Shelton Benjamin
| Shelton Benjamin | |
|---|---|
| File:Sheltonbenjamin2.jpg | |
| Born | July 9, 1975 Orangeburg, South Carolina |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Shelton Benjamin |
| Billed height | 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) |
| Billed weight | 248 lb (112.7 kg) |
| Trained by | Ohio Valley Wrestling |
| Debut | 2000 |
Shelton Benjamin (born July 9, 1975) is an American professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler currently wrestling on the RAW brand of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Shelton Benjamin is known for his high-flying talent and, according to Jim Ross, is "the best pure athlete" on the RAW roster.
Early Life
Benjamin attended Orangesburg-Wilkinson High School in Orangeburg, South Carolina, and was a letterman in football, wrestling, and track & field. In wrestling, he finished his career with a 122-10 win-loss record, and was a two-time South Carolina State Heavyweight wrestling champion.
World Wrestling Entertainment
Ohio Valley Wrestling
Shelton Benjamin had a 36-6 win-loss record while attending the University of Minnesota. Benjamin was Brock Lesnar's tag team partner (also a wrestling teammate and roommate at The University of Minnesota) in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). Together they were known as The Minnesota Stretching Crew and held the OVW Tag Team Title on three occasions. He and Lesnar appeared in WWE magazines while still in OVW.
After Lesnar was called up to the main roster, Benjamin formed a tag team with Redd Dogg Begnaud to again hold the OVW Tag Team Title. Shelton did compete on some episodes of HEAT, scoring some upset wins against established WWE superstars, before becoming an official member of the roster. He was offered his contract by Tom Pritchard in early September 2002. Shelton Benjamin wore a green no hole mask on these episodes of HEAT.
Team Angle
He joined WWE's SmackDown! brand as a heel along with Charlie Haas in 2002 to form Team Angle, with Olympic gold-medallist wrestler Kurt Angle as their mentor. However they quickly turned on Angle.
Their first official match in WWE together was on the January 2, 2003 edition of SmackDown! against Edge and Chris Benoit in a feud that continued until No Way Out 2003.
The duo managed to win their first WWE Tag Team Championship just a month into their debut by defeating the then WWE Tag Team Champions, Los Guerreros (Eddie and Chavo Guerrero) on February 6, 2003. The two then went on to compete in their first WrestleMania which was WrestleMania XIX. Team Angle would later lose the title to Eddie Guerrero and new partner Tajiri, at Judgment Day 2003 only to win the title back a couple of weeks later on SmackDown!.
The World's Greatest Tag Team
The pair would split away from Angle before soon referring to themselves as The World's Greatest Tag Team. The team would continue to dominate the SmackDown! tag division holding the tag team until losing them to Los Guerreros. Benjamin would suffer a knee injury that would take him out for a couple weeks but the pair would soon compete together again even, taking part in WrestleMania XX.
Drafted to RAW
Benjamin would then be drafted to RAW and his career would begin to take off. Upon arriving on RAW, Benjamin quickly became a face by picking up an upset pinfall victory on Triple H. Benjamin continued being pushed as an up-and-coming star, picking up two more victories over Triple H, thus making Shelton Benjamin one of only four people (the others being Chris Benoit, Batista, and Shawn Michaels) to beat Triple H three times in a row, beating The Game by pinfall, countout, and disqualification, respectively.
Benjamin would feud with the other members of Triple H's stable Evolution which saw Benjamin defeat Ric Flair at Backlash 2004 and lose to Randy Orton in a WWE Intercontinental Championship match at Bad Blood 2004.
During a match with Lance Cade, Benjamin would punch Cade's kneebrace breaking his hand in the process which briefly put Benjamin out of action.
Benjamin returned in the fall of 2004, and would be chosen by the fans to compete for the Intercontinental Championship in a match against then-champion Chris Jericho at Taboo Tuesday 2004. Benjamin won the match, winning his first singles title in the company and becoming the 100th holder of the title.
During his reign as the Intercontinental Champion, Benjamin defeated challengers such as Christian at Survivor Series 2004, Maven which he did twice at New Years Revolution 2005 becoming the first person defend and retain the title twice in the same night against the same opponent, and Chris Jericho at Backlash 2005. Benjamin would finally lose the title to Carlito on the June 20, 2005 episode of RAW. He became the longest reigning champion of the 2000's, with his reigh lasting 244 days.
During this time, Benjamin also participated in several matches that would see him be credited by many for "stealing the show." One of these matches was the very first "Money In The Bank" Ladder Match at WrestleMania 21. Another was a match on RAW against Shawn Michaels in the 'Gold Rush' tournament. The finish of this match saw Michaels Sweet Chin Music Benjamin while he was in mid-air springboarding towards Michaels off the top rope. Michaels would later say that Benjamin was the greatest young superstar he had seen in the last 20 years.
After that, Benjamin's career went into a bit of a slump. For months afterwards, Benjamin was wrestling mainly on HEAT. He was found jobbing to wrestlers on RAW such as Carlito, Chris Masters, Snitsky and Rob Conway. Many WWE fans thought this was unfair, due to the quality of Benjamin's athleticism and wrestling skills. While Benjamin was performing on HEAT, he engaged in a brief feud with Chavo Guerrero (under the Kerwin White gimmick) and his caddy Nick Nemeth, mainly losing to them.
