The WWE Universe can’t decide what to talk about first when it comes to Alex Riley.

Last Sunday at Capitol Punishment, A-Ry competed in his first pay-per-view match, earning his first-ever win, all in his hometown of Washington D.C. His conquest of ex-employer and former WWE Champion The Miz opened the eyes of many WWE fans who maybe hadn’t already opened their ears to Riley’s catch-fire entrance music – one of the most talked about WWE tunes in recent memory. (WATCH ENTRANCE VIDEO)

Since Downstait’s “Say It To My Face” debuted as A-Ry’s personal theme (the first of his career), the WWE Universe has taken to Twitter, Facebook, WWE Live Chat and literally every other possible method of communication to embrace the now solo Superstar and his music.

“Nobody can seem to get over the entrance music,” Riley said, describing how the righteous melody came to be his. “I had spoken with WWE producers and asked if I could please not go out to the ring to ‘AWWWESOME!’ and they said they’d come up with some entrance music for me. That’s all I heard or knew until it played.”

Live in Omaha’s Qwest Center for Raw, Riley awaited a fresh chapter in his WWE career just one week after a rebellion against his estranged mentor. A curtain’s cross away from a personal evolution, A-Ry waited with countless thoughts, hopes and even fears snaking through his mind. Then it hit.

“I remember hearing the song play and not knowing what to think,” he recalled, “then, as soon as I turned the corner and the chorus hit – ‘say it to my face!’ – the people just erupted.”

Riley admitted, “I had my mind on so many different things heading to the ring, so I couldn’t really digest the music, but I went home, played it and now I absolutely love it – and I think the WWE Universe does as well.”

“Downstait did a great job [with the song],” Riley asserted, “although, it’s the same band that does The Miz’s song, which I could’ve done without.”

But the Riley buzz isn’t solely based on what accompanies his walk to the ring each week. It’s also what’s happened inside the squared circle. Following his participation in the second season of WWE NXT, A-Ry settled beside The Awesome One for a tumultuous nine-month period in which the newcomer brushed up against the biggest names in sports-entertainment history.

“If somebody came to me 10 years ago and said I’d be a WWE Superstar, I’d say they were crazy,” Riley explained. “If somebody came to me four years ago and said in my first year, I’d be in the same ring with The Rock, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, The Miz, John Cena and Randy Orton, I’d say they were even crazier.”

Enduring Rock Bottom after Attitude Adjustment after Stunner, Riley has found a silver lining in the lumps received while in the employ of The Miz. Ultimately, his termination was actually liberation. Now, the initiation process is over and, as proven at Capitol Punishment, things are going better than all right for A-Ry.

“To get my first win in my first pay-per-view match against one of the top Superstars in WWE – The Miz – is unbelievable,” expressed an exhilarated Riley. “You can’t write a fairy tale that good to debut in your hometown with a victory over your ex-boss and get retribution in the same night.”

In this real life fable, there are no pumpkin carriages or glass slippers. It’s about wins and losses with aspirations of championship gold and the respect of WWE fans around the globe. From the moment he knocked Miz on his tuckus to the refrain of his Downstait-sung theme music to his long-awaited triumph on pay-per-view, Riley is turning heads. He’s gone from pulling Miz’s briefcase behind him to the WWE Universe pulling for him, and as the Washington D.C.-born Superstar will attest, it’s just the beginning.

“I always believed I had the right tools to do this,” affirmed a confident yet humbled Riley. “But to have all this happen to me in the first year is amazing. I worked extremely hard for this and to have it all fit together is incredible; I feel very fortunate. It’s all going ‘A-Ry.’”  

Aside from his own newly embraced theme song, here are A-Ry’s top five theme songs of Superstars past and present:

 

• Triple H: "The Game" (WATCH)
• Randy Orton: "Burn In My Light"
• Edge: "Metalingus" (WATCH)
• Christian: "Just Close Your Eyes" (WATCH)
• Jeff Hardy: "No More Words"