Shelton Benjamin
James Shelton Benjamin is a professional wrestler American who works for the WWE in the brand Raw . Since his dismissal in 2010, he has worked at Ring of Honor (ROH) and New Japan Pro-Wrestling . He is known for having formed a couple for years with Charlie Haas , being known as The World's / Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team . He is currently a member of the stable The Hurt Business along with MVP , Bobby Lashley and Cedric Alexander .
During his career he has once been a World Champion having won the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship ; He has also won the Intercontinental Championship three times, once the United States Championship , three times the WWE / Raw Tag Team Championship and three times the 24/7 Championship , in addition to having won the World Tag Team Championship twice. ROH with Haas and OVW Southern Tag Team Championship four times, three with Brock Lesnar and once with Redd Dogg .
Career of Shelton Benjamin
World Wreslting Federation / Entertainment (2000-2010)
Ohio Valley Wrestling (2001-2002)
Shelton Benjamin was hired by the World Wrestling Federation in 2001 and transferred to the Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), WWF development territory, to train and improve his in-ring skills there. Shortly after arriving, he teamed up with Brock Lesnar , becoming known as the Minnesota Stretching Crew.
On February 13 of the 2001 Minnesota Stretching Crew beat The Disciples of Synn ( BJ Payne and Damian) and won the Championship Southerner by Pairs of the OVW starting a feud the two teams. Benjamin and Lesnar lost the titles on April 22 of that same year, but regained them on May 15 . They retained the titles until July 14 , the day they vacated the titles due to Benjamin's injury.
After the injury, Shelton and Lesnar returned to fight together and after several fights they earned the opportunity to fight for the championship, which became effective on October 30 , 2001, where they defeated Rico Constantino and The Prototype , winning the championship for the third and final time together. They lost the titles to The Suicide Blondes on November 7 , 2001.
After losing the championships, Lesnar went to wrestling in the WWF on March 18, 2002 and Shelton began teaming up with Redd Dogg , with whom he won the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship for the fourth and final time . Shortly thereafter, Shelton began wrestling on WWE Sunday Night HEAT and WWE house shows , until in 2002 he left for the main WWE roster.
2002-2003
On December 26, 2002 Shelton debuted on Smackdown alongside Charlie Haas as a team that had Kurt Angle as their protector and mentor, calling them Team Angle . In January 2003 Team Angle had several fights against Chris Benoit and Edge , having a feud against Benoit that lasted until No Way Out , where Benoit and Lesnar defeated them.
Following this, the duo won their first WWE Tag Team Championship a month after debuting, defeating Los Guerreros ( Eddie and Chavo Guerrero ) on February 6 , 2003, retaining them at WrestleMania XIX in a Triple Threat match between Los Guerreros and Chris Benoit and Rhyno and in Backlash against Los Guerrero, but lost the titles to Eddie Guerrero and his new partner, Tajiri , on Judgment Day in a ladder match .
The storyline concluded on June 12, 2003 on SmackDown, when Angle clashed with Haas and Benjamin and left the team. Since then they began to refer to as The World's Greatest Tag Team , being the new name of the team, winning the Tag Team Championship again on SmackDown July 3 . They were held against Rey Mysterio and Billy Kidman at Vengeance , but lost on September 18, after Benjamin suffered an injury during a fight against Los Guerreros.
2004-2005
The injury kept him out of the ring for 5 weeks, returning to team once he was recovered and they beat The Basham Brothers , getting a place in the Royal Rumble , but none won it. At No Way Out they beat Acolytes Protection Agency and at WrestleMania XX they fought for the title against The APA, The Basham Brothers and the champions Scotty 2 Hotty and Rikishi , retaining the champions' belts. On March 22, 2004, Benjamin was transferred to the Raw brand as part of the 2004 Draft Lottery . A little arrived, Benjamin became face when defeated by pinfall to Triple H . This defeat caused both of them to have a feud , defeating him three times: once by pinfall, once by outside account and once by disqualification. As part of the story, Benjamin became infatuated with the other members of Triple H's stable , Evolution , defeating Ric Flair at Backlash and losing to Randy Orton in a fight for the WWE Intercontinental Championship on Bad Blood .
