Bryan Danielson Explains Why AEW Doesn't Use 'The Final Countdown' as His Entrance Music

By Connor Casey

When Bryan Danielson was first rumored to be heading to All Elite Wrestling many fans assumed he'd arrive with Europe's "The Final Countdown" as his entrance music. Danielson became synonymous with the song in his early career in promotions like Ring of Honor, but once he made the jump to WWE he switched over to a revamped version of Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries." But when Danielson popped up at All Out, he had yet another version of "Valkyries," this time titled "Born For Greatness." Danielson explained in a new interview with Bleacher Report's Chris Mueller this week that "Final Countdown" was considered, but the costs for the rights to the song were too high. 

"Tony and I talked about a couple of things," Danielson said. "We had talked about 'The Final Countdown,' but that was way too expensive," he said. "I hate talking business stuff when I don't exactly know what it was, but it wasn't just the amount of money. They would only let [AEW] play it like 20 times a year or something like that. For several $100,000 you can play 'Final Countdown' 20 times a year. That doesn't work for us. I had kind of wanted something a bit different, so I reached out to my friend, Elliott Taylor, and said 'Hey, here's an idea. But I don't know if it's any good. Could you do something like this?' He dropped everything. I think he's done 72 hours in the studio and made the song that I come out to now, which I think he's also going to do a full-length release because it actually has like two chorus lyrics.

"I really, really liked it," he continued. "And it also incorporates a chant that people would do when I was on the independents. I kind of wanted to get it in there. I would love for people to start chanting it again."

Danielson will make his in-ring debut for the young promotion at the AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam event on Wednesday. The show will take place at Arthur Ashe Stadium and mark the company's debut in New York City. Check out the full card for the show below:

Dynamite (Wednesday)

  • Kenny Omega vs. Bryan Danielson
  • AEW Women's World Championship: Dr. Britt Baker vs. Ruby Soho
  • Cody Rhodes vs. Malakai Black
  • Sting & Darby Allin vs. FTR
  • Brian Pillman Jr. vs. MJF

Rampage (Friday)

  • The Superkliq vs. Christian Cage & Jurassic Express
  • CM Punk vs. Powerhouse Hobbs
  • Suzuki-gun vs. Jon Moxley & Eddie Kingston
  • The Inner Circle vs. Men of the Year
  • Lucha Brothers & Santana & Ortiz vs. Private Party, The Butcher and The Blade

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