How WWE Used Nirvana As DDP Theme Song Without Getting Sued

Professional wrestling Entrance music can make or break a talent. Sometimes a wrestler is best known for their their theme song because the right song can add that cherry to the presentation.

There is also a copyright issue that is difficult to deal with in many cases.

WCW featured DDP for the longest time because it used Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit as the main riff.

Pro wrestling fans have been puzzled for years as to why WCW has never been sued by anyone who owns Nirvana’s music.

During a conversation with Chris Van Vliet, DDP was asked how he was never sued by Nirvana for using their song. DDP said it all started with Jimmy Hart, when he went to him for help with his WCW theme song.

Jimmy Hart then arranged a song where he “flipped the beat”, changing the chords.

DDP went on to say that he was “disappointed that WWE changed my music”, as that aspect of his presentation was gone.

WWE changed DDP’s music on Peacock and all screenings for fear of being sued.

Courtney Love actually owns the rights to this song and DDP claims that Dave Grohl didn’t even know he was using it.

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We’ll have to see what happens in the future with DDP’s old WCW input music.

It’s possible that WWE will clean this up as much as possible to avoid litigation over a similarly-sounding input song from decades ago.