After losing the championship a feud began with Carlito receiving his rematch to the championship in Vengeance being defeated. During the month of September a feud with Kerwin White began after White began to make racist comments about Benjamin, Shelton being an African American fighter. On one episode of RAW, White cost Shelton a fight against Rob Conway , leading to Benjamin winning by DQ the following week when White attacked him with a golf club. During a fight against Garrison Cade in Heat , Benjamin was slightly injured, returning shortly after and being chosen by the fans to fight for the Intercontinental Championship against Chris Jericho on Taboo Tuesday , Benjamin winning the fight, obtaining with this his first individual degree in the company. After winning, she held him against Christian at Survivor Series , Maven on New Year's Revolution , and Chris Jericho at Backlash . Benjamin lost the title to rookie Carlito on Raw on June 20, 2005, ending the longest reign of the decade. During his reign also participated in the Royal Rumble 2005 , which did not win and participated in the first Money in the Bank match, which was won by Edge .
At Unforgiven Shelton defeated White. The feud continued for several weeks as they met the Heat on Taboo Tuesday in a tag team match with Shelton teaming up with Val Venis being defeated by White and Matt Striker .
Benjamin's next storyline began on December 5, when Shawn Michaels had to fight alongside Benjamin on Raw. At the end of the fight, while Michaels was preparing his Sweet Chin Music to win the fight, Shelton gave him the relief to fight, turning heel, but he missed a movement, a moment that Carlito took advantage of to win. Benjamin then went on a losing streak for the next several weeks, resulting in the appearance of his new manager Shelton's Momma to accompany him to fights and make him react, slapping him if he lost a fight. During this period of time, he interfered in several fights for Shelton, making him win.
2006-2007
Shelton in late 2005 began a feud with Viscera by defeating him at New Year's Revolution . Later he would participate in the Royal Rumble Match at Royal Rumble being eliminated by Shawn Michaels. Benjamin then feuded another feud with then-Intercontinental Champion Ric Flair , defeating him on February 20 on Raw after Momma faked heart problems, causing a distraction and helping Benjamin win. Benjamin continued his feud with Flair, but Momma no longer accompanied him to the ring, claiming Benjamin was in the hospital and saying that Flair was responsible.
Shelton again won the Intercontinental Championship from Rob Van Dam in a 3v2 match, fighting Benjamin, Triple H and Chris Masters against RVD and WWE Champion John Cena ; being able to win any championship if the champion was covered. After Triple H did his "Pedigree" to Van Dam, he gave the relief to Benjamin to do the account. Later he became angry with Carlito and other fighters, losing the title to Johnny Nitro in a Triple Threat match at Vengeance , a fight in which Carlito also participated. Benjamin competed in the second Money in the Bank at WrestleMania 22 . After WrestleMania he had a feud with Rob Van Dam , winner of the Money in the Bank. During his feud, Benjamin began to have a new gimmick more of a villain, turning to heel . On RAW, Benjamin was defeated by his former teammate Charlie Haas , with the stipulation that if Shelton lost, the Intercontinental Championship would also be at stake in the fight for Van Dam's briefcase, winning RVD at Backlash , getting the title of Benjamin.
After this, he tried countless times to recover the Intercontinental Championship without being successful. In Cyber Sunday he was one of the alternatives along with Nitro and Carlito to be chosen to face Intercontinental Champion Jeff Hardy but he failed to be chosen being Carlito chosen. Later he was defeated several times by Jeff Hardy.
During December he re-teamed with Charlie Haas, re-forming The World's Greatest Tag Team after defeating The Highlanders . The duo then feuded with Cryme Tyme and fought on many Heat shows. In New Year's Revolution he teamed up with Haas to fight in a Tag Team Elimination for a chance at the World Tag Team Championships during which they eliminated The Highlanders and Jim Duggan & Super Crazy but were eliminated by Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch although eventually the fight would be won byCryme Tyme .
