Man, WWE really loves Kid Rock, huh?
It was announced this morning (Manila time) by Billboard that the Michigan native will be inducted into the celebrity wing of the WWE Hall of Fame this year. It comes as no surprise given the WWE's longstanding relationship with Kid Rock, one that lasts about two decades up to this point. His songs have been used as entrance themes by WWE Superstars over the years, most notably, The Undertaker, who used "American Badass" during his, well, American Badass years.
Not a lot of fans may remember this, but Stacy Keibler used to come out to a Kid Rock track, too. He recorded a cover of ZZ Top's "Legs," which was given to Stacy as her second entrance theme. The song was even featured on WWF Forceable Entry in 2002.
As if that weren't enough, Kid Rock holds the distinction of being the only recording artist to have performed at Monday Night RAW, Tribute to the Troops, and WrestleMania.
Speaking of WrestleMania, a Kid Rock track was used as the theme for the Grandest Stage Of 'Em All—"Celebrate" was the official theme song of WrestleMania XXX, which was also held in... New Orleans. Yep.
"Celebrate" sounds like one of those country rock themes that could totally kick off a tailgating event. It's a song you could imagine yourself rocking out to with a red solo cup of beer in hand, while playing air guitar to try and impress that young honey by the corner. It's not exactly a stadium anthem, unlike, say "Ladies and Gentlemen" by Saliva—used back in WrestleMania 23—which is my personal favorite WrestleMania theme. But there's something about New Orleans and the vibe it gives off as a party city, which isn't as urban as New York or Miami, that makes "Celebrate" pretty appropriate as a 'Mania theme.
As for this year's WrestleMania, though, WWE went with another Kid Rock theme, and I'm not exactly a big fan of it as a 'Mania anthem.
For starters, when you listen to "New Orleans" on its own, it doesn't sound like it belongs anywhere near a wrestling event. It's a mid-tempo country song with Kid Rock singing all chill with horns, a harmonica, percussions, and a banjo as his musical accompaniment. The song doesn't even pick up until some two minutes when the entire arrangement kicks in. And even then, it doesn't feel like a song that screams, "LET'S PARTY, MOTHERFUCKERS!" or "WE'RE KICKING ASS AND BLOWING THE ROOF OFF THIS JOINT!"
Lyrically, the song feels a lot like a CFO$ track because its chorus and two short verses just repeat over and over again in between musical interludes. I actually think it feels lazy as a song. It doesn't get me hyped up for WrestleMania at all, which is a shame because the biggest show of the year deserved something better. Hell, I could've settled for "You Never Met A Motherfucker Quite Like Me," which at least has a bit more swagger to it. Even Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson agrees since he actually included this in his curated soundtrack for WWE 2K18.
All griping aside, congratulations to Kid Rock on his WWE Hall of Fame induction! Outside of Jim Johnston and Motörhead, you'll be hard-pressed to find another recording artist who's left as much of a mark on WWE as Kid Rock. I'm probably not going to enjoy "New Orleans" any more as WrestleMania season kicks into high gear over the next few weeks. So I'll focus on the storylines instead because this year's song just doesn't do it for me. Oh well, Kid Rock got them checks and that ring, so he still wins, right?
Photo from Fox News
*****
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.
