Why This Band Is Hated By WWE Fans

Once upon a time, if you were a WWE fan, and you heard a wrestler’s theme song hit, you would jump to your feet, immediately pumped up at the recognition that your favorite superstar was about to walk out on stage. Much of the thanks for that goes to Jim Johnston, who worked with the company for many years creating that unforgettable music, but when WWE stupidly let him go, they brought in CFO$ to craft their music. They created some good themes, along with some bad ones. Since 2019, however, Def Rebel has been in charge of WWE’s music, and they’ve created songs so dull that fans loathe them while wishing for a return to the past.

Def Rebel Began Working With WWE In 2019

WrestleMania 35 Was Def Rebel’s First Music Contribution

• Jim Johnston created many great Attitude Era theme songs.
• CFO$ took over from Jim Johnston.
• Def Rebel is a pseudonym for DJDTP.

In the 1990s Attitude Era, it was Jim Johnston who crafted those bangers for the likes of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and The Rock. In 2017, he was inexplicably released by WWE after 32 years with the promotion. From 2012 through 2020, however, it was CFO$, made up of John Paul Alicastro and Michael Conrad Lauri, who contributed much of WWE’s music. While they weren’t as great as Johnston, you have them to thank for classics like Shinsuke Nakamura’s “The Rising Sun” and Bobby Roode’s “Glorious Domination.”

Then came Def Rebel, a pseudonym for DJDTP, which is a New York company for music production. New York is also where WWE Music Group is located. Def Rebel was made up of music ex Doug Davis, who is the son of the legendary Clive Davis, and the music production team of Ali “Dee Theodore” (who is also their Creative Director), and Anthony Mirabella III, who goes by BEIIIA. Their first work for WWE was the WrestleMania 35 theme song. Their first WWE entrance theme was “Still Major” for Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins, which debuted on April 29, 2019. After 2020, they became the sole producers of almost every WWE theme song.

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Def Rebel Has Created Many Of Your Favorite WWE Superstar Theme Songs

Def Rebel Does The Entrance Music For Stars Like Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, And AJ Styles

Some WWE superstars have their own entrance music that have nothing to do with Def Rebel. CM Punk, of course, comes out to “Cult of Personality” by Living Colour. Randy Orton has arrived to the ring to “Voices” by Rev Theory since 2008. Then there’s the current face of WWE, Cody Rhodes, who gets the entire arena to yell “Whoa!” whenever “Kingdom” by Downstait plays.

It’s Def Rebel who does the entrance theme songs for many popular WWE superstars. Some of them are pretty good, such as their songs for Imperium, Bayley, Damian Priest, Seth Rollins, and the Tribal Chief, himself, Roman Reigns. The problem, though, is that so many WWE Def Rebel theme songs aren’t good, especially when theme songs are changed from something popular into a song so dull that it builds no excitement at all. Remember the number of fans that complained about Johnny Gargano’s new song, or the new theme for Tiffany Stratton?

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Many WWE Fans Do Not Like Def Rebels’ Music

WWE Is Aware Of The Def Rebel Criticism

• WWE tried to do a Def Rebel remix of Randy Orton’s theme.
• Def Rebel’s Doug Davis went viral over an altercation with an Uber driver.
• WWE is aware of fan criticism about Def Rebel.

Def Rebel isn’t an awful band. They got their gig with WWE for a reason. The problem is that so many of their theme songs sound the same, so much so that even hardcore fans don’t know who is coming out sometimes when a wrestler’s music hits until they see their name on the tron or see the superstar walk through the curtain. During the Attitude Era, you knew who everyone was when their entrance theme hit, even if they were a midcard star. Remember the pop someone like Al Snow or The Godfather would get? Those songs were catchy and crafted to the individual. Today’s entrance music is generic with little thought and passion seemingly put into it.

Recently, there was a story from Fightful about how, after Randy Orton made his comeback, WWE tried to redo his popular “Voices” theme song with a Def Rebel remix, but he quickly shut it down and said no before it was even finished playing for him. On top of that, Doug Davis just made headlines for the wrong reasons, after he went viral for having a heated argument with an Uber driver, which was all caught on film.

Fightful Select had a report stating that WWE is “very aware” of the fan criticism of Def Rebel. I was also made clear that Doug Davis is no longer part of the group and “hasn’t been for years.” It’s believed that Def Rebel’s WWE contract expires at the end of 2024. Under TKO and the creative leadership of Paul “Triple H” Levesque, WWE is undergoing a creative resurgence. There are only a few things they really need to fix, and near the top of the list is their bland theme songs. It’s something that needs to be addressed in 2025. Jim Johnston is only 72. How about backing up a truck full of money to his door and begging him to come back?