New Japan has taken great care to avoid copyright issues for their music in recent years. Togi Makabe would use “Immigrant Song” as his entrance theme which would force the company to mute his entrances to avoid licensing issues. They have continued to have this problem with Bullet Club star and Super J-Cup winner El Phantasmo.
Phantasmo owns the rights to his theme, and with no agreement in place, NJPW would have to mute his entrance as recently as during the Super J-Cup, but they have announced Phantasmo and NJPW have come to an agreement over use of his theme. Phantasmo will now be able to hear his theme played on replays of Wrestle Kingdom 15, as he is slated to face Hiromu Takahashi at the Tokyo Dome.
New Japan Pro Wrestling released a statement about the situation, which seems more gimmick based than anything.
After ongoing rights negotiations led to El Phantasmo’s entrance theme being muted on broadcasts of Super J-Cup 2020, we are proud to announce that rights have been secured for ELP’s ‘HDBNG CLUB VIP’ theme, which will play the J-Cup winner to the ring for his entrance on January 4 against Hiromu Takahashi, and, should he prove victorious, January 5 against Taiji Ishimori.
Theme: HDBNG CLUB VIP mix
Composer/rights holder: E.L. Phantasmo
Approached for comment the artist stated the following:
‘I am very happy for fans in the Tokyo Dome and around the world to sample my artistic vision for my entrance at Wrestle Kingdom 15. More importantly, I appreciate the rights fees being credited to my bank account, and I will be all the richer when I become IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion after January 5. Happy New Year, you dorks.’
ELP is set to meet Hiromu Takahashi at WK15 night one. The winner of their match will meet Taji Ishimori for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title on night two.
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