Why is the entrance music for WCCW wrestlers being deleted from footage released by WWE on DVD and shown on WWE 24/7?

We realize this practice is upsetting to many World Class fans who want to relive the original viewing experience, and frankly, we aren't wild about it either.  However, the deletion of entrance songs (with the sole exception of Michael Hayes' "Badstreet USA") is the unfortunate reality, as it's far less expensive for WWE to create their own music in-house, or simply not include the wrestlers' entrances, than to pay today's soaring music licensing fees.

Fox Video's 2007 release of the popular late-70s sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati's first season provides a good illustration of the problem that companies releasing music-heavy DVDs are faced with.  Because the DJ characters were seen playing the hits of the day in literally every episode, virtually all of the music used in the series had to be replaced for home video.  As one blog commenter noted in a discussion of the set:

Our advice?  Just enjoy the matches -- that's what you watched WCCW for in the first place, wasn't it?

Was WCCW the first promotion to use music for its wrestlers' entrances?

Strictly speaking, no.  The use of entrance music in modern pro wrestling goes all the way back to the original Gorgeous George, who would toss his famed "Georgie pins" into the crowd to the tune of Sir Edward Elgar's "Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1". (WCM readers will also recall this melody from Randy "Macho Man" Savage's '80s and '90s ring entrances, as well as an occasion where many undoubtedly "walked that aisle" themselves: their graduation ceremony.)  Later pioneers of this included Lonnie "Moondog" Mayne (who, as a babyface in D/FW during the mid-'70s, entered the ring to "The Ballad of Moondog Mayne"), the Fabulous Freebirds (who began using Lynyrd Skynyrd's classic rock anthem of the same name in Southern promotions in the late '70s) and Leroy Brown (Jim Croce's "Bad Bad Leroy Brown", of all things).

The use of popular songs for nearly every top wrestler's ring entrance, however, was indeed a World Class innovation.  This approach was quickly copied by other 1980s promotions and was eventually taken to its logical extreme by WWE, where even midcard workers can now be seen entering to pounding, adrenaline-pumping music and dazzling TitanTron videos.  (Of course, actual hit songs have fallen by the wayside in favor of in-house compositions, due to licensing fees that have spiraled to ridiculous heights in recent years.)  So if your kids get all excited every time one of Vince's guys makes his way to the ring, do 'em a favor and tell 'em about the promotion where this practice (more or less) began.  :)


What can you tell me about Glen Goza, the singer-songwriter who wrote "Heaven Needed a Champion"?

To be honest, we've been able to find very little info on Goza, who appears to have toiled in obscurity for much of his musical career.  As of now, we know of only a few non-WCCW related songs he wrote, either for himself or others:  the late '50s novelty rocker "Goshamody Whatabody", credited to Glen Goza and the Damangos, which is available on a couple of compilations of rare rockabilly singles; another single probably from the same period, "The Box"/"Incredible Shrinking Man", issued on the Wand label; "Awful Lot to Learn about Truck Drivin'", recorded by country singer Red Simpson in the late '60s; the 1975 single "Were It Not So"/"Oh Daddy Oh", issued on the Macho Music label; and "Miles Keogh's Horse", recorded by the late Barry Sadler (formerly Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler, best known for his 1966 chart-topper "Ballad of the Green Berets") for his last album, a collection of patriotic tunes entitled Of Thee I Sing.  But "Heaven Needed a Champion", Goza's moving eulogy-in-song for David Von Erich, and "Rasslin'", his celebration of pro graps (and, specifically, WCCW) as the sport of the working class, are  undoubtedly his best-known songs.  In addition, Goza also wrote "My Dad Can Whip Your Dad" for Chris Von Erich; the tune was released as a 45 RPM single around 1984-85 but, to the best of our recollection, was never promoted or even mentioned on any WCCW telecast; copies of the record can occasionally be found on eBay.

Although we haven't been able to confirm this, it appears that Goza may now be deceased; the Social Security Death Index lists a Glen G. Goza of Gladewater, Texas, who died on May 7, 2000 at the age of 63 and, according to findagrave.com, is buried in West Mountain Cemetery in Upshur County, Texas.  If any of our readers can confirm that this is -- or is not -- the author of "Heaven Needed a Champion", we would very much appreciate it.

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