The Curious Case of Shelton Benjamin

[Deexter Jorgan]

Paul Heyman assisted Kurt Angle by giving him backup in the form of a tag team known as Team angle and would later on become the worlds greatest tag team, little was known about Hass and Benjamin at the time but both men quickly stepped up as competition on smackdown became fierce.

Due to his technical abiltiy and astounding agility shelton benjamin was drafted to raw and began a huge push getting involved with the likes of Triple H

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The Angle managed to gain more momentum continue within weeks and several attempts by evolution to prove the Benjamins win over their leader was a complete fluke

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with the Triple H rub sheltons momentum kept building until he reach the intercontinental title win, which was the pinnacle of sheltons sucess on Raw but something happened, Carlito defeats shelton for his first IC title win and sheltons career becomes stagnent, in an attempt to renew interest the WWE gives shelton benjamin a manager and turns the fresh faced fan favorite into a bitching heel, the attempt works as Shelton makes his way back to the IC title scene capturing his second IC title, soon after the WWE drops the Momma gimmick and attempts to make shelton look like a bad boy, the attempt fails after a loss to Rob Van Damm and a failed reformation of the Worlds greatest tag team sheltons career is in limbo, the otherwise premiere athlete of the wwe wonders around the lower midcard on raw before being moved to ECW where he is repackaged into the Gold standard.

Shelton has an unmatched undefeated streak in ECW and was to hopefully culminate in an ECW title win, but instead it ends as Shelton and Kofi Kingston are engaged in a bitter battle.

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Shelton is then moved to Smackdown where he became the longest reigning champion in 2008 defeating Matt Hardy to secure the US title win, he is then moved up to main event competing in the championship scramble where he showed shear dominance!.

This years money in the bank match looked to take wrestlemania by storm, Shelton seemd like the one man who had the advantage in this match but the WWE failed to pull the trigger, a fresh faced MVP not only defeated Shelton Benjamin for the US championship but left for raw after the draft leaving their feud unresolved, CM Punk secured the MITB case for a second year in the row leaving shelton without a title shot and unable to move up from his midcard hell, Shelton has attempted time and time again to step up but is always thrusted back down.

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with the defeat form John Morrison shelton's chances of moving up have yet to be determined, he will either be left in the midcard jobbing to up and coming stars or will be given his future endevous.

All I need to ask is what happened?, why does is career keep stalling, why does he have yet to taste that brass ring, he is supposed to be a gold standard high calibure talent yet has yet to prove his worth, what happened?

Whats your opinion................


IMO I think shelton keeps coming close but does not have the physical presence and political attitude that most main eventers have in the WWE, with Smackdown looking the way it is at the moment and with so many stars taking time off this may be Sheltons time to prove himself, now the WWE has two choices, either to move shelton back to ECW and give him the title win, or keep him on smackdown to be used as enhancement talent.

Either way his future at this point doesnt look good and needs to do something quick before he is eventually released from the WWE!.

 

[Chill]

I think one of the main things that's holding him back is not his ring work 'cos we all know that it's very good but his mic skills. Everytime he's on the mic he seems a bit lacklustre and we all know the WWE likes someone who can work the stick. Certainly, I think he has the tools to succeed but the only thing I can really think of would be his charisma, that still needs a bit of work imo. I remember those matches he had with Trips and they were great, I really thought he was going somewhere but instead he was reduced to mid card level and had to come to the ring with his fat mama, that really brought him down a notch...

 

[Blade]

It's simple, in the wrestling business, to get to main event status, you need to be over enough and you need some sort of charisma and command of the mic.

Shelton is over, but nowhere near over enough to be pushed to the main event. He's beaten Triple H twice, been Angle's protege, had a great match with HBK and had a long US title run and does the spot of the year at every Money in the Bank. If you're still not over after that, then you don't deserve to be in the main event, no matter how good you are.

And then there's his lack of mic skills. In main event feuds, you need mic skills to progress the angle, simple as. Every time Shelton speaks it's forced and wooden.

If WWE could somehow get him a mic mentor and then maybe put him in an huge, year long push to finally get him over enough to be in the main event, then maybe I'd start caring about him. But until then, he doesn't deserve a push.

 

[Deexter Jorgan]

It's simple, in the wrestling business, to get to main event status, you need to be over enough and you need some sort of charisma and command of the mic.

