PART 3: The Legend Of Wrestlemania.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2RnGfGtnBM]
Since the fist Wrestlemania in 1985, the event has become a yearly spectacle, featuring tens of thousands of fans and plenty of musicians and other celebrities. Throughout the years, heavy metal has had a more than solid representation on “The biggest stage of them all”.
Starting off, it would be a major detriment to not mention the incredible presence Motörhead has had in the world of pro wrestling. Wrestler Triple H has stated that Lemmy and company are one of his favorite bands, and has managed to have them write and create three different original entrance themes for him over the years. The feeling has been considered mutual, as Lemmy would not have contributed his art to the wrestling world if he were not interested or excited for the collaboration. Now, that needed to be said in order to give some background on the topic at hand: Wrestlemania. Motörhead has performed the entrance theme “The Game” for Triple H on two separate occasions, both at Wreslemania X-7 and Wrestlemania 21. The group’s sound has been part of the wrestling world on a national basis for over a decade, and “The Game” has become arguably one of the most iconic themes in the history of the wrestling business.
Chris Jericho and Lemmy
Plenty of other performances have taken place, and songs in general have been used at Wrestlemania events over the years, falling usually to the more popular nü-metal or at least well established acts in the scene. Limp Bizkit, while riding the wave of their their third album was utilized in multiple capacities at the Wrestlemania X-7 event. The overall theme song of the show as a whole was their track “Crack Addict”, although most remember the event for their performance of their song “Rollin’” during the entrance of The Undertaker (in his American Bad-Ass biker gimmick), and their song “My Way” being featured in the video package for the main event match of Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock, which some have stated is the best video package in company history.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEh0FCYw3Dk]
Texas based Drowning Pool performed their song “Tearing Away” as well as a rendition of the aforementioned Triple H theme “The Game” at the WWE Wrestlemania X8 event, while Saliva also performed at the event with their tracks “Superstar” and “Turn The Tables” being used as an entrance for the Dudley Boyz tag-team. Aside from Motörhead, it would take some time before metal was represented at the yearly event, next time coming in the form of Kid Rock at Wrestlemania XXV playing a medley of tracks from his discography, and Living Colour playing their classic “Cult Of Personality” live for wrestler CM Punk at the 29th installment of the event.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9ww66t4TX4]
While Wrestlemania is considered the highlight of the wrestling year, there are of course plenty of other instances in the past as well as now of Metal infiltrating the world of “sports entertainment”.
