It's Tuesday. You know what that means.
Actually, before anything else, I just need to start this week's column off by saying I'm so glad that Tony Khan got the license to X's cover of "Wild Thing." Hearing Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston enter Daily's Place to an arena of fans singing along to the more energetic version of the song completely changed my mind about it. I love it. It's a great babyface anthem for two of the craziest motherfuckers on the AEW roster.
Now it's time to talk about the quirkiest set of characters on AEW and their equally quirky entrance theme.
We're staying in the late '80s for this week's Theme Song Tuesday as we take a look at one of the signature songs of Pixies, "Where Is My Mind?" After all, as Excalibur loves to say about Best Friends, you've got to give the people what they want!
Even though this is one of the songs people immediately associate with Pixies, they never released it as a single. It was always just one of the songs that stuck out from the band's 1988 debut album, Surfer Rosa. I had never heard the song in full before Orange Cassidy used it as his entrance song for the first time a couple of months ago. But even then, more than 30 years after the song first came out, "Where Is My Mind?" wormed its way into my head because of that distinct guitar riff and vocalist Black Francis's surreal lyrics.
Notice that I mentioned above that I'd never heard the song in full before March 2021. That's because I apparently have heard that iconic riff in the past. And chances are, you have, too.
Yep. That's "Where Is My Mind?" playing in the iconic ending to Fight Club that continues to befuddle viewers more than two decades later. Like... holy shit. Watching this scene again in 2021 strangely gives me the same "What the fuck am I watching?" feeling that I get from watching Orange Cassidy do his thing in the ring. Unlike Fight Club, we can talk about Orange Cassidy as much as we want. And that's because his laidback, apathetic style is one of the most unique gimmicks in all of wrestling. Add to that the eccentric dynamic that Chuck Taylor, TRENT?, and Kris Statlander bring to the Best Friends stable, and you've got a quirky cocktail that you wouldn't mind getting multiple orders of on any given night!
What I love about "Where Is My Mind?" is that it's a song that doesn't sound too '80s. That's because this song came out just as the alternative rock scene was beginning to pick up steam in the U.S. The beauty in this track is that it sounds like it belongs in the '90s post-grunge scene, the '00s punk/emo-leaning sound, or even the more free-wheeling era of the '10s. It sounds like it belongs in any time period, which is great!
Pitchfork was one of the first outlets to report that AEW CEO Tony Khan had licensed the Pixies classic for Orange Cassidy. They even pointed out that Khan had tried for "about half a year" to get the rights to "Jane" by Jefferson Starship, which was Cassidy's entrance theme in the indies. But they said in a statement that AEW never got a "formal response or any indication that they were interested." Thankfully for us, good ol' TK found a replacement that works all too well.
I normally crap on songs that don't sound like they belong in a wrestling arena or show. But "Where Is My Mind?" gets a pass because it sounds exactly like something Orange Cassidy would come out to because he's freaking Orange Cassidy. Its tempo is slow and chill, much like he is. And then it picks up as it crescendoes, much like Cassidy himself does when he decides to give a fuck and start wrestling for realsies. It encapsulates Orange Cassidy perfectly, down to the surreal humor that he and Best Friends bring to AEW, so I love what this song adds to their gimmicks as a whole.
Getting licensing rights for established popular songs is generally uncommon in mainstream wrestling because of how much money goes into it. There's also the fact that not all artists would care for their music being used in wrestling just because not everybody gets it. And that's understandable, if not frustrating. That being said, what AEW is doing with themes for the likes of Jungle Boy, Jon Moxley, and Orange Cassidy/Best Friends is downright impressive. After all, if I had it my way, I'd be coming out to an Eminem or Backstreet Boys track myself. Alas, we can't all be Tony Khan.
I guess AEW can thank their lucky stars that he's their CEO.