On the December 5, 2005 edition of RAW, Benjamin was encouraged by Shawn Michaels to show "more attitude" during their tag match together later in the night. Benjamin hinted at a heel turn by carelessly losing the match for himself and his partner Michaels.
Benjamin's carelessness cost him two more important matches over the next several weeks, which led to Benjamin's noisy, scolding, and domineering "momma" (played by comedian/actress Thea Vidale) coming to RAW to confront Benjamin about his losing streak. Momma would slap and yell at Benjamin anytime he lost a match, and before long she would assist Benjamin in his matches, often cheating on his behalf.
As soon as Benjamin turned heel he gained more confidence which won him the Intercontinental Championshipfor the second time. Benjamin would later feud with then-Intercontinental Champion Ric Flair, who would refer to Benjamin as a "Momma's Boy", a nickname Benjamin would not be fond of. On the February 20, 2006 edition of RAW, Shelton Benjamin, with momma at ringside, defeated Ric Flair to regain the Intercontinental Championship, after momma faked a heart problem, causing enough of a distraction to allow Benjamin to cheat and win the title.
Benjamin, along with momma, would continue to feud with Ric Flair. Shelton's momma was later written out of the script, with Benjamin stating that she was undergoing heart surgery in the hospital, and that he held Flair responsible. This was partially true, as the actress who played momma Benjamin, Thea Vidale, was suffering from health problems that was preventing her from being more active at ringside. With the momma Benjamin angle scrapped, Shelton's character would become more of a cocky character reminiscent of The Rock.
Shelton Benjamin would later compete in the second Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 22, where, once again, he was credited with stealing the show. Benjamin would later feud with the winner of that match, Rob Van Dam, in an attempt to take RVD's Money in the Bank contract. During this time, Benjamin would emphasize his heel turn by wearing shades, jewelry, and occasional colored shirts while entering the ring. At one point, Benjamin would be defeated by his former tag team partner, the returning, Charlie Haas during an episode of RAW. A stipulation added to this loss meant that Benjamin would have to defend the Intercontinental title in the same match as his shot at RVD's contract, meaning at Backlash 2006 it would be a "Winner Takes All" match. Rob Van Dam would come out on top during the Backlash match to take Benjamin's Intercontinental title.
However, it wouldn't be long before Benjamin regained the title from Rob Van Dam. Which happened in a Texas tornado tag match, pitting Benjamin, Triple H and Chris Masters against Van Dam and WWE Champion John Cena. Both the WWE and Intercontinental championships could be won by whoever pinned the appropriate champion. After Triple H pedigreed Van Dam, he turned his attentions to John Cena and went for the pin on the WWE champion. However, Benjamin got to Van Dam first, picking up the pin and his third Intercontinental Championship.
Benjamin would go on to feud with Carlito and others for his Intercontinental Championship before losing the title to Johnny Nitro in a triple threat match also involving Carlito at Vengeance 2006.
After the loss Benjamin would remain in the hunt for the championship competing in many #1 Contender Matches for the title, but failed all times to win the Intercontinental Championship.
In wrestling
- Finishing and signature moves
- T-Bone / Exploder Powerslam (Exploder suplex lift into a powerslam pin)
- Top rope springboard bulldog
- Dragon Whip / Shell Shocker / Money Clip (Dragon whip)
- 450° splash - in OVW
- Stinger splash
- Falling gutwrench powerbomb
- Superkick
- Samoan drop
- Flying clothesline
- German suplex
- Northern Lights suplex
- Inverted facelock backbreaker
- Roundhouse kick
- Springboard blockbuster
- Top rope springboard bulldog
- Falling neckbreaker, as a counter to a vertical suplex where Benjamin lands on his feet first
- Somersault plancha
- Powerslam
- Managers
Championships and accomplishments
- Black Athlete Sports Network
- 2005 African-American Wrestler of the Year
- OVW Southern Tag Team Championship (4 times) - with Brock Lesnar (3), and Redd Dogg (1)
- PWI Tag Team of the Year Award, with Charlie Haas (2003)
- PWI Top 500 wrestlers: ranked 9th (2005)
- 2005 Most Underrated Wrestler
Trivia
- Benjamin's favorite wrestlers growing up were Sting, The Steiner Brothers, and The Undertaker.
- Benjamin is a fan of video games. THQ holds an annual charity gaming tournament involving WWE Superstars, and Shelton has won the contest four years in a row (2003-2006).
- Benjamin was best man at the wedding of Charlie Haas and Jackie Gayda.
- Benjamin has worn a yellow ribbon on the back of his kickpad in support of the troops.
- Benjamin has wrestled in four Wrestlemania matches and in each of them one of his opponents would go on to win the WWE title within 12 months.
- Benjamin is the only wrestler to have participated in both Money in the Bank ladder matches at Wrestlemania 21 and WrestleMania 22.