Shelton Benjamin... what happened?

[Stickstar 16]

What happened to Shelton is what happens to a lot of stars in the WWE. He gets brought in because they see some promise and potential in him, put him under the wing of an established superstar to give him some credibility and backing for his intial push, then he is put into a program for a mid card title, then slowly he is put into a program with some serious main eventers because they have the talent and ability to put him over and make him look legit, only to discover he lacks the ability to talk and has about as much charisma as a tree stump.

To be honest Shelton should wake up every day thanking the lord that he is still employed by the WWE. He has been given every opportunity to shine and show the WWE that he has what it takes to become a World Heavyweight or WWE Champion, and he hasn't taken it. Matt Hardy is better on the mike than Shelton, even Jeff, and even though they're two of my fav wrestlers i can't help but laugh when they speak. Jeff Hardy has been fired once, suspeneded twice, and still has had a WWE title reign, albeit for only a month, but he has been headlining PPV for the last half a year. How bad does that make Shelton look when a druggie is seen as a more reliable champion than him.

What i remember Shelton most for is being a guy with ability, but who is mainly a spot monkey known for jumping off shit, running up ladders, and jumping into a Superkick. Shelton was part of the reason for Matt Hardy's US title reign being so boring and when he was given the title he did nothing with it in any of his matches that brought presteige or got him any closer to the WWE title than being filler or pinfall material in the Scramble matches at Unforgiven.

So Shelton is what happened to Shelton.

 

[Hardinhoff]

Has anyone ever thought that the reason that Shelton is content is because he LIKES doing high spots and LIKES being involved in show-stealing matches? Maybe he realizes that if he becomes a main-eventer, he'll have to succumb to the watered-down main event wrestling that normally takes place. He won't be able to do those spots.

I agree with everyone that says Shelton is the reason, but not with why. It's not mic skills...his aren't great but they aren't horrible either(anyone heard a Khali promo? My point exactly). He's a little charismatic (I must be the only one that watched him on ECW when he was gunning for the title). I also feel he is capable of telling a story in the ring (Again, ECW push). I could be a bit biased but I feel like eventually we will see Shelton in the spotlight...maybe when we least expect it.

 

[mikeRC]

Shelton Benjamin is just building his character and he's been doing it well since he first tried out the whole "Gold Standard" thing on ECW which ultimitely along with his very good feud with Kofi Kingston brought him to Smackdown. The Shelton Benjamin of today is far more interesting than the up and coming rookie of 2004 or 2005. He's entertaining in the ring and can pull off some good matches especially with high profile stars (see his recent matches with HHH).

People say that he's terrible on the mic but there are far worse people in higher positions like Jeff Hardy or CM Punk.

I believe he was looking to be brought up to main event status on Smackdown however the main event was completely full at the time with Edge, HHH and Jeff Hardy. I doubt there would have been any room for Shelton whilst Hardy was on his hunt for the title or when HHH was ruining the Edge/Vicky wedding. So instead of bringing him up they still build on his character with feuds with R-Truth and MVP.

Main event status will come for Shelton Benjamin and right now he's not in a bad position. He's in a better spot now than he was when he was on ECW last year or when he was jobbing on Raw in 2007.

 

[daring2defy]

To be quite honest, everytime I see Shelton Benjamin get into the ring, I fear for his life! I mean, the guy has TONS and TONS of athletic ability, don't get me wrong, but after performing highspot after highspot, each getting more and more dangerous.....Shelton is an injury waiting to happen. Thats goes without saying, the guy has talent, but he could put his talent to better use by telling a story in the ring, and building a match appropriately to one or two highspots, which will always get a bigger pop than one crazy move, after another, after another. His mic work isn't the greatest either, and by "isn't the greatest", I mean REALLY bad. Thats not to say it can't get better in time, I mean, from what I can remember, Chris Jericho's promo's weren't always amazing (pre-WCW days). My final verdict, Shelton is talented, but overrated, and until he stops being a "spot monkey", and begins to learn how to build a match, he will always be a mid card talent in my mind....thats with, or without a push.

