerge to these pieces of music, while they have also played in so many big matches that they have become memorable. However, if you are looking for a piece of music that has become synonymous with a competitor, then you just have to look back to everyone’s reactions at the 2018 Free 4 All, when the Jaws theme began to play, only for Andrew Ghai to emerge. The Jaws theme is instantly recognisable and conjures images of a ruthless predator that will attack the moment it smells blood, much like the GOAT’s recent performances. Whether the John Williams original or the more recent version he has taken to using in recent matches, there aren’t many pieces of music more synonymous with a competitor.
The Patriots – “I’m Shipping Up to Boston”
Sometimes you don’t realise how much you love a piece of music until it’s gone. Such was the case for me with “I’m Shipping up to Boston” when The Patriots broke up and JTE’s accident saw him take a break from competing. First heard at Sneider’s reveal during The Decision, the song became the entrance music not just for the Patriots, but also JTE and Sneider in their Singles careers. With them being the Lion’s Den’s main competitors, the song became synonymous not just with he pair of them, but the whole faction and was in fact used as such at times, including when they came to claim Robert Meyer Burnett after he chose to leave the Four Horsemen.
The amount of times I have heard this song away from the Schmoedown and found myself about to start booing as a reflex action, this was the first piece of music that came to mind once I started planning this article. JTE has been continuing to use this entrance music since his return to the league, so he now has the chance to make the music synonymous with just him as he gets used to life without the Lion’s Den.
Eyes on the Ball 