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Shelton Benjamin (born July 9, 1975 in Orangeburg, South Carolina) is an American professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler now working for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)'s RAW brand. Shelton Benjamin is touted as being "the most athletic wrestler working on the RAW roster" by the WWE.

Career

Shelton Benjamin had a 122-10 win-loss record while attending high school. 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 Titles on three occasions. He and Lesnar appeared in WWE magazines while still in OVW.

After Lesnar was called up to World Wrestling Entertainment, Benjamin formed a tag team with Redd Dogg Begnaud to again hold the OVW Tag Team Titles. Shelton did compete on some episodes of WWE 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 in 2002. Shelton Benjamin wore a green no hole mask on these episodes of HEAT.

SmackDown!

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 their mentor Kurt Angle.

Their first official match in the 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) on February 6, 2003. The two men then went on to compete in their first WrestleMania which was WrestleMania XIX. A month later where they would retain the WWE Tag Team Championship in a match involving the team of Rhyno and Benoit, and Los Guerreros. Team Angle would win the match after pinning Chavo Guerrero. Team Angle would later lose the titles to Eddie Guerrero and, new partner, Tajiri, who was a substitute for the injured Chavo Guerrero during the Judgment Day pay-per-view in 2003 only to win the titles back a couple of weeks later on SmackDown!.

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 titles until Los Guerreros returned and took them away. 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. Benjamin would then be drafted to RAW and his career would begin to take off.

RAW

Upon arriving on RAW, Benjamin quickly became a face singles star by picking up an upset pinfall victory on one of WWE's main event superstars, Triple H. Benjamin continued being pushed as an up-and-coming star, picking up two more victories over Triple H and feuding with the other members of Evolution. This even saw Benjamin defeat Ric Flair during Backlash 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 would return, in the fall of 2004, and would be chosen by the fans to compete for the WWE Intercontinental Championship in a match against then-champion Chris Jericho at Taboo Tuesday. Benjamin would win this match; winning his first singles title in the company.

During his reign as the Intercontinental Champion, Benjamin defeated challengers such as Christian, Maven, Gene Snitsky, Chris Jericho, and Muhammad Hassan before losing the title to Carlito on June 20, 2005

During this time, Benjamin would 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 where the winner would receive a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship. The finish of this match saw Michaels' Sweet Chin Music Benjamin while he was in mid-air springboarding towards Michaels. 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 RAW's sister show HEAT and 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. Matt Striker came to his aid in one of their matches, but turned on Benjamin soon after in a tag match between the four.

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. For example, she would hit Viscera with a brick hidden in her handbag, and stabbing Val Venis' "bottom" with one of her hairpins. Though Momma got Benjamin off his losing streak she would slowly turn him heel.

As soon as Benjamin turned heel he gained more confidence which won him intercontinental championship gold once again. 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 (who was now wheel chair bound), 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 during 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 emphasized 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. He also lost in a 6-man tag match between himself, Matt Striker, and Chris Masters against Haas, Van Dam, and Carlito. Benjamin was pinned by Van Dam after a 5 Star Frog Splash. In another tag match, Benjamin was about to use a steel chair, which made Haas run down to the ring and take it off him, causing a distraction and allowing Carlito to roll up Benjamin for the victory and another loss for Benjamin. His feud with RVD led to a match at Backlash 2006 where both RVD's title contract and Benjamin's Intercontinental Title were on the line. This "Winner Takes All" match saw Rob Van Dam come out on top. Shelton Benjamin had wrestled in four WrestleMania matches, and in all four matches, he would have at least one opponent who would capture the WWE Championship in less than 12 months.

However, it wouldn't be long before Benjamin regained the title from RVD, which happened in a Texas tornado tag match, putting Benjamin, Triple H and Chris Masters against Van Dam and John Cena, Both the WWE and Intercontinental championships could be won by whoever pinned the appropriate champion. After Triple H pedigreed Van Dam, he didn't want his title so he went for a pedigree on Cena, and went for the pin. However, Benjamin managed to get to RVD first, and got the pin and the Intercontinental championship. This would be Benjamin's third Intercontinental Championship reign in under two years.

