10 Wrestlers Who Changed Their Theme Song When They Turned Heel

Turning heel is a major thing for many wrestlers, but some change their whole gimmick, and changing a theme song comes with that. Most of the time this has worked, while other times it hasn't quite worked out.

Theme songs are a massive part of someone's character as they become synonymous with wrestlers. However, not every wrestler that has turned heel in WWE or WCW has altered their theme song. Iconic legends like Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels didn't take the plunge by changing their theme song when they turned heel, as their theme songs worked regardless of their alignment.

RELATED: 10 Wrestlers Who Changed Their Theme Song (& Went Back To Their Old One)

Fans don't necessarily warm to new theme songs right away as they have been accustomed to hearing a certain one for so long, that they have become used to it. Nevertheless, heels that changed their theme song over time, have made it work as they added another layer to their gimmick by joining the dark side.

10 JBL

After the APA lost a WWE Tag Team Championship match to Rikishi and Scotty 2 Hotty on the March 18, 2004, edition of SmackDown, Faarooq was fired, and Bradshaw debuted his JBL character the following week. JBL completed his heel turn after he cut a promo, and he was elevated as the top heel on SmackDown with Kurt Angle injured and Brock Lesnar gone from WWE.

Layfield's "Longhorn" theme song worked perfectly as it had a bell at the start of the song and fans booed him. Moreover, JBL had a great run as a heel, as he went on to defeat Eddie Guerrero for the WWE Championship just three months later at The Great American Bash, a title which he held for 280 days.

9 Rikishi

Rikishi was one of the most popular babyfaces in the Attitude Era, but he turned heel in the fall of 2000 after he was revealed as the man who ran down Steve Austin at Survivor Series 1999. Of course, Rikishi could no longer use his "U Look Fly 2 Day" theme song as it suited a babyface.

The former Intercontinental Champion started to use a song called "Bad Man." In fairness, the song wasn't a bad one but Rikishi as a heel failed miserably. He was made to look weak against the likes of Steve Austin, The Rock, and The Undertaker, and once his heel turn didn't gain the traction it was expected to, he languished down the card.

8 Seth Rollins

After Seth Rollins dropped the Universal Championship to The Fiend at Crown Jewel 2019, Rollins was no longer welcomed by fans as a babyface. The Architect revamped his character and turned heel in December 2019, becoming known as The Monday Night Messiah.

Rollins ditched his popular "The Second Comin" with the "Burn It Down" intro for "The Rising" in May 2020, which he used for nine months. Rollins briefly went back to using his "The Second Coming" theme song. However, Rollins debuted his "Visionary" theme song at WrestleMania 37 which is more upbeat and suits his flashy heel character.

7 Bayley

A long overdue heel turn from Bayley saw her reclaim the SmackDown Women's Championship from Charlotte Flair on the October 11, 2019 edition of SmackDown. Bayley's long locks were long gone as were the Bayley Buddies which she tore down before the match.

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Bayley became The Golden Role Model, and "Deliverance" was her new theme song. "Deliverance" certainly suited Bayley, and she was all business in her record-breaking 380-day reign as SmackDown Women's Champion.

6 Shinsuke Nakamura

Shinsuke Nakamura's "The Rising Sun" is a theme song that fans can resonate with. However, Nakamura turned heel after he failed to capture the WWE Championship from AJ Styles at WrestleMania 34. The King of Strong Style put a dagger to the fans' hearts on the April 24, 2018 edition of SmackDown as he debuted his new theme song, "Shadows of a Setting Sun."

The two theme songs are virtually the same but "Shadows of a Setting Sun" had Japanese lyrics added to the song. It wasn't bad by any stretch but fans were pleased when Nakamura returned to using "The Rising Sun" at the start of January 2021, and fans could hum to it once more from July when fans were back to arenas permanently.

5 The Usos

Rikishi wasn't the only member of the Anoa'i family to change their song after turning heel, his sons The Usos did the same thing albeit 16 years later. The seven-time WWE Tag Team Champions altered their look by wearing street clothes that certainly suited their characters after their face run had run its course.

The Usos introduced "Done With That" on the September 27, 2016, episode of SmackDown. This was good, but they took it up a notch on the August 1, 2017 edition of SmackDown, when they debuted "Done With That Day One Remix" which included their vocals. Despite being heels, fans enjoy this theme song as they dance to it in the crowd.

4 Hulk Hogan

Hulk Hogan will forever be synonymous with his "Real American" theme song, but when he headed to WCW he used a different theme song. The Hulkster still donned his red and yellow attire, but "American Made" was his first theme song for a couple of years.

RELATED: 5 Times Hulk Hogan Was The Best Member Of The nWo (& 5 Times He Was The Worst)

However, Hogan did the unthinkable at Bash at the Beach 1996 as he was revealed as the third man, and the nWo was born alongside Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. Hogan used "Rockhouse" for three years in his WCW stint, and he now wore the trademark black and white colors of the nWo.

3 Sasha Banks

There's no doubt that Sasha Banks is one of the greatest female wrestlers in WWE history. The Boss' "Sky's the Limit" theme song is very popular amongst fans, and it adds another layer to the swagger that Banks brings every time she steps into an arena.

Moreover, Banks returned after a hiatus in the summer of 2019, and she began feuding with Becky Lynch over the Raw Women's Championship and she turned heel and revealed her new blue hair. Banks failed to take the title away from Lynch, and she moved over to SmackDown. Nevertheless, on the UK tour in November 2019, Banks' remixed version of "Sky's the Limit" debuted. The song featured more lyrics from her cousin Snoop Dogg and it certainly worked.

2 Edge

One of the major turning points in Edge's career came after he was booed out of the building by his hometown fans in Toronto at SummerSlam 2004. Edge sustained a brief injury which forced him to relinquish the Intercontinental Championship.

Before Edge became The Rated-R Superstar, he debuted "Metalingus" on the November 8, 2004, edition of Raw. Edge's heel run was great and having "Metalingus" as his theme song took him to main event level status, and whether he's a heel or babyface, fans adore this theme song.

1 Roman Reigns

Roman Reigns' heel turn has been a breath of fresh air. During the early months of the coronavirus pandemic, Reigns took a break, and he returned at SummerSlam 2020 by laying out "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman. The Tribal Chief cemented his heel turn a week later at Payback when he defeated Wyatt and Strowman for the Universal Championship by joining the match late on.

Reigns' heel run has been virtually faultless, but using the theme song that he had during his time with The Shield and post-The Shield had become stale. Finally, Reigns' "Head of the Table" theme made its long-awaited debuted on the April 30, 2021 edition of SmackDown in his successful Universal Championship title defense against Daniel Bryan. Reigns' theme song has a mixture of something you'd hear in a fighting game against a boss, and there's a little bit of an R&B beat to it. 404 days and counting, The Tribal Chief is in the midst of a superb Universal Championship run.