FF14 composer Soken releases a surprising new song featuring series icons
Video games 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 don’t think they’ve been surpassed in the two decades since. We’ve had many ways to get into the virtual squared circle over the years, but that’s not the end of the relationship. Many professional wrestlers have professed their love for video games when they enter the ring, and this latest showcase features several legends, especially from final fantasy 14in surprising ways.
Kenny Omega returns to Japan on Sunday, January 5 at Wrestle Dynasty. The AEW and New Japan show marked Omega’s return after some time out due to injury, and he celebrated the occasion with a pretty cool entrance. It’s no secret that Omega loves video games in and out of the ring, but this time he’s bringing some surprising connections to one of the best MMOs, Final Fantasy XIV.
“Before I come back tomorrow, I want to announce that I will be debuting a new entrance at the Tokyo Dome,” Kenny Omega wrote on Twitter/X. “This new song was written by the amazing Final Fantasy 14 and 16 composer Masayoshi Soken, sung by Jason Miller, and voiced by the legendary Nobuo Uematsu. I hope you enjoy it.
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Best round machine @KennyOmegamanX
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â NJPW World (@njpwworld) January 5, 2025
As a big fan of Omega, Soken, and Uematsu’s work, this is a crossover that truly blew me away. Omega’s entrance isn’t filled with Final Fantasy references, but he clearly respects the work of people like Soken and Uematsu enough that he wanted them to be a part of his grand return. Things quickly came full circle as Dawntrail’s Raid series took pro wrestling by storm.
Omega’s love for video games has been integrated into his wrestling career many times, with some more overt references appearing during his entrance. Omega entered the AEW ring dressed as Sans from Undertale (with Megolovania in tow), and even entered the New Japan ring in a Sephiroth cosplay.
In fact, two of Omega’s moves in the ring were directly referenced from the video games. His V-Trigger finishing move and One Winged Angel finishing move are named after Street Fighter and Final Fantasy 7 respectively, so he’ll do whatever it takes to keep the game going.
Masayoshi Soken has been a mainstay in the Final Fantasy soundtracks for over a decade, producing 14 soundtracks and 16 more as part of his library in addition to numerous expansion packs. I’ve been enjoying Soken’s recent work on Dawntrail, but a lot of 16’s music also completely caught me off guard because of how easily it got into my head.
Like Soken, Nobuo Uematsu is a long-time legend in the Final Fantasy community, as he was the series’ original composer. His most famous works include the original Final Fantasy 7 and Final Fantasy 8, and he even returned for FF7 Reborn and composed the theme song for the game.
Jason Miller is the founder of the rock band Godhead, but they also have a lot of connections to video games, especially Final Fantasy XIV. Miller not only voiced the original version of Raubahn in FF14, but also sang lead vocals on multiple themes and trailers for the Shadowbringers and Endwalker expansion packs.
If hearing Soken’s beautiful melodies makes you want to dive back into their work, make sure you revisit all of Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail Aether Current’s locations. Donât forget about the free Final Fantasy 14 Dawntrail Fantasia.
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