Shelton returned to participate in the Royal Rumble Match at Royal Rumble 2007 being eliminated by Shawn Michaels. After this together with Charlie Haas they entered into feud with the World Tag Team Champions The Hardys (Jeff & Matt Hardy ) facing both teams in One Night Stand in a Ladder Match for the championships being defeated. Meanwhile, Benjamin dyed his hair white, saying it signified the change of his future, calling himself "The Gold Standard".
On November 20, at ECW , Elijah Burke introduced him as the new ECW superstar, again breaking the team with Haas by being traded. At ECW, Benjamin received more time during his top-level promos and fights, defeating Tommy Dreamer in his debut.
2008
At the beginning of the year, Shelton managed to qualify for the 2008 Royal Rumble , where he entered the seventeenth and was eliminated by Shawn Michaels first. On February 22 on SmackDown! , had a fight against Jimmy Wang Yang , which he won and thus managed to qualify for the Money in the Bank at WrestleMania XXIV . Shelton could not finish the fight because he was unconscious after falling from the top of a staircase to another located between the ring and the public as a stretcher. The match was won by CM Punk . After WrestleMania XXIV he had a feud withKofi Kingston , facing off in various editions of ECW. The feud ended in the ECW edition on June 24 , where the two met in an Extreme Rules match, which Kofi won.
In the 2008 Draft , Benjamin was traded from ECW to SmackDown !, starting a feud with Matt Hardy , whom he defeated at The Great American Bash , winning the United States Championship , returning him to SmackDown. Later, in Unforgiven he participated in the first WWE Championship Scramble against the champion Triple H , The Brian Kendrick , Jeff Hardy and Montel Vontavious Porter , retaining Triple H.
Later he began a feudwith R-Truth , fighting him on Cyber Sunday and an edition of SmackDown! , retaining their championship, and in Survivor Series , where they faced each other on opposite teams and Benjamin managed to eliminate R-Truth, before being eliminated by Batista . He also retained his championship against Hurricane Helms after being defeated on two editions of SmackDown against Helms.
2009-2010
At the beginning of the year he had a brief feud with The Undertaker , being defeated in two editions of Smackdown. Both participated in the 2009 Royal Rumble , where Shelton Benjamin entered number 20, but was eliminated by Undertaker. He then qualified for Money in the Bank by beating Jeff Hardy. Later, on March 17 on Smackdown (aired on March 20 ), he was defeated by MVP , losing the United States Championship . On April 5 , at WrestleMania XXV , he participated in the Money in the Bank against CM Punk , Kane ,Kofi Kingston , Finlay , MVP , Mark Henry and Christian , but failed to win.
After the draft , Benjamin rejoined Charlie Haas and on Judgment Day , he was defeated by John Morrison . Later he had a brief feud with R-Truth , with whom he faced in the dark match of The Bash , winning R-Truth. On June 29, he was transferred from the SmackDown! Brand . to ECW , starting a feud with newcomer Yoshi Tatsu and Zack Ryder , then feud with Sheamus becoming face . In Survivor Series , Team Miz ( The Miz, Drew McIntyre , Sheamus , Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger ) defeated Team Morrison ( John Morrison , Matt Hardy , Evan Bourne , Shelton Benjamin and Finlay) . At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs , Benjamin faced Christian in a ladder match for the ECW Championship , but was defeated.
In January , Shelton qualified at ECW Homecoming by defeating Chavo Guerrero , but on January 12 Shelton eliminated himself to remove Vance Archer from the fight, which Ezekiel Jackson won . After this, a feud with Archer began that lasted until the closing of the ECW , being changed to SmackDown! Meanwhile, he participated in the Royal Rumble , where he entered as number 20, attacking with everything Shawn Michaels and John Cena who were the only fighters in the ring at that moment, but was eliminated by John Cena . Participated in a qualifying match for the Money in the Bank of Wrestlemania XXVIdefeating CM Punk, but failed to win, being the winner Jack Swagger. The 22 of April of 2010 was fired from the company.
