Logan Paul probably thought he’d heard it all by now.
Angry arenas, hostile crowds and venomous comments sections have become familiar territory for the WWE star and social media heavyweight. But on Monday night in Belfast, the American found himself blindsided by a chant that dragged him straight back into one of the most infamous moments of his career.
During the January 19 episode of WWE Raw at The SSE Arena in Northern Ireland, Irish fans repeatedly serenaded Paul with a chant of: “He’s banned from Japan! He’s banned from Japan! Logan Paul, he’s banned from Japan!”
The 30-year-old was competing in a six-man tag team match, teaming with Bronson Reed and Austin Theory as part of their faction, The Vision. Across the ring stood luchadors Rey Mysterio, Dragon Lee and Penta, who ultimately handed Paul’s team the loss. But the result almost felt secondary to what was happening in the stands, where the Belfast crowd zeroed in on Paul’s past rather than the action unfolding in front of them.
The loud and persistent chant hijacked the match, and although WWE are prone to censoring certain chants they don’t want viewers at home to hear, the line cut through the broadcast and was impossible to ignore, with footage from inside the arena quickly going viral on X. Check out some clips below:
Paul could be seen reacting to the chant in real time, taunting the audience and encouraging them as the noise grew louder. Although, as it turns out, he didn’t even realise what they were actually saying.
In a vlog uploaded to his YouTube channel after the event, Paul explained that he initially misunderstood the chant entirely. He believed the crowd was chanting, “Logan Paul, he’s back from Japan,” until a friend set him straight backstage and told him what the words really were.
That revelation left him visibly stunned.
“Bro, I’m not even banned from Japan, like, officially, in an official way,” an unimpressed Paul said on the vlog. “How did a room full of absolute morons concoct such a brilliant chant? I’m not banned from Japan.”
He doubled down moments later, clearly frustrated by how the situation had been framed by the crowd, saying: “What the f**k bro, I’m not. I’m actually not.”
The chant was a direct callback to the controversy that has followed Paul for nearly a decade.
In December 2017, he faced intense global backlash after filming and uploading a video from Japan’s infamous Aokigahara forest, where he recorded footage of a de*d body hanging from a tree. The video was swiftly deleted, and Paul released an apology at the start of 2018, but the damage to his reputation lingered long after.
For many WWE fans, that incident remains inseparable from his on-screen character. Belfast’s Raw crowd made that abundantly clear, reviving the moment in unison and using it as ammunition to get under his skin – and on live television, no less.
Despite the chant’s premise, Paul has repeatedly insisted that he is not banned from entering Japan. He addressed the topic again in 2024 on his Impaulsive podcast, where he said he could return if he wanted to, but preferred to be “invited back” rather than turning up on his own terms.
He also acknowledged at the time that WWE would likely be the route back, given the company’s presence in the country.
WWE has continued to run live events in Japan during Paul’s tenure with the promotion, including an October 2025 doubleheader at Ryōgoku Kokugikan in Tokyo. However, the company has not staged Raw or a premium live event there in that period.
For Paul, Belfast was a reminder that no matter how established he becomes inside WWE, certain chapters of his past remain fair game for fans willing to weaponise them.
After all, they’ve paid for their tickets and Paul is a heel – so what can he expect?
Featured image credit: X/YouTube/LoganPaul (screenshots)