 

[Chris in SC]

I don't really know what it is, but he's just missing SOMETHING. Maybe charisma is the right word? For me personally, there's just nothing about him that makes me give a crap about him one way or the other. I don't like him, I don't hate him, I certainly don't say 'I hope Shelton gets TV time on Smackdown this week.'

Everybody talks about bathroom-break matches and promos and Benjamin is definitely that for me.

I guess I just don't see the give-a-damn in him. Maybe earlier posters were right and that he's content to be a mid-carder and that's it.

 

[Kaze Enigma]

Ok well it seems most of you guys agree that shelton has no charisma and yeah i see your point.

Still one of the best pure wrestlers in the wwe and would go over massive in ROH and TNA as they actually appreciate what the WWE used to be about....... WRESTLING

 

[kaoscage]

I would love to see Shelton go to main event status, heck I would like it more if Haas went to the main even since I like Haas more. But lets look at him. As some one send before he is content at being a midcarder. In the wrestling you really have to give 110% to be the top and Shelton does not do that. He does great spots all the time, but all his good matches have been with Haas either one vs one or as a tag team.
Haas and Benjamin as a team can be the next guys to bring Tag Team back to the spot lights. With the Colons, Rhodes and DiBiase and Cryme Tyme we can have so great Fatal Four way tag team matches. I hope they leave Haas and Benjamin as a team, it seems to be the only way WWE will let these guys get over. Maybe they could even have them go singles, but stay as a faction always looking out for one another...ala Triple H and HBK, Samoa Joe and Styles, Flair and Batista.

 

[S.K. Cid]

It would be nice to see Shelton go Main-event, but I don't see it.

Look, there's nothing WRONG or SHAMEFUL about him being in the midcard. He's a great midcarder, and he has the respect of a lot of fans. He still looks good and domineering in the ring, but I don't think he has the charisma to be in the main event.

He still looks strong in the midcard. Sure he's kind of jobbing now, but he's being used as he should: A stepping stone for face talents into the higher echelons of wrestling. He's only losing to Jo-Mo because Jo-Mo's getting pushed high.

In conclusion, I think Shelton Benjamin will be a mid card for life, and I dont thin kthat it is a bad thing. He's great, and he doesn't HAVE to be in the main event to impres us and gain the respect of the fans.

 

[The Palace of Wisdom]

Shelton is fine. We live in the moment a little too much as wrestling fans sometimes. Shelton, barring anything tragic, still has a few years left in the tank. He has PLENTY of time to become a World Champion. Just because he hasn't been elevated yet doesn't mean he won't be. And from accounts I've read, Shelton is happy with his role, because he's respected and has already made more money than he ever thought he could.

I think Shelton is going to get a title run at some point in the next handful of years. It will be one of those "late in the career thank you" title reigns, and it will probably only last a couple of months.

But it will shut all of us up.

 

[Razor]

Simple, he stopped having matches with HBK, and started relying on high risk spots to get him over rather than charisma (which he lacks), ring psychology, or storytelling, the guy can't cut a promo worth a shit and botches about every other move he does, there is nothing special about Butterfingers Benjamin, nothing special at all, the reason the match with HBK was so good was because it was with HBK, the guy also managed to drag a decent match out of Chris Masters as well, HBK is one of the few guys who can drag good matches out of just about anyone he gets in the ring with

^^^This. Replace HBK with Cena and it still works!

Benjamin never really tried, I believe. He just relied on jumping really high to get people to like his matches. He was never really good on the mic. He has the heel smirk down....then he tries to speak and fucks it all up. He doesn't understand anything about wrestling, really. Unless you count getting a lot of people to make excuses like "He has potential! He's athletic!" as being good.

Give Benjamin a match against HBK or Cena again, and you'll be saying "Wow! what a great match! This is the Benjamin I remember!" I mean, Cena got a match out of Khali for christ's sake. and as said, HBK got a match from Chris Masters for fuck's sake.