TOP 10 MIKEY RUKUS AEW ENTRANCE THEME BANGERS
As an AEW fan, when former WWE music maestro Jim Johnston commented that entrance music in wrestling today is just noise, it evoked a sense of justified exceptionalism because too many of Mikey Rukus’ themes slap. I, along with other AEW fans, won’t stand for slander against Mikey Rukus, AEW’s music producer.
It’s not about comparison because, besides context and history, the creative parameters Johnston had as opposed to Rukus are significantly different.
Today, as during Johnston’s prime, it’s right in that songs can elevate a wrestler’s career. Joe Hendry’s chart-climbing likely helped WWE believe in him. A parody of ‘90s grunge, like Steven Flowe’s Pearl Jam-inspired track, gave the young rookie social media attention. But entrance themes are more than that. The power of a great wrestling entrance theme in combat sports is undeniable.
Johnston was right in his interview with The Face False that a memorable, ear-catching theme tells the story; it tells you who the character is, and a bop of a song catches the imagination. There are numerous other effects, as Corey Michael’s explains in his two-parter on wrestling entrance themes.
There is a Def Rebel dilemma in WWE. AEW has had its share of entrance music fumbles. Pointer Sisters. Wild Thing with the ocarina solo. That one week where Mina Shirakawa had a new theme. Plus, a day one complaint that remains for many fans in the building is cranking up the volume so they can get lost in the noise.
Yet picking a top ten Mikey Rukus tracks wasn’t easy. Like when I wrote about 10 wrestlers with better characters in AEW than WWE, ten doesn’t seem enough. But in case you are unaware, here’s what you need to know about Mikey Rukus.
Mikey Rukus: The Only Active and Working Fight Music Producer
Mikey Rukus is an artist, songwriter, composer, instrumentalist, and producer who, long before joining AEW, carved out a niche for himself creating custom entrance music for MMA events.
Rukus created entrance music as a side hustle to supplement his income from working as a retail manager. Networking with local and regional events, the COO of MikeyRukus Music LLC produced music for Invicta FC, Legacy FC, Cage Warriors FC, World Series of Fighting, and more. Eventually, Rukus had his music played at UFC 142 and on NBC.
With experience composing for TV, film, video games, and running another company producing audio commercials for radio spots, it’s surprising Rukus had time to make themes for independent wrestlers before AEW.
Mikey Rukus has created over 400 tracks. First coming to my attention with his custom track “Rarefied Air” for free agent Richard Holliday, it was a surprisingly catchy tune that had to follow up on Holliday’s previous MLW theme of Shirley Bassey’s Diamonds are Forever.
Networking his way via social media to an opportunity with AEW, Rukus’ first track for the company was Nyla Rose’s “Beast Bomb”. Created in under 24 hours, it’s a powerful, tribal and intimidating track. Its guttural lyrics encapsulated the Native Beast before the first minute mark.
With Mikey Rukus, it’s not just the speed and his ability to compose songs quickly that is impressive. Rukus is known for his collaboration and openness with wrestlers, involving them in the process to ensure the music they receive fits their character’s vibe. Regardless of the genre, Rukus has shown versatility in finding many of AEW’s best fits.
Unlike Johnston, Rukus stands out in an ecosystem of more than just licensed themes and wrestlers creating their own tracks, from Chris Jericho to MVP and Swerve Strickland.
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.
8: Kill the Messenger, Andrade El Ídolo
During Andrade El Idolo’s first AEW run, things didn’t always click as they have during this second run, despite the real Latino man having all the jacked pieces of the puzzle, including an awesome entrance song. Cutting the 37-second intro and its attempt at grandiosity and getting straight into that driving Mariachi-style guitar perhaps symbolically reflects how, on this second run, everything is clicking. You might ask, how do you know?
Mikey Rukus’ Kill the Messenger slaps hard. With its strong Mexican sounds that bring to my mind a wild west shoot-out south of the border, it stokes anticipation for whatever contest El Idolo is entering. It revs the audience up for a duel. The skillful and hypnotic notes of the guitar reflect El Idolo’s physical prowess and charisma. The song’s layers, like El Idolo’s abilities in the ring, sneak up on you. That Carlos Santana-like guitar solo strikes you like his spinning back elbow strike out of nowhere.
A song that’s smooth, multi-faceted and sultry, like Andrade El Idolo himself.
7: I Am (Limitless), Keith Lee
Indubitably, Keith Lee’s AEW run demonstrates one truth about the inherent risk of jumping from WWE to AEW, a few fans’ fantasy book. There are unseen variables no one can predict. While we don’t know and may never know for sure the exact reasons for what’s halted Keith Lee’s in-ring career, the brief highlights we got were frustratingly limited.
Fans had high expectations, and Mikey Rukus to a degree is responsible for setting expectations high. Crafting such a godly song with vocals provided by Lee himself, the song is a powerful declaration of intent. Like Lee himself, the song is confident, undeniable and ready for action, without compromising who Lee is.
