Tony Khan On How Much It Cost To Get ‘The Final Countdown’, If It’ll Be Used Again

During a post-show media scrum for AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door, AEW CEO Tony Khan spoke about how much it cost to get the rights to Europe’s ‘The Final Countdown’ for Bryan Danielson at the event. In the past, Khan noted that Europe had an asking price that was too high, which is why Bryan didn’t use it until that point.

He 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 wasvery 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.”

He was also asked if The Gunns will get ‘Many Men’ by 50 Cent back as an entrance theme. He noted that while they used the song only, they have the rights ‘in perpetuity’, same for ‘Final Countdown’, so fans will hear them on the shows if AEW ever gets a streaming deal. However, future use of the songs depends on if Khan can ‘get a good deal’. He then teased that he might be able to get Final Countdown ‘for one more night’, but did not elaborate.