History SuspiciouslySimilarSong / ProfessionalWrestling

* Used frequently in ProfessionalWrestling, especially in TNA (though it occasionally shows up in Wrestling/{{WWE}}; listen to the Full Blooded Italians' entrance music, and you'll be reminded of "No Sleep 'Till Brooklyn" by the Beastie Boys). WCW was an even worse offender before it got bought out, which is rather odd; they were a Time Warner subsidiary, and Time Warner ''owned'' most of the labels that were getting ripped off. As noted above, this is mostly due to Wrestling/JimmyHart, the former {{Trope Namer|s}} himself, writing the music for these companies.
** To be fair, just because they "own" the rights doesn't mean they don't have to pay the artist to use the song. It's cheaper to get JH to write the song for you. As well, Time Warner's dysfunctional structure meant that WCW (then part of Turner Broadcasting) would have to still have to go through Warner Music Group (then a Time Warner company) through the same channels as any other company.
** Some infamous JHV's from WCW: "Come As You Are" by Music/{{Nirvana}} (Wrestling/{{Raven}}), "Even Flow" by Music/PearlJam (Wrestling/ChrisJericho, mostly heel run), "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Music/{{Nirvana}} ([[Wrestling/DiamondDallasPage DDP]]), "War" by Edwin Starr (Misfits in Action), "The Zoo" by Music/{{Scorpions}} (The First Family), "Purple Rain" by Music/{{Prince}} (Prince Iaukea), "Cowboy" by Music/KidRock (Wrestling/JeffJarrett), "Beautiful People" by Music/MarilynManson (Wrestling/PerrySaturn[=/=]Revolution), "Perfect Strangers" by Music/DeepPurple (Wrestling/ShaneDouglas) "Party Up (Up in Here)" by Music/{{DMX}} (Elix Skipper- something he carried with him in TNA) and "Burn" by Music/NineInchNails (David Flair).
** Way before Jimmy Hart debuted in WCW, there were still JHV's; for example, Dustin Rhodes' theme before the Slam Jam album was a JHV of "Money for Nothing", and the York Foundation used a JH "Dallas" theme.
*** And way before that, in the JCP/NWA days, there was the JHV of Giorgio Moroder's "Chase" that Wrestling/TheMidnightExpress used.
** Even more baffling than writing covers of songs they already owned, was WCW rewriting songs that were already in the public domain! Wrestling/RandySavage had previously used "Pomp & Circumstances" in WWF, but it was given a rock makeover in WCW.
*** It sounded more like a wresting theme than somebody's graduation.
*** WWF did this in the early '90s when they gave Wrestling/RicFlair a JHV of "Also Sprach Zarathustra".

