The best entrance themes in wrestling should do at least one of three things.

They should be instantly recognisable, whether that’s through the opening riff, line or a preemptive signature sound before the music kicks in.

Think of the shatter of glass that would notify an audience they were about to see Stone Cold open a can of whoop ass, the crackle of TV static at the start of Cult of Personality or Kazuchika Okada’s coin drop.

They should motivate the audience to *feel* something and want to participate with that wrestler. It can be in celebration – be it a full arena WOAH’ing with Cody Rhodes, swerving with Prince Nana and Swerve Strickland or belting out The Final Countdown and pointing both index fingers skywards with Bryan Danielson – or fighting against the music, as crowds the world over did for years telling John Cena that he sucked.

The third, and possibly most important thing that entrance music should do, is tell you something about that wrestler and accentuate their character. Before they enter the ring, even enter the room, the first thing you experience of a wrestler is their music. It’s the perfect opportunity to let a crowd know a little bit about that wrestler.

As a first time viewer, you would have known that Shawn Michaels knew he was sexy before you laid eyes on him or that Eddie Guerrero was going to lie, cheat and steal his way to victory.

You know that Randy Orton is unstable and could fly off the handle at any moment if the voices in his head tell him to.

In British Wrestling, there are some fantastic examples of wrestlers who’ve been able to find music that does one or more of those three things.

There is no confusion about who is going to come through the curtain when the words NOW WE PLAY echo round a room. Bellowing along to Hatebreed’s “I Will Be Heard” awakens something feral inside of me while the optimistic statement of “Can she do it? Yes she Kanji!” brightens the darkest of days.

The opening lyrics of Aloe Blacc’s 2014 hit “The Man” leaves no interpretation about what Riley Nova thinks of himself.

Well, you can tell everybody

Yeah, you can tell everybody

Go ahead and tell everybody

I’m the man, I’m the man, I’m the man

Yes, I am, yes, I am, yes, I am

I’m the man, I’m the man, I’m the man

At face value, Riley Nova is indeed the man. He has everything that a young man in the wrestling business could want. The look, the cocksure swagger, the undeniable wrestling talent and the True Grit Wrestling Men’s Championship over his shoulder.

He is, for all intents and purposes, the man and he isn’t afraid to let you know.

What Riley Nova is afraid of, and it’s something that becomes strikingly clear when you scratch beneath the surface of Nova’s title run, is people realising that this is all a facade. He’s more myth than man.

As Tywin Lannister once told Joffrey, “any man who must say I am the King, is no true King” and neither is Riley Nova. He isn’t the man he takes great delight in telling you that he is.

While he wants you to focus on the chorus of his entrance music, it’s two other lyrics that best define his time as True Grit Men’s Champion so far.

“I believe every lie that I ever told” and “Is you really real or is you really fake?”.

Riley Nova, despite being the champion, has never once acted like a champion. There is an asterisk next to every moment of this reign.

At the True Grit Games, on the night that the “Heir to the Throne” became King, the entire Regime held Kemper down for Nova to land the killing blow and take the title.

At Nightmare, he purposely got himself disqualified by attacking Ref Scott to escape Kemper’s wrath.

At Jacob’s Ladder, when he was chained to Kemper, Nova didn’t finally tame the beast. The Regime paid off Ref Lee, who faked a shoulder injury to conveniently “miss” Kemper touching all four corners, before Nova took advantage of the confusion.

In January, at the Rumble, Riley Nova didn’t put Brady Phillips in the rearview mirror by eclipsing his former mentor as the more athletic combatant or through greater ring generalship. Franco Fate just pushed Brady off the top rope and into a pinfall.

Last month in York, even with his Regime stablemate Sash acting as the referee, Nova couldn’t put Wesley Nsereko away. Repeated Regime interference meant that True Grit Head Official Ref Scott was forced to intervene and declare a No Contest.

In fact, the only time that Nova hasn’t been flanked by his Regime jackals and left to fend for himself in the ring against one of his rivals, he was drilled into the canvas and beaten by Brady Phillips at the end of the Survivor Series tag match.

Riley Nova might hold the True Grit Wrestling Men’s Championship but he isn’t the True Grit Wrestling Men’s Champion. Not yet.

At Redemption he has the opportunity to prove to everyone that, like him or loath him, he is indeed the man as he faces both Brady Phillips and Kemper in a three-way match for the title.

Riley Nova, you must stand up now and face the sun. You must face the white hot fury of a man who you stabbed in the back and a monster that you’ve deceived on numerous occasions.

Riley Nova, you can’t hide your tail or turn and run. Kemper and Brady Phillips won’t be on the same page and they shouldn’t be given their history, but there is no escaping from them. Even the numbers advantage of the Regime may not be enough to thwart them both at the same time.

Riley Nova, it’s time to do what must be done. Be a King when kingdom comes.

Prove that you are the champion.

Prove that you are, in fact, the man.

– James Woodgate

Image Credits: True Grit Wrestling, @Elliottt93