Independent circuit (2010-present)
After being fired from WWE, Benjamin appeared at the World Wrestling Council (WWC) Anniversary event. In the event, he fought three nights, beating on July 9 with Orlando Colón to Primo Colon & Ray Gonzalez , 10 to July, with Tommy Dreamer and 11 July, Primo. He also wrestled in a National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) event on July 24, defeating Scorpio Sky. On July 31, 2010, at the WWC event "La Revolución", he defeated Ray González , winning the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship , but lost it on November 27 to Carlito .
In November he rejoined Charlie Haas during a tour with the American Wrestling Rampage (AWR), where they lost on November 10 and 13 to La Resistance ( Rene Dupree & Sylvan Grenier ), but on November 14 they defeated Scott Steiner & Booker T . On March 8, 2011, Benjamin visited his friends at a SmackDown event in Houston, Texas, to which the producers offered him to fight in the dark match of the night, defeating Curt Hawkins . On March 9, 2011 at a Millennium Wrestling Federation event, Benjamin won the MWF Heavyweight Championshipby defeating Slyck Wagner Brown. However, he lost it to the former champion on June 4.
Ring of Honor (2010-2013)
On June 26 at Best in the World 2011 , Benjamin & Haas defended the titles against the Briscoe Brothers, the Kings of Wrestling and the All-Night Express. However, after the match, they were assaulted by the Briscoe Brothers with chairs. Finally, in Final Battle , they lost the titles to the Briscoe Brothers. On May 12, 2012 in Border Wars , they regained the titles by defeating the champions. On June 24 at Best in the World 2012 , they lost the titles to All Night Xpress (Kenny King & Rhett Titus).
In early August, he was suspended ( kayfabe) by ROH officers for attacking Titus and them with a chair. This suspension was made to explain his absence from ROH while working in Japan. On September 11, 2010, Benjamin re-teamed with Charlie Haas , becoming known as Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team at Ring of Honor (ROH). They both fought ROH World Tag Team Champions The Kings of Wrestling ( Claudio Castagnoli & Chris Hero ) on September 11 at Glory By Honor IX , with Haas & Benjamin losing the match.
Following this, they signed a contract with ROH, debuting on ROH on HD Net on December 9, defeating The Barvado Brothers. Also, as part of the alliance with Ohio Valley Wrestling(OVW), the day before they fought in the OVW, defeating The Elite. On December 10, Haas & Bejamin defeated the All-Night Xpress ( Kenny King & Rhett Titus ) before engaging in a match with the Briscoe Brothers against the Kings of Wrestling & the All-Night Xpress, drawing a tie.
At the 9th Anniversary Show , Haas & Benjamin defeated the Briscoe Brothers in the night's main event, earning a shot at the Kings of Wrestling World Tag Team Championships. On April 1, at Honor Takes Center Stage Chapter 1, Haas & Benjamin defeated the Kings of Wrestling, winning the titles.
He returned to ROH on September 15 in Death Before Dishonor X: State of Emergency , accompanying Haas & Rhett Titus during their matches in a tournament to declare new tag team champions. However, they were defeated in the final by SCUM. This caused them to feud with Titus and his new partner, BJ Whitmer , defeating them at Glory by Honor XI and culminating in a match at Final Battle 2012: Doomsday , defeating them in a New York Street Fight.
The next day, he asked to end his contract with ROH, which was granted. Benjamin had his last fight at ROH on February 2, 2013, alongside Charlie Haas for the ROH Tag Team Championship against The Briscoes but they were defeated after Haas betrayed him and attacked him in the middle of the ring.
Benjamin made his comeback on the ROH 11th Anniversary Show, interfering in the match between Hass and BJ. Starting a feud, a match was scheduled between the two on April 5 at Supercard of Honor VII , but was canceled due to Haas's firing and subsequent retirement from the company. His rival that day was Mike Bennett , who defeated Benjamin.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2012-2016)
During the following month, he had several bouts, ending with four wins and four losses, failing to advance to the final. After not fight in the NJPW in the following months, made his return in November 2012, participating in the tournament 2012 World Tag League with Benjamin, being known as "Black Dynamite". They finished the tournament on December 1 with three wins, one over IWGP Tag Team Champions Davey Boy Smith, Jr. & Lance Archer, and three losses, failing to advance to the semifinal.