Operatic and bold, articulate and untraditional for a wrestling big man. Like Lee, the theme takes the high ground and doesn’t care about other people’s expectations. You will bask in his glory and feel pumped up and better because of it.
6: The Dark Side of T R, FTR
Showing Mikey Rukus’ range, the retro, synth-style inspired 80s bop does more than project FTR’s old school feel. Beyond paying homage to the Midnight Express, the track sounds like it could have been taken from the 1980s. There are times when watching Stranger Things and thinking The Dark Side of T R would fit perfectly into the soundtrack.
As for the song’s crispness and clarity, the theme reflects Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler’s clinical abilities in between the ropes. Like their characters, it’s elaborate and extravagant, and it knows its status.
From personal experience, here’s why I know Johnston’s comments about hearing the themes in other parts of the house and knowing instantly what’s going on are comments made in a bubble. No matter where she is in the house, my partner (a casual fan at best) hears The Dark Side of T R, and on cue, she’ll shout out FTR! Then, in tune to the song, she’ll be do-doing along to the synth, whatever room she’s in. She also does the same for track number two…
5: Arrival, Sting
Perhaps controversial to place at the midway point, but Sting’s Arrival is a powerful homage that captures the dignity and majesty of the Icon. With its slow guitar and drum build-up, there is a grandeur and gravitas that makes you know something special was about to happen in the ring.
A deceptively built track, combining orchestra and guitar tributes to Sting’s WCW and TNA themes, Mikey Rukus creates a powerful drum-driving beat that made the legend unkillable. No matter how much opponents or Sting might have tried with his stunts and the moves the Icon took. Somehow, the music echoes with respect fitting a statesman, while possessing the heartbeat that feels timeless.
4: My Shadow Knows My Story, Tommaso Ciampa
The humming, brooding and raspy number quickly became a fan-favorite, launching fleets of memes in the process. Although I have seen some comments saying My Shadow Knows My Story is butt-rock and dad-rock because of its dark angst, they are too young to understand baddassery when it smacks them in the eardrums. It’s definitely not that I feel personally attacked because the music of my youth is now dad rock… anyway!
Another peak example of Mikey Rukus’ ability to get a feel for each wrestler and add their collaborative contributions to the mix. Made in a day and a half, this thunderous, ominous track tells you a Psycho Killer is coming. It warns the opponent and fans to get ready for hard strikes and relentless anger. That’s without considering how the lyrics do tell Ciampa’s story and set out the character’s agenda with a few lines.
As a sound to light a fire in your belly, those simple but effective hmm-mm-mm prepare you to get to work.
3: Cold World, Eddie Kingston
When it comes to lyrics that show rather than tell a character, it’s hard to do better than the connotation-laden lines of Eddie Kingston’s Cold World.
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“The world is cold, better bundle up.”
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Straight away you know Kingston is both a hard man and a damaged man. Someone who knows the world isn’t fair and is going to keep fighting. Someone who isn’t going to make excuses but isn’t going to ignore the problem threatening their face.
Blending DMX with an organ, the latter touch bringing an inner conflict mixing the urban with Catholic and religious self-conflict again tells you whether face or heel, Kingston isn’t straightforward. Simple and yet grand, simple and yet complex, like Kingston, it’s a song of contradictions and complications.
It’s a war song that doesn’t glorify and a song of struggle without asking for pity. It’s Eddie Kingston.
2: Indignation, Jamie Hayter
Usually, I’m not an electronic music fan. Bluntly, I don’t like rave music. I couldn’t tell you the difference between house or garage, acid house or pumpin’, Sash or Chicane. I hate nightclubs and the last time I was in a club I got COVID (true story). But I’d happily listen to Hayter’s AEW theme on loop for six hours. I’d HayterRave dusk until dawn, wearing neon paint and wielding glow-sticks.
Like Hayter herself, this banger hits hard. It’s in your face and aggressive. It’s relentless, and if a wrestling anthem pulsed with maniac ADHD energy, it’s Indignation. Undoubtedly, it was this track that helped Jamie Hayter become AEW Women’s World Champion and a standout member of the women’s locker room.
1: All About tha (BOOM!), Adam Cole (Baby!)
Mikey Rukus did not have it easy in coming up with an earworm to rival Adam Cole’s NXT theme. Starting with the confident announcement that is all about the boom, the night Cole debuted in Chicago, the building shook. Somehow, with a crunching, livewire guitar riff that sounds drafted by Tom Morello and Rage Against the Machine, the crowd’s excitement rivaled AEW’s sound system.
Instantly becoming an anthem for the ages, with built-in moments for a call and response with Cole’s signature catchphrase and poses, few themes evoke such a dopamine hit. Even at times during Cole’s AEW run when creative and the wrestler did not always mesh, the theme always felt like a mood-lifter.
Although the taste left by the bromance between MJF and Adam Cole was ash, we’ll still have Mikey Rukus’ mix-up of their themes with Better Than You Bay Bay still taste like nectar to the ears.
