Ask any wrestling fan what their favorite music from the world of wrestling is, and they are likely to list off entrance themes from over the years (though some recent offerings have been pretty dire). They are less likely to list songs performed by the wrestlers themselves. Though there are plenty of professional wrestlers who have also had a musical career alongside their in-ring pursuits, there's nothing quite like the 2004 album, WWE Originals. The premise is fairly simple — the WWE has produced some iconic wrestling themes with Jim Johnston as the head of their musical department, so why not give him a bunch of wrestlers to record an album with?
WWE Originals is that exact 'strange on paper, even stranger in execution' idea. With the Ruthless Aggression era in full swing and with one of the most stacked rosters in wrestling history, there was no shortage of popular stars to pitch to record one of the most bizarre records in existence. Over fifteen years later, listening to it is a very strange experience, and stranger still, that some of it is actually quite enjoyable.
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The Album Has Some Genuine Musical Talent
The first port of call when deciding which wrestlers to make an album with is to see if any of them have any musical talent to begin with. Luckily, WWE lucked out here with a few choice picks. In a fairly uninspired pick, WWE just put John Cena's 'Basic Thuganomics' theme onto Originals rather than have him record anything new. Despite that, it is probably the best-made song on the album anyway.
Aside from that, WWE enlisted others with musical backgrounds to perform newly written songs. Chris Jericho had already released two albums at this point, and his song 'Don't You Wish You Were Me?' feels like it could sit comfortably on any Fozzy album. Another experienced musician comes in the form of Lita, who in her pre-wrestling days had been in punk rock bands. 'When I Get You Alone' hits a similar vibe to an Avril Lavigneor a No Doubt song, and listening totally without any context, it wouldn't be hard to believe the song was by an actual early-2000s pop-punk band.
But, the best vocal performance on the whole album by far comes from Lillian Garcia. Though she may not have the wrestling star power as some of the others on Originals, she is definitely much more musically skilled, having regularly performed the American national anthem at several WrestleMania's. Garcia's track 'You Just Don't Know Me At All' is very reminiscent of Evanescence with her classically trained vocals over riffy metal, making it perhaps the best original on this Originals album.
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There Are Hits And Misses From Musical Newbies On 'Originals'
The rest of the album's musical offerings are comprised of wrestlers with practically no musical experience, and it shows. They're not all noticeably terrible, but the performances from this bunch don't get much better than 'just fine.' A wise move on the part of Jim Johnston was delegating these lesser experienced stars to rap songs, letting the wrestlers get their lyrics out in a more spoken word fashion than trying to sing.
The Dudley Boyz, Los Guerreros, and Rey Mysterio all try their hand at some rapping, and none of it really sticks the landing. Of all the rap songs on Originals, Booker T's 'Can You Dig It?' has the most personality to it. He may not be the best rapper in the world, but Booker T definitely delivers his lines much better than the others. Overall, Originals proves that pro wrestling should definitely leave the rapping to the rappers.
Elsewhere from the women's division, Trish Stratus appears for a pretty forgettable love song, 'I Just Want You'. Trish's singing is decent enough, but the track definitely sounds like it could play over the credits of a rom-com from that time — nothing to write home about. Stacy Keibler's 'Why Can't We Just Dance?' is genuinely quite awful though, with the majority of the lyrics just being the title repeated over and over again on top of a grating dance track.
Then, there is the genuinely puzzling 'Put A Little Ass On It' by Rikishi. In a slower, soulful song, Rikishi and his backing singers implore the audience that when things get challenging, all they need to do is 'put a little ass on it'. What that means exactly, Originals does not say. Rikishi does surprisingly well here, but the heavy lifting is definitely done by the backing singers, emotively singing about putting ass on things.
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'Originals' Has Comedy Gold From Kurt Angle and Stone Cold Steve Austin
Two things shine in Originals. One is the purposefully bad 'I Don't Suck (Really)' by Kurt Angle, bringing all the musical talent from his 'Sexy Kurt' and 'Jimmy Crack Corn' performances. The song perfectly captures Angle's character, a man who is clearly annoyed at the fans and only embarrassing himself further with this track. As a remix of his theme song, his rusty delivery is perfectly matched with some truly absurd lyrics;
'Anything you can do, I can do better.
Even when I rap, I rap more better.
Like this body when it's wrapped in leather.
Perfection, and it gets no better.'
It's genuinely the most enjoyable track here.
Throughout the album, there are a series of skits performed by 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin one hundred percent in character, with him going back and forth with Jim Johnston over what his song is going to be. Across five segments, Austin is in his comedic element, tapping into the paranoid heel character from the Invasion-era that bounced off of Angle and Vince McMahon so well. His antagonistic back and forth with Johnston is a hidden gem in Austin's comedic resume and is worth listening to Originals alone.