On December 9, 2011, New Japan Pro-Wrestling announced that Benjamin would partner with MVP against Masato Tanaka & Yujiro Takahashi at Wrestle Kingdom VI in Tokyo Dome on January 4, 2012. Benjamin & MVP achieved victory after that MVP forced Takahashi to surrender. On June 16, he returned to wrestling in the NJPW at Dominion 6.16 , where he and MVP defeated Karl Anderson & Tama Tonga. On July 8, he was included as a participant in the 2012 G1 Climax Tournament.
On December 2, the day of the tournament final, he had a confrontation with Masato Tanaka, for which the following day the NJPW awarded him a title fight for the NEVER Openweight Championship . On January 4, 2013, at Wrestle Kingdom 7 in Tokyo Dome , he was defeated by Tanaka. On April 20, made his return to the NPW, allying with the heel stable Suzukigun. After spending three months in the United States, he returned to NJPW on April 20, joining stable heel Suzukigun, teaming up with group leader Minoru Suzuki, defeating Kazuchika Okada & Shinsuke Nakamura..
On the following tour, he began using the name "Shelton X Benjamin", since before being revealed as the new member of the group, Suzuki's partner was only named as "X". On May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku 2013, he faced Nakamura for the Intercontinental Championship , but was defeated. On September 29, he had another shot at the title, but was again defeated by Shinsuke Nakamura. From November 24 to December 8, Benjamin and Suzuki participated in the 2013 World Tag League tournament , where they achieved three wins and three losses, losing to Takashi Iizuka and Toru Yano.the last day and costing them their place in the semifinals.
WWE (2017-present)
On July 26, 2016 on SmackDown, a promo was launched announcing his return to the company. However, a shoulder injury prevented his return, delaying it for approximately 4 to 6 months. On July 10, 2017, WWE posted on Twitter that Benjamin would make his return to the company after the time he had undergone surgery for the injury. On July 13, it was confirmed that Benjamin had signed a new contract with WWE. On the August 22 episode of SmackDown, Benjamin made his return to WWE as a face , announcing himself as Chad Gable's new partner.
On the August 29 episode of SmackDown, Benjamin and Gable defeated The Ascension. On SmackDown after Hell In A Cell, Shelton and Gable became the # 1 challengers to the SmackDown tag team championships, the following week both Gable and Shelton turned heel after a disrespectful gesture towards The Usos .
On March 11, 2019, he returned, but now on RAW, attacking Seth Rollins, then had a match against him, losing him. On the SmackDown Live! On April 2 with Andrade , EC3 , Luke Gallows , Karl Anderson Zelina Vega , Mandy Rose , Sonya Deville & Lana faced The Hardy Boyz (Matt & Jeff), The Heavy Machinery (Otis & Tucker), R-Truth , Carmella , Asuka , Naomi & Nikki Cross in an 18-Persons Mixed Tag Team Matchending without result, but after the match they were taken out of the ring, on the way to André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at Wrestlemania 35 . At Wrestlemania 35 he participated in the fight in honor of André The Giant , he was eliminated by Braun Strowman who won said fight.
On SmackDown on May 21, he chased R-Truth for the Championship 24/7 and then continued to do so the following weeks without success.
Until August 27 on SmackDown Live! where he faced his former teammate Chad Gable in the first round of the King Of The Ring tournament, a fight he lost. On the SmackDown Live! he was defeated by Aleister Black and on Raw he was defeated by Ricochet.
During the Draft it was announced that he would be part of the cast of Raw. And on the Raw of October 21, he faced Rey Misterio because his friend CaÃn Velásquez had a shot at the WWE Championship from Brock Lesnar , at the end he was attacked by Cain Velasquez. In the Main Event on October 31 he defeated Akira Tozawa , his first victory of the year. In the WWE Crown Jewel Kick-Off , he participated in the 20-Man Battle Royal Match for an opportunity to the United States Championship of AJ Styles , however he was eliminated by Humberto Carrillo.
