Former WWE Composer Jim Johnston Says He Was 'Pushed out' of the Company

Former WWE composer Jim Johnston was responsible for some of WWE's most popular themes throughout the 1990s and 2000s. Across 32 years, his discography included the entrance themes for Stone Cold Steve Austin, Dwyane "The Rock" Johnson, The Undertaker, Mr. McMahon, Chris Jericho, Randy Orton, CM Punk, Triple H, Rey Mysterio, D-Generation X and so many more. But in 2014 the WWE opted to shift the muscial duo CFO$ into Johnston's role as head of theme creation as well as the music used on WWE's television and promo packages. Johnston's role was heavily limited until he was released by the company in 2017, and the former composer opened up about his unpleasant final years in the company on a recent episode of Total Engagement with Matt Koon.

"I was getting cut out," Johnston said. "That was by design. Not necessarily Vince's (McMahon's) design, but other folks. It's his company, he can do whatever the hell he wants with it. It isn't like he owes me a job. I knew this was coming to an end and particularly maybe for the last year, I knew the writing was on the wall.

"This guy has pushed me out, but you know I was so discouraged by it all and I wasn't doing what I want to do, which is to write great music and I am a worker," he continued. "I don't want a job where I don't have to work. There wasn't ever a millisecond where I thought, 'Wow, isn't this great? I'm really not doing that much music, but they're continuing to pay me! Oh my God, what a great deal!' It was awful. I hate that. I hated that feeling. I've got handcuffs on, I can't contribute and I eventually told Vince that as well. I said, 'this is not right.' I also told him at the time, 'hey, if you're unhappy with me, fire me. Fire me right now. You can fire me right now. I'm taking the pressure off. Go ahead. Fire me."

Johnston said his final meeting with Vince where he was fired was "a scary time, but it was a brief event." He made his first non-WWE appearance in September 2018 at Starrcast during the All In weekend, where he received a standing ovation from the fans in attendance.

He is currently booked to appear at the second Starrcast event in May prior to AEW's Double or Nothing event in Las Vegas.

H/T Fightful