** [[Wrestling/{{DGenerationX}} DeGeneration-X]]'s theme is a lyrical JHV of "Killing in the Name". The lyrics both speak of rebellion. Compare the DX theme's "We just got tired of doing what we're told what to do" to these words of RATM's song, "And now you do what they told ya," and "Fuck you I won't do what you tell me! Fuck you I won't do what you tell me!"
** Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin's theme is actually a JHV of another JHV. His theme is based off of [[Wrestling/ScottHall Razor Ramon's]] theme, which in turn is suspiciously similar to the Music/{{Eagles}}' "Those Shoes".
*** WordOfGod says Austin's theme was modeled off of "Bulls on Parade".
** Speaking of former ECW guys, Tommy Dreamer's WWE theme is suspiciously similar to his original ECW music, "Man in the Box" by Alice In Chains.
*** The humorous thing about that song is its official WWE name is [[strike:"Boxed Man"]] "Bad Dream".
** Eric Bischoff's debut theme in WWE was Music/{{ACDC}}'s "Back in Black", but he used a JHV called "I'm Back" by Ted Nigro for every subsequent appearance.
** His TNA theme sounded a lot like [[Music/TedNugent "Stranglehold."]]
** The same thing happened with Wrestling/BallsMahoney. [[InNameOnly The Sandman]], too...but not so much (it DOES bear some resemblance to "Enter Sandman", but again, not so much).
*** With "Enter Sandman" it was a necessity. Metallica charges $5-6 ''million'' just for the use of that one song. ECW used to have a cover version on hand just in case.
** The original ECW did this too sometimes...see: Taz's music morphing from the actual "War Machine" by KISS to a JHV, to his "Survive If I Let You" theme that used the opening riff to the JH War Machine and then a completely different melody.
*** WWE Diva Wrestling/MickieJames' entrance theme is pretty obviously a suspiciously similar song of "My Sharona" by the Knack and "Mickey" by Toni Basil.
** Also, Wrestling/{{Goldberg}}'s entrance theme in WWE was a suspiciously similar song of his original WCW entrance theme (An awesome piece of stock music), due to the rights to the song not being available. The WWE version was not as awesome.
*** YMMV.
*** Victoria had previously used Music/{{Tatu}}'s "All the Things She Said" but was given a lyrics-less cover version for video games and DVD releases. Same goes for
*** The same could be said of Wrestling/{{Christian}}. The Waterproof Blonde version of "Just Close Your Eyes", later covered by Story of the Year and Bedlam's Gate, is itself actually the live-band-recording Jimmy Hart Composite of two of his previous themes, "At Last" (which itself--in an earlier iteration--was a suspiciously similar song of "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Music/{{Queen}}) and "Blood Brother". Of course, one could just claim that it's a JHV of "My Last Breath" by Evanescence like his TNA theme afterwards was.
** Lord help WWE if they lure Wrestling/BryanDanielson in ''without'' getting the rights to "The Final Countdown".
*** Considering the way they're going to likely repackage him, they probably wouldn't even consider giving him something that even remotely sounds like it. Let's consider it "averted" for him...for the moment.
**** Apparently he actually ''did'' get a mild JHV of it in Florida Championship Wrestling, but for storyline reasons he has to use Wrestling/TheMiz's music in WWE NXT.
*** [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsonsMovie He's not Bryan Danielson anymore, he's Harry Plopper]]... er, Daniel Bryan.
*** Averted, as they didn't even bother JHV'ing. When he finally got his own music, at first he was using some generic-sound hard rock. And then he won the US Title, and now uses "Music/RideOfTheValkyries". The real version. So...upgrade?
*** Two Steps From Hell's "Freefall", a JHV of "Freefall" called "Big Epic Thing", and then a rock version of "Ride of the Valkyries" called "''Flight'' of the Valkyries" would follow as Daniel Bryan themes.
** Wrestling/RingOfHonor's even started this: the music for their [=HDNet=] television show bears a remarkable resemblance to Velvet Revolver's "Slither".
*** Oddly enough, Ring of Honor never attempted this after the Internet outcry over Wrestling/BryanDanielson having to drop "The Final Countdown". Then again, lemonade was made from this lemon, as the emotional effect when it was brought back for special "off-camera" moments, ''especially'' at his last hurrah...
**** A suspiciously synthesizer-heavy version was used for his entrances on Ring of Honor's TV show, however.
*** As it turns out, WCW using this trope has probably saved WWE a ton of headaches, as they (usually) haven't had to bother with editing music on their archived WCW broadcasts, and certainly not to the same extent as they've had to self-edit. Most of the replacement songs for WWE versions aren't even this trope in action, as they're usually not even close to the original pieces.
** The Other Wiki once had an [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dale_Oliver article]] which listed songs of which TNA composer Dale Oliver has made suspiciously similar songs. The list was rather long, but has since been removed.
*** [[Wrestling/CurtHennig Mr. Perfect's]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VynCL_BbPK4 "I Am The Champion"]] easily takes the cake, hands down.
** The opening of Wrestling/SamoaJoe's theme is a JHV of the ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' theme.
** Wrestling/HulkHogan's 2010 TNA theme is basically the original Wrestling/NewWorldOrder theme. (And he's wearing black again. And during his debut, he explicitly referred to the NWO in all but name, while talking with [[Wrestling/ScottHall Hall]], [[Wrestling/KevinNash Nash]], [[XPacHeat Waltman]] and [[Wrestling/EricBischoff Bischoff]]).
*** That song actually was originally recorded by Hart in WCW, as the theme song for nWo 2000, but they ended up using the original "Rockhouse" instead. "Rockhouse" itself of course if a JHV of a couple Music/JimiHendrix tunes...
** Wrestling/{{Christian}} Cage's TNA theme was originally a virtual note-for-note rip of the Music/{{Evanescence}} song "My Last Breath". It changed midway through his TNA run, perhaps for that very reason...
** Wrestling/AngelinaLove's last TNA theme, Lesson Zero, is pretty much a JHV of "Papercut" by Music/LinkinPark, the song she still uses in the indies.
** Similar to Angelina, one of Wrestling/ChristopherDaniels' first TNA themes, which later became his ROH TV theme upon his return there in 2010, was a JHV of his ROH/indy theme, Music/MarilynManson's "Disposable Teens".
** Wrestling/{{Sting}}'s original TNA theme was a poor man's "Seek and Destroy"

