Top WWE star 'cried backstage' over personal detail in new theme song

Metro

9 hours ago

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WWE Raw superstar Becky Lynch recently debuted her new theme music from The Wonder Years, and it's more meaningful than fans realise.
The current Women's Intercontinental Champion turned to the band's frontman – and her close friend – Dan 'Soupy' Campbell to write the entrance song, and the lyrics delve into her life story with some emotional references.
Speaking exclusively to Metro, Dan revealed how Becky was overcome with emotion after the track was debuted for her match at SummerSlam last weekend.
'The lyrics aren't anywhere yet, but I worked in a reference to [her and Seth Rollins' daughter] Roux in the first verse, where there's like a wink to Roux's name,' he explained.
'And then I worked in a reference to Seth in the second verse, and then the chorus references her dad [who died four years ago].'
Dan and his sons were in the crowd at SummerSlam, and he has opened up on the moment they shared with Becky after the match.
'We went backstage, and she came up to me crying, and was just like, 'it just meant so much, because the last time my dad saw me wrestle live was here at SummerSlam'.
'That's what I was looking for. I wanted to make something that was really important to her.'
It's been a long time coming, as Dan admitted there had been talks about the song being used as early as WrestleMania 41 in April or last month's Evolution premium live event.
Becky asked her pal to write the song over text, as she looked to move on from her character as The Man and shift into a new era, with new merch, a photoshoot and behind the scenes video all on the way.
'She wanted a whole kind of new presentation of her character. I think that she was like, 'It's time to move into a new era for me, and that means new music,'' he said.
'I just wanted to make something that she was going to love, more than anything else.'
Dan and The Wonder Years were given freedom to craft the track, although he did ask Becky if she wanted them to 'try to write entrance music'.
'She was like, 'No, write a Wonder Years Song. I want something very specifically you. There's a reason I'm asking your band,'' he recalled.
*** Watch Becky's first entrance with the new theme below***
WWE were also 'pretty hands off' – they only changed some 'feedback at the beginning' and 'a one beat break' before the music drops – while Dan and the band wanted to make sure the song still fit the tone of her walkout.
Otherwise, the song, which has been recorded since March, is exactly as Dan and the band envisioned it.
He's no stranger to writing about someone else, having fashioned a second career with Aaron West – a fictional singer songwriter with three albums to his name, and live shows around the world.
'If I had not done Aaron West, I would not know how to have done this song,' he shrugged, admitting that knowing Becky so well as a friend didn't mean he shunned research.
There are parallels between the character and the world of wrestling too, with some of Dan's fans believing that his alter ego is a real musician.
'If you found it via, like, Apple Music Playlist, you would have no idea. And so all the time, people come up and truly earnestly call me Aaron,' he laughed.
'Usually, I won't correct them, because if they're living that deep in kayfabe, they can stay there. I don't want to [end] the illusion.'
Meanwhile, Dan revealed he's putting the finishing touches on a deal to turning Aaron's story into a series of graphic novels going beyond the tales in the songs.
He's also at the 'embryotic stage' of the next Wonder Years album, which will be totally separate from the new song for Becky.
'A few ideas are kicking around. We haven't even gotten together, but ideally, the next thing we'll do is make a Wonder Years record,' he teased.
Before Becky's theme, The Wonder Years wrote and recorded Year of the Vulture for 2024's NXT Stand & Deliver event over WrestleMania weekend, so would he do more for WWE or other wrestling promotions?
'It would just really be case by case and person by person,' he admitted, as he'd rather write for people he knows and admires, like former WWE star Mark Andrews and AEW's Willow Nightingale.
'It's hard to vouch for whole companies,' he pointed out, although he even ruled out a song for Becky's husband Seth. More Trending
He explained: 'He doesn't need it, and I think, I don't think that we have ever made anything heavy enough for his brand.'
Sharing the moment at SummerSlam with his sons, and knowing he's part of WWE history now, is more than enough.
'As a lifelong fan of the art form, it felt crazy to be like, now I am part of the canon,' he beamed. 'I'm a part of the story of wrestling forever. That's not a thing that everybody gets to say.'
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Listen to The Wonder Years on all streaming platforms. You can hear Becky Lynch's new WWE theme song on Netflix's Monday Night Raw.
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