We're a little less than two weeks away from the much-awaited return of former Kampeon Ng Pilipinas "Beautiful" Billy Suede at PWR Live: Beautiful! Are you hyped and ready to see The Beautiful One back inside a PWR ring? To get your body and soul ready for the experience, it's only right that we feature Billy Suede's entrance theme on #ThemeSongTuesday!
Let me paint a picture for you. Visualize a man with long, flowing hair walking with confidence, as if time has slowed down. He is charismatic, suave, dashing, and magnetic all in one go. He knows he's got your attention from the moment he steps out of the darkness and into the spotlight. He doesn't just seek it. He doesn't just crave it. He demands it.
That's the vibe that Billy Suede's entrance theme gives off. It's as if Adam Sandler grabbed his remote control from Click and hit the slow-mo button. This theme was designed for someone who wants to take his sweet fucking time to walk into that arena and into the ring just because they can. And if you have a problem with it, too bad.
Before we get into the actual song itself, how surreal is it to see PWR footage from the Bayanihan Center days? It feels like an eternity ago. Bonus points, by the way, to whoever can point out the current PWR star refereeing the match being highlighted in Billy Suede's entrance video.
Entitled "Wisemen," after The Beautiful One's three-man team—including partners "Uncle Daddy" Tony Baroni and "The Golden Boy" Travis Williams—the custom-made track begins with a quick synth intro before the beat comes in together with a sick guitar riff that does not let up from start to finish. You know how the lead guitarist in a band looks forward to the song with the epic solo in the bridge? This song was made for that guy because they get to show off like there's no tomorrow on the entire track.
If this theme song sounds familiar to you, it's because the song is inspired by the entrance theme of Arn Anderson (and the Four Horsemen as a group). You clearly here it in the tempo and in the slickness of the riff. The only difference is in how pronounced the bass is on the original track, as well as the presence of the synth keys in the bridge as if taking you on an aural journey through the cosmos. Seriously, that bridge is trippy as fuck.
The Wisemen have been wanting to use the Four Horsemen entrance theme in their home promotion, Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling (ECCW) because Suede, Baroni, and Williams all wanted to emulate Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson. "But our promoter said we couldn’t use Arn Anderson’s theme song," recalls Suede. "So we asked our buddy to come up with something similar.
"There’s actually a little guitar riff from the original Arn Anderson theme hidden in the Wisemen version!" he excitedly points out.
What I love about this track is how it isn't one-dimensional. There are many other scenarios—other than wrestling—in which I can imagine this track being used. For one, I can imagine a badass cowboy walking off into the sunset with The Beautiful One's theme playing in the background. I can also totally see Ryan Gosling's character in Drive, well, driving off (heh) at the end of that film set to this song.
To put this in the local context, listening to this song might make you visualize a macho dancer being called up to the stage by the emcee at the gay bar. Imagine this song playing and having Magic Mike come out and do his entire routine. This is totally not based on personal experience. Nope.
The Wisemen have been using this banger as their entrance theme for the past four years now and fans of The Beautiful One can look forward to hearing it again at 500 Shaw Events Pavilion on September 22 when he takes on Mike Madrigal at PWR Live: Beautiful.
How many times did you get to listen to Billy Suede's theme? Did you put it on loop? How many different characters did you envision while having a listen?
Sound off in the comments below and we'll see you at PWR Live: Beautiful!
Header image from Philippine Wrestling Revolution
Disclosure: Smark Henry is independently managed and operated by a group of local wrestling fans, but includes members affiliated with the Philippine Wrestling Revolution.
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Stan Sy (@_StanSy) is the Editor at Large of Smark Henry and is also a radio DJ on Wave 89.1, an events host, a freelance writer, and one of the hosts of The Smark Gilas-Pilipinas Podcast. He also used to be one of the hosts and writers of The Wrestling Gods on FOX. He enjoys watching WWE, NXT, Lucha Underground, and the occasional New Japan match. You can ask him questions about wrestling, Survivor (yes, the reality show), or whatever you like on his CuriousCat account.
