FORMAT: VINYL / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

For the first official WWE vinyl release since 1987’s Piledriver: The Wrestling Album II, Spacelab9 compiled nine of the entrance themes for the Cerebral Assassin, the Game, the King of Kings – Triple H. Save but on cut, it’s a hard-rocking collection of music sure to evoke nostalgia in even the most jaded of wrestling fans, while also pumping up those who are only casually into this aspect of sports entertainment.

In addition to a selection of Trip’s themes from the WWE’s Attitude Era, through his run with Evolution, as written and recorded by the WWE’s in-house composer Jim Johnston, this LP also includes the three entrance themes performed by legendary hard rockers, Motörhead: The Game, Line in the Sand, and King of Kings, which make their vinyl debuts, as well.

Those songs and the King of Kings imagery from his entrances for Wrestlemania 22, XXVII, and especially XXX, inform the artwork for Spacelab9’s release, which is replete with gold ink accents, a gatefold sleeve featuring Triple H and Motörhead’s Lemmy Kilmeister, and a slew of skulls and crowns. To bring the point home even further, they went used the Game of Thrones font to really emphasise the whole regal aspect of it all, along with a vinyl pressing on clear with gold and silver splatter. As mastered by Anders Peterson, it will knock any listener’s hair back. There’s also a massive poster with enough skulls to create a new Golgotha.

Blue Blood, the first entrance theme for the then-Hunter Hearst Helmsley, comes immediately following Motörhead’s The Game, and prior to Are You Ready?, the still instantly-recognisable theme for D-Generation X, which makes for a discordant transition. Its inclusion is necessary, but throwing at the end of Side B might’ve made for better outro for the collection. It’s the only misstep on an otherwise-perfect collection.