Hate to be loved

Guilty pleasures… interesting term. At the moment, there are songs by bands that I would normally despise that become unlikely favorites when placed in the context of professional wrestling. Now, I hate nu-metal. Can’t stand the shit, aside from the occasional Powerman 5000 track. Limp Bizkit, Korn, Kid Rock… that shit just never really got me going, and the folks who listen to it tend towards the white trash / fat ass / wouldn’t know a good song if it bit them in the ass type. Sorry to generalize, but I calls ’em as I sees ’em.

Of course, being as how that’s your average WWE fan, I get stuck with a lot of really awful music as the theme songs to the majority of most WWE pay-per-views. Granted, Rise Against‘s “Drones” was used for this year’s Royal Rumble, but cases such as that are the exception, rather than the rule. Every so often, one of those songs manages to sneak past my sense of taste and work its way onto my hard drive.

Cases in point are the bands Saliva and Drowning Pool. Saliva’s “Ladies & Gentlemen” is the theme for Wrestlemania this year, and damn if it doesn’t work like a fucking champ. It’s got the bombast that goes so wonderfully with clips of people getting the snot knocked out of ’em, and the lyrics fit wrestling to a T. Drowning Pool’s “Bodies” works in the same way. They’re using it as the theme for ECW, and nothing says “bloody barbed wire bat” like like someone screaming about bodies hitting the floor.

Neither song is what you’d call “subtle,” but in the right context, they become something less annoying, and even likeable.

Drowning Pool – “Bodies
Saliva – “Ladies & Gentlemen” (streaming)