He later went on to chase R-Truth for the Championship 24/7 in the following weeks on Raw , with no success in getting it. In the Main Event broadcast on January 16, 2020 he defeated Akira Tozawa , but in the Main Event broadcast on January 23 he was defeated by Cedric Alexander , days later he participated in the Royal Rumble 2020 Men's Battle where he entered the number 10 where he embraced with Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar and they decided to wait for the next participant but was betrayed by Lesnar who eliminated him.
He was again defeated by Cedric Alexander in the Main Event broadcast on February 6, after the match they shook hands as a sign of respect, in the February 20 broadcast of the Main Event with Eric Young they were defeated by Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder , and in the broadcast of Main Event on February 27 defeated No Way Jose , the following week in Main Event broadcast on March 5, defeated Curt Hawkins , the following week in Main Event he was defeated by Humberto Carrillo , starting a feud with Carrillo in Main Event, I faced Humberto Carrillo on 2 different occasions in the Main Event broadcast on April 16 and April 23, being both defeated.
Fighting style of Shelton Benjamin
- Signature movementsPaydirt ( Leaping reverse STO ) - 2007 – present
- T – Bone Suplex ( Exploder suplex slam , sometimes from elevated position ) - 2003–2007
- Money Clip/Shell Shocka ( Dragon whip ) - 2002-2003
- 450 splash - 2000-2002
- Superkick - 2000–2002
- Bomb Shell ( Turnbuckle powerbomb )
- Dragon whip - 2003-present
- Superkick - 2003-present
- Kneeling spinebuster
- Snap cobra clutch backbreaker
- Flying clothesline
- Neckbreaker slam
- Inverted headlock backbreaker
- Samoan drop
- Dropkick
- Jumping DDT
- Various types of suplex :
- Snape
- xploder
- Bridging German
- Bridging northern lights
- Vertical
- Overhead Belly to belly
- Roundhouse kick
- Somersault iron , occasionally from a ladder
- Hammerlock front slam
- Springboard derivative clothesline , bulldog or somersault neckbreaker
- Running high-angle corner jumping body avalanche
- Tornado DDT
- Managers
- Kurt Angle
- "Momma" Benjamin
- Nicknames
- " The Gold Standard " - WWE
- "Mr. Money in the Bank" - MWF
- "The World's Greatest Athlete" -MWF
- "Shinrya Ku Sha X" (Japanese for Invader X) ( NJPW )
- Entry topics
- "Hell & High Slaughter" by Zack Tempest (WWE) [2002]
Championship and Achievements
- World Wrestling Council / WWCROH World Tag Team Championship ( 2 times ) - with Charlie Haas
- WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time )
- World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE
- WWE Intercontinental Championship ( 3 times )
- WWE United States Championship ( 1 time )
- WWE / Raw Tag Team Championship ( 3 times, current ) - with Charlie Haas (2) and Cedric Alexander (1, current)
- WWE 24/7 Championship ( 3 times )
- Slammy Award (1 time)
- Trash Talker of
- the Year ( 2020 ) as The Hurt Bussiness, Shared with Lacey Evans
- Ohio Valley Wrestling / OVW
- OVW Southern Tag Team Championship ( 4 times ) - with Brock Lesnar (3) and Redd Dogg (1)
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- Team of the year (2003) With Charlie Hass(The World's greatest Tag Team).
- Located in the Nº153 in the PWI 500 in 2001
- Located in the Nº132 in the PWI 500 in 2002
- Located at No.30 in the PWI 500 in 2003
- Located at No.16 in the PWI 500 in 2004
- Located in the Nº9 in the PWI 500 in 2005
- Located in the Nº37 in the PWI 500 in 2006
- Located in the Nº91 in the PWI 500 in 2007
- Located in the Nº62 in the PWI 500 in 2008
- Located at No.31 in the PWI 500 in 2009
- Located at No. 76 in the PWI 500 in 2010
- Located at No.71 in the PWI 500 in 2011
- Located at No. 42 in the PWI 500 in 2012
- Located in the Nº124 in the PWI 500 in 2013
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter
- WON Most Underrated Wrestler - 2005
- WON Most Underrated Wrestler - 2006
- WON Most Underrated Wrestler - 2007
