Tony Khan and Bryan Danielson discuss using “The Final Countdown” at last night’s AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2 pay-per-view.
Fans in Toronto went crazy when Danielson entered for his matchup against Kazuchika Okada to “The Final Countdown,” which was the theme he used during his ROH days. During the post-Forbidden Door media scrum Danielson revealed that it was Tony Khan’s idea to use the track for this marquee matchup.
They want a zillion dollars per play [laughs]. I didn’t even ask for it, to be honest. Tony came up with the idea. I thought it was really cool. I was a little bit angry right before I went out there, and then I heard Final Countdown play. It literally put a smile on my face. I legitimately don’t think I’ve heard that song since I last came out to it in Ring of Honor,” Danielson said.
Tony Khan was asked later in the scrum about the cost for “Final Countdown.” He says that it was very expensive, as expensive as a single wrestler’s contract, but it was entirely worth it for the moment.
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. Final Countdown has always been associated with Bryan, and I thought it was a cherry on top of this cake that everybody has been wanting a piece of that everybody has been wanting with Okada vs. Danielson. I was excited for 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. It was not inexpensive at all. It was very expensive.
Okada and Danielson headlined Forbidden Door 2, with The American Dragon picking up the win via submission. It was later revealed at the media scrum that Danielson had broken his arm during the matchup. You can read about that here.
(H/T and transcribed by Fightful)
