For professional wrestling fans, the theme music that ushers a grappler into the ring is almost as iconic as someone's finishing move or signature pose.
That's probably why fans associate "Pomp and Circumstance" with "Macho Man" Randy Savage, as opposed to just being the background music to graduation ceremonies. Or it could explain why WWE fanatics recited every single word to "The Time Is Now" when John Cena stepped into the ring during his retirement tour.
But Florissant resident Paul Morad took recollecting pro wrestling entrance music to a new level.
Morad recently set a Guinness world record when he correctly identified 35 WWE entrance songs in 60 seconds. He decided to pursue the feat after seeing another wrestling fan naming 20 songs in a minute on the popular YouTube channel Cultaholic.
"And then I said: You know what? I'm going to see what I can do," Morad said.
Morad accomplished the feat last year at the James Egan Center in Florissant. He needed to have witnesses and a timekeeper and had to wait months before Guinness certified the accomplishment.
While he doesn't know every single wrestler entrance song, Morad said he knows "a good chunk."
"I'd say, like 80% or so," Morad said. "I know a lot of themes since the '80s."
After his record-breaking video was posted, Morad said several commenters were impressed – though some bragged they could best him.
"One guy said he could get 100 in a minute. I was laughing," Morad said. "I said, Well, go for it."
Wrestling as community
St. Louis has been a professional wrestling mecca for decades, particularly with its place in the National Wrestling Alliance, which was the most popular pro wrestling conglomerate before the WWE became dominant in the 1980s.
Morad often participates in wrestling events as a manager and is planning to make his debut as an announcer later this month at a Midwest Wrestling Coalition event in Godfrey.
He said that portraying a "heel" (the wrestling nomenclature for "bad guy") is more enjoyable than being a "face" (the moniker for a "good guy").
"I would say you're more involved, especially if you're a manager and you do heelish-type things," he said.
Morad said pro wrestling taps into the emotional consciousness of fans. He pointed to a specific example in 1999 when Chris Jericho debuted on WWE's Monday Night Raw to the song "Break the Walls Down."
"And especially him coming out to confront the Rock," Morad said. "I think that was great."
What are the best entrance themes?
Morad and I spent part of the "St. Louis on the Air" interview discussing some of our favorite wrestling entrance songs. Here are our choices:
The New World Order stable
Paul Morad: "It changed wrestling. If it wasn't for NWO, we wouldn't have the boom period."
Owen Hart
Morad: "Owen Hart was an underrated wrestler. It's a shame he wasn't in the main event like he should have been world champion."
Razor Ramon
Jason Rosenbaum: "When (Ramon) was coming down to that song, he was oozing machismo in his gold chains and his black hair."
Dusty Rhodes
Rosenbaum: "For insular wrestling fans, we all know that Vince McMahon chose that song and put Dusty Rhodes in polka dots as basically hazing because he didn't particularly like him. But I've got to say, that song slaps."
Rosenbaum challenges Morad
Near the end of their St. Louis on The Air interview, Rosenbaum challenged Morad to an impromptu challenge to name five WWE songs.
Needless to say, Morad once again emerged victorious:
STLPR's Danny Wicentowski contributed to this story.
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