Videogames and professional wrestling have a long and storied history. WWF No Mercy and SmackDown Shut Your Mouth are some of the best wrestling games out there, and I’d argue they’ve not been topped in the two decades since. There have been plenty of ways for us to step into the virtual squared circle over the years, but this isn’t where the relationship ends. Plenty of professional wrestlers have made their love for videogames known when entering the ring, and this latest display pulls on several legends, especially from Final Fantasy 14, in surprising ways.
At Wrestle Dynasty on Sunday January 5, Kenny Omega came back to Japan. The AEW and New Japan show marked Omega’s return after quite some time away thanks to injury, and he celebrated the moment with quite the entrance. Omega’s been known to show his love for videogames in and around the ring, but this time he brought some surprising links to one of the best MMOs around, Final Fantasy 14.
“Before my return tomorrow, I want to announce that I’m debuting a new entrance at the Tokyo Dome,” Kenny Omega wrote on Twitter/X. “A new song created by the amazing Final Fantasy 14 & 16 composer Masayoshi Soken, with vocals by Jason Miller and a special voice by the legendary Nobuo Uematsu. I hope you enjoy.”
🏟️WRESTLE DYNASTY🏟️
Best bout Machine @KennyOmegamanX
登録・視聴はこちらから ⇒ https://t.co/CcdQ1X9P52#NJPW #AEW #njpwworld #njWD pic.twitter.com/qj2HSeKrMT
— NJPW WORLD (@njpwworld) January 5, 2025
As a massive fan of Omega, Soken, and Uematsu’s work, this is a crossover that truly blew my mind. Omega’s entrance wasn’t filled with Final Fantasy references, but he clearly respects the work of people like Soken and Uematsu to the point where he wants them a part of his grand return. With Dawntrail’s raid series pulling on professional wrestling, everything’s very quickly come full circle.
Omega’s love for videogames has crossed over into his wrestling career on multiple occasions, with some more overt references showing up during entrances. Omega has entered the AEW ring dressed as Sans from Undertale (with Megolovania in tow), and even walked into the New Japan ring donning a Sephiroth cosplay as well.
In fact, two of Omega’s in-ring moves are direct references to videogames. His V-Trigger and One Winged Angel finishers are named after Street Fighter and Final Fantasy 7 respectively, so he will do whatever it takes to get games into a match.
Masayoshi Soken has been a mainstay in Final Fantasy soundtracks for over a decade at this point, with both 14, alongside its many expansions, and 16 as part of his library. I’ve been loving Soken’s recent work on Dawntrail, but a lot of 16’s music also completely caught me off guard for how easily it wormed its way into my brain.
Just like Soken, Nobuo Uematsu is a longstanding legend in the Final Fantasy community for his work as the original composer of the series. Some of his most famous works include the original Final Fantasy 7 and 8, with him even coming back for FF7 Rebirth to compose the main theme of the game.
Jason Miller is the founder of the rock band Godhead, but they also have a lot of ties to videogames, and to Final Fantasy 14 especially. Not only did Miller voice the original version of Raubahn in FF14, but he also acted as the lead singer for multiple themes and trailers in the Shadowbringers and Endwalker expansions.
If hearing Soken’s excellent melodies has you wanting to dive back into their work, make sure you brush up on all the Final Fantasy 14 Dawntrail Aether Current locations. Don’t forget to grab that free Final Fantasy 14 Dawntrail Fantasia as well.
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