Tony Khan Reveals 'The Final Countdown' At AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door Was Just A One-Night Deal

'The Final Countdown' won't become Bryan Danielson's permanent entrance theme in All Elite Wrestling unless Tony Khan can secure a good deal, with the AEW CEO revealing during the Forbidden Door media scrum that the use of the song for Danielson's entrance at the June 25 pay-per-view was just a one-night deal.

"It's a very expensive song, 'Final Countdown'. I had been working on it for a while leading into the pay-per-view because I believed it would be a big moment and it would give the match something special, a match people have always wanted to see... Final Countdown has already been associated with Bryan and I thought it was just the cherry on top of this cake that everybody has been wanting a piece of for a long time that is Okada vs. Danielson. So I was very excited about Final Countdown but it's also the kind of thing that I've only been able to get on a one-show contract and it was a very expensive one night. It was as expensive as a wrestler's contract but it was worth it. I thought it added to the show and it added to the presentation but it was not inexpensive at all. It was very expensive," Khan said.

The AEW President then addressed if he would look to secure deals for 'The Final Countdown' and 50 Cent's 'Many Men' that was used by The Gunns for their AEW World Tag Team Title match against FTR on April 5.

"With 'Many Men', also I only used it for one time but we have the rights in perpetuity when people go back and watch that great FTR vs. Gunns world tag team championship match from Dynamite. They'll always have 'Many Men' when we do feature that long-term in a streaming library...just like tonight that performance of Final Countdown will be available in perpetuity," he continued.

"As for future appearances [of 'The Final Countdown'], I have to be able to get a good deal. So that was for tonight. Would I be able to get it one more time? I think so. As for 'Many Men', I'm not sure about that. I'd have to go back to them again. We did a one-time deal. 'Final Countdown', before that acquisition, we'd actually been working on it but I was grateful even with the acquisition they supported it and we were able to get it done."

It emerged last week that Primary Wave Music had struck a deal with Joey Tempest, the lead vocalist of Europe, to acquire the rights to a portion of his music catalogue, including 'The Final Countdown'. 

Bryan Danielson faced Kazuchika Okada in the main event of AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door. To the surprise of many, Danielson picked up the win by submission. 

The American Dragon previously used 'The Final Countdown' as his entrance music in Ring of Honor. He has used 'Born For Greatness' in AEW since signing with the promotion in September 2021.