World Wrestling Entertainment releases like 2001’s “Forcible Entry” may have reached the top of the charts courtesy of tunes from the likes of Creed, Limp Bizkit and Motorhead, the company’s latest release. The aptly titled “WWE: Originals,” fares far worse as wrestlers provide “vocals” on 17 tracks that can only be described as mixed, at best.

I’m a fan of “sports entertainment” and deep down I wanted to find some nugget of worth on this album. But it simply makes any listener long for the days of celebrity singers like Don Johnson, Eddie Murphy, Rick Springfield or damn near anyone else. This proves once and for all no wrestler should ever quit his or her day job.

Comprised of 17 tracks, “Originals” spans the gamut of pathetically poor rapping, mediocre blue-eyed soul, a little tepid rock and a few tracks that have no business seeing the light of day. If the primary lesson of “Originals is to not quit one’s day job, the second lesson is that thick-necked honkeys have absolutely no business rapping. EVER.

The hip hop tracks like The Dudley Boyz’s “We’ve Had Enough,” Booker T’s “Can You Dig It?” and John Cena’s “Basic Thugonomics” are all laughable to pointless at best. More rocking tunes fare a little better. Lita sounds as though she’s channeling the spirit of Liz Phair on “When I Get You Alone.” “Stone Cold” Steve Austin’s interludes may be silly, but they’re not nearly as cringe-inducing as the rest of the record.

It’s no surprise Chris Jericho actually gives the best and most convincing performance on the metallic “Don’t You Wish You Were Me?” on which he simply gives the same performance he’s given on the album’s of his real band, Fozzy.

The performances may be sub-par, but the production, as it is on most of WWE’s theme music and entrance themes, is excellent. The guitar riffs may be trite, the basslines may be a little tepid and the beats are cookie cutter, but some of the music still sounds much better than a lot of pop records currently being made.

WWE has tried this sort of pitch before and it didn’t work then. It should be no surprise even to wrestling fans that it wouldn’t work this time. If nothing else, “Originals” proves that even wrestlers don’t take themselves too seriously.

“Originals” can’t be taken as anything more than it is: a marketing ploy to cash in on wrestling fans via marginal performances that are much sillier than they are stellar.