Content creators with a musical mind are never shy about giving modern tunes a retro gaming makeover, and one user on TikTok did just that for the entrance themes to two of WWE's biggest stars: Stone Cold Steve Austin and Roman Reigns. Plenty of other iconic stars from the promotion's history, such as Shawn Michaels and Mr. Perfect, have gotten the 8- or 16-bit treatment thanks to their inclusion in some of WWE's first video games such as 1991's WWF WrestleMania. While Austin and Reigns were not around to receive similar musical treatment, the 8-bit remixes give players a chance to imagine what it could have been like.
The remixes come courtesy of TikTok user Challis_Music, who shared both 8-bit remixes on their account with videos including both stars' entrance videos and the musical chords. First was the man who effectively served as the face of WWE's Attitude Era in the late-90s, the Texas Rattlesnake Stone Cold Steve Austin. Challis specifically went with Austin's theme he has used since late-2002, which was a modernized and cleaner version of the music he used for most the Attitude Era.
As for the current Undisputed WWE Champion, Challis went with the theme Reigns has used to signify his position as the leader of The Bloodline and "Head of the Table." It would have been a 50/50 decision, though, as Reigns' only other notable entrance theme during his time on WWE television was also the theme for The Shield. Reigns kept the theme and his look from the group after it split up in 2014 while Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose were given their own fresh looks and themes.
Challis' remixes, as mentioned above, are designed to call back to the first few WWE video games to hit store shelves and arcades in the late 80s and early 90s during one of the company's biggest boom periods. Plenty of the days' biggest stars ranging from Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior, Sgt. Slaughter, and many others saw their music given the 8- or 16-bit treatment to help sell the idea of players becoming their favorite WWE stars. By the late 90s and early 2000s, players could hear the actual music of their favorite stars when they hopped into the latest WWE game.
If Challis chose to continue making these 8-bit renditions of wrestlers' entrance themes, they are more than spoiled for choice with the modern professional wrestling scene. WWE, alone, has a roster of stars across Raw, SmackDown, and NXT with popular themes just waiting to be given the retro treatment. That isn't to mention popular wrestlers in AEW, New Japan, various other promotions and the independent scene, all with popular entrance themes that draw huge reactions from crowds when the first cord hits.