And Now, the Winner of Deadspin’s Inaugural Arena Anthem Death Match

They are the champions, my friends ...

#1 Welcome to the Jungle 42% 

#1 Thunderstruck 58% ✅

1,559 votes

I said at the outset of this tournament that AC/DC was BUILT to win something like this. And although they never have in any previous discussion or list that I’ve seen … they do so here:

AC/DC’s 1990 hard rock masterpiece Thunderstruck is our Deadspin Arena Anthem Champion.

After nearly 1,600 votes in the final, the frenetic, screeching geniuses from Down Under held off America’s greatest hard rock band in a global battle of which song most fires up fans at live sporting events — ’memba those?

It certainly stayed close the whole way, as predicted (I got within one percent of the actual total!). But in the end, to my mind, personal preferences aside, the correct song won. Again, I said it at the start, no other song makes me wanna run through a wall quite like Thunderstruck. It ticks all the boxes. It is a perfect rock ‘n’ roll song.

And now someone needs to update it’s Wikipedia page to reflect this honor bestowed upon it by the good readers of Deadspin. Seriously. Someone go do that. I have no idea how.

Sixty-four songs. Sixty-three Death Matches. One stands tall after slaying them all.

Thank you to everyone who voted and read and even just followed along for coming on this silly ride with me. I hope you had fun (I mean, a line in Thunderstruck is “we had some fun” soooo …). Let’s see what other trouble we can get up to down the road. Send me your ideas — I will make brackets for the mere amusement of it! Just say when.

Until then …

You’ve been … Thunderstruck.