WWE walk-up music a must-have for some major leaguers

NEW YORK - There may not be a ton of similarities between the diamond and the ring, but one thing Major League Baseball and WWE have in common is entrance music.

Whether it’s a closer jogging in from the bullpen or a top heel descending the ramp to the ring, sound is an important element of getting a crowd pumped up and setting the mood for dominance.

For baseball players who are wrestling fans, it’s an easy source to mine, whether as a reliever like Tommy Kahnle of the Yankees, who comes out to Shinsuke Nakamura’s theme, or as a hitter like Astros outfielder Josh Reddick, who has cycled through several wrestlers’ songs as his at-bat music.

“For me, it’s whatever I feel would get me locked in the best,” Reddick said. “In the past, I’ve gone with Triple H, because he’s always been my favorite since day one. I’ve used ones from CM Punk to 'Stone Cold' (Steve Austin), and now it’s Ric Flair.

"It all depends on how you’re hitting, too, like, if you’ve got one that’s carrying you. Dolph Ziggler’s carried me for the better part of three-and-a-half months, and it was the longest time that I ever had one, steady. Ric Flair, it just made too much sense with the way the fan base and the media bought into it.”

Reddick has put enough thought into the subject to consider which wrestlers’ themes would fit best with some of his Houston teammates.

“(Jose) Altuve would get Rey Mysterio’s ‘619,’ if I had to go off the top of my head,” Reddick said. “(George) Springer would be a good candidate for Dolph Ziggler, but he’s not really the show-off type, so I don’t know if that would work. Me, I was a show-off a little bit there. That’s tough. Devo (reliever Chris Devenski), the intense maniac - Mojo Rawley, all that intensity and hype.”

And who might fit for the primal scream and hard beat of Braun Strowman?

“Evan Gattis,” Reddick said. “Just strong and takes care of everything.”

Strowman, at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday to promote this weekend's SummerSlam card, had his own opinion of who should use his song.

“Why not (Aaron) Judge?” Strowman said. “Since he’s the home-run champ this year, why wouldn’t he want the best music in WWE for him to come out to, to hit some bombs out of Yankee Stadium?”

Strowman and Judge are about the same size and excel at hitting very hard, so it seems a good fit, but WWE’s “Monster Among Men” would be happy for anyone to use his theme.

“When my music hits, you know what’s about to happen,” Strowman said. “You know stuff’s about to get torn up, so why wouldn’t a relief pitcher want my music to hit, to come in and know that he’s about to close the game out? Either way, you can’t go wrong with Braun Strowman’s music. That’s me screaming at the beginning of it, and when it hits, you know what’s coming.”

While Strowman asserts that any baseball player would be well served to utilize his music, "Raw" Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss has an even better idea.

“They should all come out to my music, to be honest,” Bliss said. “I’m the champ right now, so who wouldn’t want to come out to the champion’s music? On repeat, nonstop. I think it’s (better for) a player coming to bat, because my music is very dubstep. You’ve kind of got to give it a second to relax, then play it again. Let the beat drop, then stop.”

Assuming the plan to go league-wide with her theme doesn’t work, is there one player who would be best suited for Bliss’ tune?

“Aaron Judge,” she said. “We just gave him a (belt), so he’s a champion now. I’m a champion. I think it’s only fitting, right?”

While Strowman and Bliss can squabble over who gets their music played for Judge’s at-bats, Big Cass said his theme would be good for Yankees’ third baseman Todd Frazier. Big Cass is a serious Yankees fan, and as someone like Reddick with significant energy for both sports and sports entertainment, he’s already given this some brain space.

“For a closer, I go to the benchmark, which would be (Mariano Rivera’s old entrance music) ‘Enter Sandman,’ so I’ve got to think of a song similar to that,” said Big Cass, who has a new theme song these days following his split with tag-team partner Enzo Amore. “That’s a really - I don’t know. Put my entrance song for a closer. I dig it.

"I think it’s gonna take some time for people to get used to, because they’re used to me coming out to the old Enzo theme - you’re sawft, you’re sloppy - that one. … A.J. Styles would be a really good hitter song. Walking up to the plate with that one, you get some swag. As a closer, I’ll go with mine, but I’ll try to think of one more. Brock Lesnar, that would be pretty cool.”

It’s also possible the best option is already in use, albeit not by a closer. Kahnle doesn’t always get a musical accompaniment, but when he does, his use of Nakamura’s theme shows how well it can work - and it’s possible to dream even bigger.

“That would be really cool,” Big Cass said. “In the postseason, to have everybody in the building singing, yeah.”

(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)