It was Wrestlemania weekend in April 2017, and Arsenal were being hosting Manchester Metropolis at the Emirates Stadium.
Arsene Wenger’s aspect have been trailing 2-1 at fifty percent-time, and ended up just about to emerge from the tunnel to make their way out onto the pitch for the 2nd half.
It was at that instant that Peter Mujuzi, the stadium DJ, hit the enjoy button and the thunderous sounds of ‘Motorhead – The Game’ started off to increase out of the speakers all all-around the ground.
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For most of the followers inside of the Emirates, it was just a further rock tune, but for those who realized their wrestling, it was the unmistakable seems of WWE superstar HHH’s entrance music.
That was the commence of a fad that now, five years on, is starting up to take social media by storm on every Emirates match day.
“I by no means imagined it would get this major,” Mujuzi tells Objective. “I was just attempting to freshen points up a little bit.
“I’d been doing the new music at the Emirates given that the 2015-16 year, and about time it just grew to become a bit repetitive in phrases of some of the tunes I was participating in.
“So I just assumed, as a wrestling lover, I would sneak in one particular of these theme tunes and see if any individual would consider any notice.
“Now I cannot definitely believe that the response to it.”
Right after screening the water with HHH’s tunes in 2017, Mujuzi took a stage back again from throwing in the odd wrestling-primarily based tune, but that all improved once the pandemic strike.
With games being performed behind closed doorways, he experienced a little bit extra liberty to test out a couple issues.
So out arrived the HHH tune the moment once more, this time at the commence of the 2nd 50 percent in opposition to Liverpool in July 2020, and the entire thing exploded on social media following it was obviously picked up all through Sky Sports’ reside broadcast.
Lovers throughout the planet were being loving it, and even HHH experienced his say.
“I’m pretty excited,” the 14-time earth champion reported, when questioned about Arsenal utilizing his music.
“What better theme for Arsenal to have blaring around a loud speaker program than Lemmy of Motorhead screaming ‘time to play the game’? There’s practically nothing greater than that.”
“That was kind of great,” Mujuzi admits. “When that took place, it all went a bit mental and I started to get a little bit of a pursuing on Twitter. I thought wow!
“So quite a few men and women were being tweeting about it, so I just assumed, if folks are liking it, then I’ll retain mixing it up.
“So I got a selection of the music with each other and considered, let us just see what transpires.”
Now, 18 months on from that activity against Liverpool, a wrestling tune at the commence of the 2nd fifty percent is firmly proven as remaining component of the Emirates regime.
The majority of followers even now will not have a clue what is heading on, but there are a great deal inside of the floor who eagerly await Mujuzi’s alternative of track at the start of the 2nd half.
And it is not just supporters who are having fun with it, but the wrestlers are getting involved as very well.
WWE legend Kurt Angle tweeted out a video clip of his theme tune getting performed from Crystal Palace, even though current AEW superstar Chris Jericho was delighted that his band’s tune ‘Judas’ was played through the – attract with Burnley in January.
“That’s so amazing,” the 51-year-aged mentioned on Twitter as he retweeted the movie.
But of all the interactions he has had with wrestlers on social media, there is just one that stands out the most for Mujuzi.
“WWE British isles acquired in contact with me after the Triple H detail and asked if I could engage in Drew McIntyre’s audio,” he says. “Drew definitely is from the United kingdom, and he was environment champion at the time.
“So I played the song and he tweeted it and he in fact tweeted me. I considered bloody hell, that is psychological!
“That was likely the biggest one. To have the WWE winner tweet me, and he followed me as effectively. I was like, ‘oh my God!’
“So that has bought to be the most epic encounter I’ve had from this all.”
Mujuzi grew up in Cricklewood and has normally been an Arsenal supporter. He 1st went to Highbury with his father in 1997, and grew up idolising Dennis Bergkamp.
Just after the go to the Emirates in 2006, he acquired a section-time occupation operating at the Armoury megastore although he was at college.
In 2015, he was supplied the option to just take on the job of getting the assistant to the stadium announcer and now – seven several years on – he is however in regulate of the tunes on a match day, but he has also taken on the position of stadium announcer himself.
As an Arsenal supporter, it is an possibility he is relishing, and he is established to carry on entertaining the 60,000 supporters who switch up just about every time the Gunners are on dwelling soil.
“I love it,” he says. “I get so considerably independence and check out to do the best I can to give the fans what they want.
“The demographic, specifically at Arsenal, is wide. I can go from the Kinks, to the Clash, then Eminem and Drake.
“And Arsenal have been good. With the wrestling stuff, no one has at any time pulled me aside and reported ‘can we have a appear at this?’
“If nearly anything, because it is introduced great traction to Arsenal, nobody has batted an eyelid.
“I tried to just subtly provide it in and now it’s come to be part of the furnishings. It’s odd.”
So what’s future for Mujuzi?
Following just about two total a long time of digging out some wrestling classics just about every other week, will he be moving on to anything new? Or does he nevertheless have some favourites up his sleeve?
“There are a handful of that I want to carry out that I have not performed still,” he admits. “But it is nerve wracking for the reason that you assume, if I hit this and it goes mistaken in entrance of 60,000 folks in the stadium and Twitter as perfectly, it will be pretty bad.
“But there are a couple ideas that I want to do, so we’ll see as the period goes on.
“The Undertaker a person, I would appreciate to perform that. But whether or not it suits, I don’t know. The gamers coming again on to the pitch hearing that, it could sense way out of spot. But it would be neat. Lights out, music hits. That would be so epic!
“I just want individuals to preserve having fun with it. That is the pleasure of performing it for me. If folks can hear to it, enjoy it and it brings back again nostalgia or whatsoever, that for me is great. I enjoy listening to that.”
