Bryan Danielson defeated Kazuchika Okada in the main event of Sunday night’s AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door II pay-per-view event in Toronto.
During the post-show media scrum for AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door II, AEW President Tony Khan commented on how much he paid to secure the rights to Europe’s ‘The Final Countdown’ soundtrack for Danielson’s entrance at last night’s event.
Khan noted that the price tag Europe had set for the legendary song was so high that Bryan didn’t use the track until last night. Khan said,
“It’s a very expensive song, Final Countdown. I had been working on it for awhile, leading into the pay-per-view, because I believed it would be a great moment and would give the match something special. A match people have always wanted to see, Okada’s got this amazing entrance and I love Bryan’s ‘Born for Greatness’. I think it’s a song, whether it’s the classical version or the Born For Greatness version, is a song that people associate with Bryan. Final Countdown has always been associated with Bryan, and I just thought it was a cherry on top of this cake that everybody has been wanting a piece of for a long time that is Okada vs. Danielson. I was very excited about Final Countdown, but it was also the kind of thing that I was only able to get on a one show contract. It was a very expensive one-night thing and it was as expensive as a wrestler’s contract, but it was worth it, and I thought it added to the show. And it was great for the presentation but it was not inexpensive at all. It was very expensive.”
Khan was also asked if The Gunns will get ‘Many Men’ by 50 Cent back as their entrance music. The AEW President replied that while AEW used the song in the past, the promotion has the rights “in perpetuity”, same for ‘Final Countdown’, and fans will get to hear these songs on the shows if AEW can bag a streaming deal.
As to whether these iconic songs will be used in the future, it all depends on if Khan can “get a good deal.”
Khan also teased that he might be able to get Final Countdown “for one more night”, but did not elaborate further.
