Entrance music (also known as an Entry theme or Walk-on music) is a musical piece or song that is played for sports persons or celebrities when they enter the ring or the playing field.
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Combat sports
Professional snooker
As part of Barry Hearn's vision for the future of the professional game, walk-on music was introduced from the 2010 World Snooker Championship. As of the 2012 World Snooker Championship, the last 32 players and their walk-on music was as follows:
Professional darts
Walk-on music for professional darts players is typically either related to their nickname or their nationality. Some examples are:
Major League Baseball
The practice of using a heavy metal theme song to signal the entrance of a relief pitcher began at Qualcomm Stadium in 1998, when the San Diego Padres started playing "Hells Bells" by AC/DC to accompany Trevor Hoffman's taking the mound. San Jose Mercury News and ESPN.com wrote that the song should be honored by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. The use of rock and roll for entrance music emerged from the 1989 film, Major League, in which relief pitcher Rick Vaughn entered the game to a cover of "Wild Thing" performed by X. In addition, batters will often select a song to play as they come to the plate in home games.
Wrestling
Wrestling companies often have an inhouse composer composing theme music for wrestlers. They also may use stock music.
Many wrestlers have used many themes over the course of their careers. Some wrestlers like Ric Flair and Macho Man Randy Savage are known for their one particular entrance theme song, Also Sprach Zarathustra and Pomp and Circumstance respectively.