Steve 'Flash' JuonThe stereotype of a pro wrestling fan is that they are a WWE fan. They watch Raw, SmackDown, NXT 2.0, every pay per view (or “premium live event” as they’re now called) and possibly even Main Event or Level Up. It’s hard not to understand why given they are the 600 lb. gorilla of the industry that sits wherever they want whenever they want. The birth of All Elite Wrestling created a new major player in the United States, but without the backing of a billionaire and his family it’s unlikely they could have lured in talent like Jon Moxley and CM Punk, or signed up-and-coming superstars like Swerve Strickland and Sammy Guevara. Even die hards (like me) have to admit WWE is what most people will think of first when “pro wrestling” or “sports entertainment” is brought up.
I stumbled across the oddly named ShittyBoyz on a list of upcoming releases, and I have to admit my curiosity was piqued by their name alone. Hearing “WWE” intrigued me even more. On one hand you could say that filling a song with wrestling references is as easy as looking at a Wikipedia page. Sure — write some bars that way. I suspect the ShittyBoyz actually watch it like they talk it though based on the sample (Chavo Guerrero’s theme music) fact they aren’t just dropping a series of names. “Hit ’em with a ladder, John Morrison.” That’s probably an obscure reference except to anybody who has been watching long enough to remember this moment.
And like the stereotype I talked about in the opening paragraph, I WAS THERE. Unfortunately we had really awful seats on the field of the Citrus Bowl that weren’t staggered on risers in any way, so every time anyone seated in front of us stood up we saw NOTHING. I saw more of this show on the Titantron and by watching the home video release than I did by attending, but seeing Morrison (a/k/a Johnny Mundo, Johnny Nitro, and a million other wrestling names) do a moonsault with a ladder is the kind of thing you don’t soon forget. I’ve got to assume the ShittyBoyz are at least in their mid to late 20’s, because that happened 14 years ago. If they’re only in their teens they’d be too young to have seen it live in 2008, and any younger they wouldn’t have seen it at all… unless they’re so die hard they’re just binge watching WWE events via Peacock and any other source they can.
Maybe the ShittyBoyz are just pop culture junkies in general. Pro wrestling, video games, YouTube content creators, TikTok videos, music and movies and everything else. It’s not every day I hear people rapping over Donkey Kong Country music and making Donkey Kong 64 references, sampling the GameCube startup sound for a transition between verses, and then making snaps like “Before +21+, gang been a +Savage+” and going right from rap back to gaming with “Beat a rap nigga ass like it’s Def Jam.” I’m kind of surprised they didn’t actually sample from Vendetta too. I think their biggest inspiration is the left coast though. They may be from the D but they’re “Going Hyphy” like they’re straight from the Yay.
It’s probably not a surprise that the ShittyBoyz are on the rise despite their seemingly impossible to market name when you realize that group member BabyTron was in XXL’s 2022 Freshman Class. That also once again makes me wonder how old the brothers were when they saw John Morrison do the moonsault holding a ladder. Okay, okay, it doesn’t matter if they saw it live or in clip form later. They like pro wrestling or they wouldn’t have songs with titles like “Lion-Hearted.” They also know their Detroit house/electro music or they wouldn’t have sampled Cybotron’s “Clear” on “GGG.” You might know it better from Missy Elliott’s “Lose Control.”
If there’s one thing I’m sure about with the ShittyBoyz and their latest release “Trifecta 2” it’s that they don’t give a fuck about radio play. How could you with a name like that? No FM radio deejay is ever even going to be able to say their name without getting a huge fine from the CNN, and they’re fine with that fine because they’ll make their money from Spotify and Google Ads and doing live shows all around the country — probably all around the world before long. That’s the huge irony of their (no offense brothers) dumb name — these ShittyBoyz ain’t shitty at all. Sometimes their delivery could be a little less monotone, sometimes they could flow a little more on beat (some bars are incredibly stiff), but you can hear every word. They ain’t mumbling or singing. They’re possibly the least shitty rappers to put the word Shitty in their name they could possibly be.
PS: Try AEW, IMPACT Wrestling, GCW, New Japan, DEFY, STARDOM, Pro Wrestling NOAH et cetera if you’re a WWE fan. Some of your favorite stars probably came from somewhere else, and many of them will end up with one or another of these promotions after WWE. They’re not the only game in town. Pun intended.