* [[Wrestling/MikeBucci Simon Dean]]'s theme sounds very similar to Laura Brannigan's "Gloria".

* Despite sharing the same name and lyrics as his previous theme (which was basically [[Music/GeorgeFredericHandel Handel's]] ''Messiah''), Wrestling/DamienSandow's new 2015 "Rock Mix" version of "Hallelujah" is more a mixture of Music/{{Muse}} songs, in particular "Knights of Cydonia" and "Uprising".

* Despite sharing the same name and lyrics as his previous theme (which was basically [[GeorgeFredericHandel Handel's]] ''Messiah''), Wrestling/DamienSandow's new 2015 "Rock Mix" version of "Hallelujah" is more a mixture of Music/{{Muse}} songs, in particular "Knights of Cydonia" and "Uprising".

* Wrestling/SamiZayn's newest theme [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cjKOoEP6QI "Worlds Apart"]] has an intro that sounds very similar to "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YowSB2cJH1c Ole"]] by the Bouncing Souls. Which would make sense considering what his well-known previous gimmick was.

* Used frequently in ProfessionalWrestling, especially in TNA (though it occasionally shows up in Wrestling/{{WWE}}; listen to the Full Blooded Italians' entrance music, and you'll be reminded of "No Sleep 'Till Brooklyn" by the Beastie Boys). WCW was an even worse offender before it got bought out, which is rather odd; they were a Time Warner subsidiary, and Time Warner ''owned'' most of the labels that were getting ripped off. As noted above, this is mostly due to Wrestling/JimmyHart, the former {{Trope Namer|s}} himself, writing the music for these companies. Other examples include Mortis using a reworked version of the theme from ''ThePhantomOfTheOpera'' (both characters wore a skull-like mask).

* {{Wrestling/Booker T}}'s theme sound awfully similar to {{Kraftwerk}}'s Musique Non Stop, especially when it comes to the vocals.

** Angelina Love's last TNA theme, Lesson Zero, is pretty much a JHV of "Papercut" by Music/LinkinPark, the song she still uses in the indies.

** Justin Gabriel's solo theme sounds a little like the Killers' "Somebody Told Me."

* Sami Zayn's newest theme [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cjKOoEP6QI "Worlds Apart"]] has an intro that sounds very similar to "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YowSB2cJH1c Ole"]] by the Bouncing Souls. Which would make sense considering what his well-known [[Wrestling/ElGenerico previous gimmick]] was.

* {{Wrestling/Booker T}}'s theme sound awfully similar to {{Kraftwerk}}'s Musique Non Stop, especially when it comes to the vocals.

* In {{Wrestling/WWENXT}}, Adam Rose's entrance theme [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4zOOADtLK8 "Break Away"]] by CFO$, is a pastiche of the song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EUAw1sLwM0 "World Goes Wild"]] by Above Envy, a song which he shortly used as his entrance theme before switching to the current one. Reportedly because WWE ended up choosing not to pay the rights for the original song.

*** WWE Diva Wrestling/MickieJames' entrance theme is pretty obviously a suspiciously similar song of [[strike: "My Sharona" by the Knack. You mean]] "Mickey" by Tony Basil.

* In NXT, Adam Rose's entrance theme, "Break Away" by CFO$, is a pastiche of the song "World Goes Wild" by Above Envy, a song which he shortly used as his entrance theme before switching to the current one. Reportedly because WWE ended up choosing not to pay the rights for the original song.