Benjamin lost the Intercontinental Title in a Triple Threat Match against Johnny Nitro & Carlito at Vengeance 2006 to Nitro. Benjamin's losing streak continued on Raw when he lost to John Cena by tapping out to the STFU.

Wrestling facts

  • Finishing and signature moves

  • Managers

  • Nicknames
  • Mr. Benjamin
  • Momma's Boy

Championships and accomplishments

  • 2005 African-American Wrestler of the Year

Defeated The Disciples of Synn (BJ Payne and Damien) on February 13, 2001 in Jeffersonville, Indiana, USA
Lost to The Disciples of Synn (BJ Payne and Damien) on April 22, 2001 in Louisville, Kentucky, USA

Defeated The Disciples of Synn (BJ Payne and Damien) on May 16, 2001 in Louisville, Kentucky, USA
Title was vacated when Benjamin was injured.

Defeated Rico Constantino and The Prototype on October 29, 2001 in Louisville, Kentucky, USA
Lost to Jason Lee and Derrick King on November 7, 2001 in Louisville, Kentucky, USA

  • OVW Southern Tag Team Championship (4) (with Redd Dogg)
Defeated Trailer Park Trash and Flash Flanagan on July 17, 2002 in Jeffersonville, Indiana, USA
Titles were vacated when Redd Dogg and Benjamin were called up to the RAW roster.

  • PWI Tag Team of the Year Award, with Charlie Haas (2003)
  • PWI Top 500 wrestlers: ranked 9th (2005)

  • 2005 Most Underrated Wrestler

Defeated Los Guerreros (Eddie Guerrero & Chavo Guerrero) on February 4, 2003 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Lost to Eddie Guerrero & Tajiri on May 18, 2003 in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

Defeated Eddie Guerrero & Tajiri on July 1, 2003 in Rochester, New York, USA
Lost to Los Guerreros (Eddie Guerrero & Chavo Guerrero) on September 16, 2003 in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA

Defeated Chris Jericho on October 19, 2004 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Lost to Carlito on June 20, 2005 in Phoenix, Arizona, USA

  • WWE Intercontinental Championship (2)
Defeated Ric Flair on February 20, 2006 in Trenton, New Jersey, USA
Lost to Rob Van Dam on April 30, 2006 in Lexington, Kentucky, USA

  • WWE Intercontinental Championship (3)
Defeated Rob Van Dam on May 15, 2006 in Lubbock, Texas, USA
Lost to Johnny Nitro on June 25, 2006 in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

  • 2005 Most Underrated Wrestler

Trivia

  • His favorite wrestlers growing up were Sting, Steiner Brothers, and 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).
  • Shelton Benjamin was best man at the wedding of Charlie Haas and Jackie Gayda.
  • In a interview with IGN.com Shelton Benjamin said that he didn't steal the "Stinger Splash" from Sting, but uses it as a tribute to him.
  • Shelton Benjamin is one of only four people (the others being Chris Benoit, Batista, and Shawn Michaels) to beat Triple H three times in a row, beating him by pinfall, countout and disqualification, respectively.
  • Shelton Benjamin has worn a yellow ribbon on the back of his kickpad in support of the troops.
  • Shelton Benjamin has entered the past two WrestleMania's (21 & 22) as the Intercontinental Champion in both Money in the Bank Ladder Matches, and lost both times.
  • Shelton Benjamin shares a birthday with Kevin Nash and Marc Mero.
  • Shelton Benjamin has had four matches at WrestleMania and one of his opponents in all four of them went on to become WWE Champion in less then 12 months. They are Eddie Guerrero, JBL, Edge and Rob Van Dam.
  • Shelton Benjamin made history by being the first man in WWE history to defend and retain the WWE Intercontinental Championship twice in the same night against the same opponent, Maven at New Years Revolution 2005.

References

External links

1975 births | American professional wrestlers | American sport wrestlers | Living people | People from South Carolina | African American professional wrestlers

Shelton Benjamin | Shelton Benjamin | Shelton Benjamin | שלטון בנג'מין | Shelton Benjamin | シェルトン・ベンジャミン | Shelton Benjamin | Shelton Benjamin | Shelton Benjamin

 

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