In a first for SCU, I’ll be taking a look former WWE superstar Enzo Amore’s (now known as nZo) first rap show at the Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, CA from this past Monday Night.
Eric Arndt, best known to wrestling fans as the character Enzo Amore in WWE and currently going by the stage name nZo, released his first rap album, Rosemary’s Baby Pt. 1: Happy Birthday, on Sunday. That very same day, Arndt caused a scene during WWE’s Survivor Series at Staples Center in Los Angeles when he stood on his chair and distracted the audience as a match was about to take place. The following night, Arndt held his first concert at the Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood. For nZo, his new career sees him join the ranks of other pro wrestlers such as John Cena, Randy Savage, and Westside G who crossed over into the world of hip hop.
On Monday night November 19th, 2018, Arndt, now going under the stage name nZo, performed a 25 minute set in front of about 30 or so people. They might’ve paid $10 for admission to the rap concert. It then turned out to be more part rap concert, part live shoot interview, and part performance routine. Needless to say, it was an embarrassing moment in rap music. It ranked up there with Young Buck crying to 50 Cent to let him back into G-Unit and Machine Gun Kelly trying to beef with Eminem.
The show started with nZo’s new track he wrote last week called “Winona Ryder Boner.” Before the song began, nZo asked one of the members of his crew what the song was named. The lyrics were sexually explicit in nature and talked about a promiscuous and coldhearted woman named Winona that nZo possibly had encounters with. Most of the vibe of the song felt unnecessarily aggressive and whiny. So far, nZo sounds like a shitty Psychopathic Records reject.
nZo cut the song short, saying that if anyone was offended and didn’t want to ride the “Winona Ryder Boner Roller Coaster” to leave. A plant in the crowd began to yell he was offended. The plant was then brought up to the stage, and nZo gave him a Stone Cold Stunner. Afterward, nZo did several Steve Austin mannerisms as the DJ played the glass shattering sound effect from the opening of Austin’s WWE theme song.
nZo went into to the next song “Brass Ring”. It would be the only from his album he performed live. Before the song, nZo said Brass Ring was inspired by Vince McMahon saying that it was impossible to grab the brass ring in professional wrestling. Once the song was over, nZo went on to further explain the Vince McMahon comment. Somehow this turned into a quick rant about how WWE gets workers to blindly sign contracts. Following this rant, nZo introduced a slow jam he wrote for his grandmother called “Hail Mary, Full Of Grace.” The tone of the song was more somber and centered around nZo complaining about having to make sacrifices to chase his dream of being rich and famous. Even in a song meant for his dying grandmother, nZo somehow made this song about his problems.
After the song, nZo rambled about how his sick grandmother use to whip him when he was a kid and going back home for the first time since leaving when he was 18. He really was trying to be deep here. nZo then went on to talk another one of his new tracks and the inspiration behind it. He talked about how one of his dogs died while driving across the country. Then he talked about how his DJ, DJ Relent, made a beat for his brother who was getting out of jail. Somehow the death of nZo’s dog and his DJ’s brother getting out of jail brought them together to create this deep track. Just look at these profound and touching lyrics.
“If you a dog, and I’m a dog
Then I’m a see you again
Until then (Dog Barks)
Until then (Dog Barks)If you a dog, and I’m a dog
Then I’m a see you again
Be a mothafuckin’ dog until the end
I’m a dog until the endYeah that my dog, uh
Yeah that my mothafuckin’ dogHe the type to call when you got one call
Yeah that my dog
That my mothafuckin’ dog.
He took the fall! Collect Call!”
When the track ended, nZo pointed out how he sampled audio clips from the movie Toy Story and DMX. He asked the crowd “you get Toy Story and DMX on the same song. How the fuck you gonna fuck that up?” Well, nZo did. He certainly did.
nZo asked the people in attendance to see if they could catch all the wrestling metaphors in his next song. Following the song, nZo casually claimed that he was one of the best rappers in the world and that the world was going to find out. He certainly has a case with lines such as “If you a dog, and I’m a dog, then I’m a see you again” in his songs. With lyrics like that, you just know KRS-One wishes he could write as good as nZo.
Thankfully at this point, it was time for the last song of nZo’s set. He began to talk about the background of the song centering around him smoking a lot of cigarettes and going through problems. As nZo tried to get deep and connect with the audience about the song, the guy recording the show tried to remind nZo to “put over the merch at the end.” nZo then went into the song, which had a wide range of emotions in it. Most of the theme of the song was about being about betrayal, loyalty, and respect. The lyrics themselves were about as deep as a wading pool.
“I know what it’s like to feel that disrespect, I know what it’s like, I know what it’s like
I know what it’s like to feel that disrespect.
Coming at your neck.
Protect your neck, come on!”
At the end of the song, nZo spoke out about his incident at Survivor Series the night before. As this happened, the camera guy asked someone to hold the phone. They had to prepare for the show closer and couldn’t film. During nZo’s rant, he asked the fans to think about him standing on a chair and acting stupid in the same light as ECW’s worked invasion angle and DX rolling up to WCW Nitro on tanks.
The absurdity of the show reached a climax here. Three crowd plants ran on the stage, and each took a clothesline from nZo. They then did a spot where nZo had one of the plants holding the other two in face locks. This set up nZo delivering a running superkick to make the guy DDT the other plants. Once this was over, nZo got back on the mic to talk some more. This time he addressed the stories of him being kicked out of locker rooms. In this rant, nZo claimed he was the only one standing up to bullies. He would also claim that he punched someone in the mouth. The show would close with nZo addressing the crowd one last time, thanking them for coming out.
I have to say, this was a pretty godawful show. Everything about this show was embarrassingly bad. From the lyrics of the songs, to the poor crowd turnout, to nZo spending more time doing a spoken word performance with his constant bitching, and to the stupid fucking spots that involved the crowd plants. Everything about this show was embarrassingly bad. I know that I sound redundant when I say it, but it’s true. Everything about this was embarrassingly bad. It’s so bad, I’ll even say it again just to heavily emphasize that everything about this show was embarrassingly bad.
Overall, if you thought Stitches was terrible, you’ll think nZo is even worse. Needless to say, I don’t see nZo winning any BET Hip Hop Awards anytime soon.