* In NXT, Adam Rose's entrance theme "Break Away" by CFO$ is a pastiche of the song "World Goes Wild" by Above Envy, a song which he shortly used as his entrance theme before switching to the current one. Reportedly because WWE ended up choosing not to pay the rights for the original song.

* In [[Wrestling/WWENXT NXT]], Adam Rose's entrance theme "Break Away" by CFO$ is a pastiche of the song "World Goes Wild" by Above Envy, a song which he shortly used as his entrance theme before switching to the current one. Reportedly because WWE ended up choosing not to pay the rights for the original song.

* Wrestling/TheRoadWarriors used a JHV of [[Music/BlackSabbath Black Sabbath's]] "Iron Man" while in {{Wrestling/WCW}}. They actually used the real thing during some points of their career.

*** WWF did this in the early 90s when they gave Wrestling/RicFlair a JHV of "Also Sprach Zarathustra".

* Used frequently in ProfessionalWrestling, especially in TNA (though it occasionally shows up in Wrestling/{{WWE}}; listen to the Full Blooded Italians' entrance music, and you'll be reminded of "No Sleep 'Till Brooklyn" by the Beastie Boys). WCW was an even worse offender before it got bought out, which is rather odd; they were a Time Warner subsidiary, and Time Warner ''owned'' most of the labels that were getting ripped off. As noted above, this is mostly due to Wrestling/JimmyHart, the former {{Trope Namer|s}} himself, writing the music for these companies. Other examples include Mortis using a reworked version of the theme from ThePhantomOfTheOpera (both characters wore a skull-like mask).

** Some infamous JHV's from WCW: "Come As You Are" by Music/{{Nirvana}} (Wrestling/{{Raven}}), "Even Flow" by Music/PearlJam (Wrestling/ChrisJericho, mostly heel run), "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Music/{{Nirvana}} ([[Wrestling/DiamondDallasPage DDP]]), "War" by Edwin Starr (Misfits in Action), "The Zoo" by Music/{{Scorpions}} (The First Family), "Purple Rain" by Music/{{Prince}} (Prince Iaukea), "Cowboy" by Music/KidRock (Wrestling/JeffJarrett), "Beautiful People" by Music/MarilynManson (Wrestling/PerrySaturn[=/=]Revolution), "Perfect Strangers" by Music/DeepPurple (Wrestling/ShaneDouglas) "Party (Up in Here)" by Music/{{DMX}} (Elix Skipper- something he carried with him in TNA) and "Burn" by Music/NineInchNails (David Flair).

* Wrestling/TheRoadWarriors used a JHV of [[Music/BlackSabbath Black Sabbath's]] Iron Man while in {{Wrestling/WCW}}. They actually used the real thing during some points of their career.

* Believe it or not, the [[Wrestling/NewWorldOrder nWo]] [[EnemyCivilWar Wolfpac]]'s infamous rap theme song is actually a JHV of "Burn" by Militia (a little-known rap group), which the Wolfpac used as their theme at house shows.

* Believe it or not, the nWo Wolfpac's infamous rap theme song is actually a JHV of "Burn" by Militia (a little-known rap group), which the Wolfpac used as their theme at house shows.

* The debut of Ethan Carter III in TNA gave him a theme song that is a JHV of Fall Out Boy's "My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Em Up)"

*** And way before that, in the JCP/NWA days, there was the JHV of Giorgio Moroder's "Chase" that the Midnight Express used.

** Some infamous JHV's from WCW: "Come As You Are" by Music/{{Nirvana}} (Wrestling/{{Raven}}), "Even Flow" by Music/PearlJam (Wrestling/ChrisJericho, mostly heel run), "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Music/{{Nirvana}} ([[Wrestling/DiamondDallasPage DDP]]), "War" by Edwin Starr (Misfits in Action), "The Zoo" by Music/{{Scorpions}} (The First Family), "Purple Rain" by Music/{{Prince}} (Prince Iaukea), "Cowboy" by Music/KidRock (Wrestling/JeffJarrett), "Beautiful People" by Music/MarilynManson (Wrestling/PerrySaturn[=/=]Revolution), "Perfect Strangers" by Music/DeepPurple (Shane Douglas) "Party (Up in Here)" by Music/{{DMX}} (Elix Skipper- something he carried with him in TNA) and "Burn" by Music/NineInchNails (David Flair).