Bortista has no Charisma, yet hes still allowed mic time and is strangly over, but more so the fact that he is physically freakish and was given the rub by triple H having batista beat him on three different occassions, yes shelton got the rub but was it enough to elevate him?, truthfully no because the WWE didnt do anything with that rub, putting shelton as a credible contender to benoits world title would have given Shelton the edge he needed IMO.

Shelton is over, but nowhere near over enough to be pushed to the main event. He's beaten Triple H twice, been Angle's protege, had a great match with HBK and had a long US title run and does the spot of the year at every Money in the Bank. If you're still not over after that, then you don't deserve to be in the main event, no matter how good you are.

i disagree, the thing i see is that others are being pushed over Benjamin and he is mainly being used to elevate talent, why not try a face turn or give him the chance in the main event, he was way over as the favorite to win the scramble match but didnt, they could have done shelton vs triple h over and over again till edge came back but decided Koslov was more worthy for the push (snore fest), IMO Trips could have at least helped elevate Shelton to be Smackdowns next big heel but again he was tossed aside for the big russian sambo champion who has now been demoted to ECW, was it worth it?.....No

And then there's his lack of mic skills. In main event feuds, you need mic skills to progress the angle, simple as. Every time Shelton speaks it's forced and wooden.

The Ultimate Warrior rambled on pointlessly but yet was over as hell, Matt Hardys Mic skills are ok, yet hes being pushed to the moon recently, if they really wanted shelton to be the next big thing they could have easily given him a mentor someone on the mic that could get him over to the crowd, they did so at one point with momma benjamin but IMO he needs a manager mouth piece to bring him to that level.

If WWE could somehow get him a mic mentor and then maybe put him in an huge, year long push to finally get him over enough to be in the main event, then maybe I'd start caring about him. But until then, he doesn't deserve a push.

You should care about him, he has never had an aweful match, name one match where shelton stank up the joint, I can name you alot of sting or angle matches in TNA that where bad to worse, and these two are main event mainstays!.

 

[JuviJuiceIsLoose]

I've grown to really like Shelton Benjamin as a heel.

I thought that turning him heel was a really bad idea, but know I think he's one of the better heels on Smackdown.

I know the knock on him is that he doesn't have the mic skills to succeed as a Main Event player. Don't get me wrong, I think he still needs work. But I don't think he's a bad as people say he is.

Here's a few examples of good Shelton promos.

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I was worried when I saw that Shelton accompanied Charlie Haas to the ring for his match against John Morrison this week on Smackdown. I thought the WWE was trying to reunite the World's Greatest Tag Team yet again. But I think Shelton was there just to distract Morrison and build heat for their feud.

He did the same thing during Morrison's match against Chris Jericho on this week's Superstars taping.

I don't know if his appearance with Haas was just a one time thing for sure, but I hope it was.

 

[Deexter Jorgan]

I've grown to really like Shelton Benjamin as a heel.

I thought that turning him heel was a really bad idea, but know I think he's one of the better heels on Smackdown.

I know the knock on him is that he doesn't have the mic skills to succeed as a Main Event player. Don't get me wrong, I think he still needs work. But I don't think he's a bad as people say he is.



I was worried when I saw that Shelton accompanied Charlie Haas to the ring for his match against John Morrison this week on Smackdown. I thought the WWE was trying to reunite the World's Greatest Tag Team yet again. But I think Shelton was there just to distract Morrison and build heat for their feud.

He did the same thing during Morrison's match against Chris Jericho on this week's Superstars taping.

I don't know if his appearance with Haas was just a one time thing for sure, but I hope it was.

Those videos are outstanding but also gave me a thought, why didnt the WWE have Elijah Burke as Benjamins mouth piece, the guy was a hell of a good worker on the stick and managed to get Benjamin on to ECW, he should have become benjamins manager and helped elevate him, dont get me wrong his promos are wooden and sound forced but believe me practice makes perfect, if Shelton can invest in an acting coach or someone to help him elevate his mic work i could see big things for the Gold Standard

 

[JuviJuiceIsLoose]

Yeah, the WWE made a bad decision in dropping Elijah Burke.

He was really good in the ring, although not the biggest guy.

And he was absolutely gold on the mic.

But that's another topic for another day.

I really hope he lands on his feet somewhere, because he's a tremendous talent.

 

[Deexter Jorgan]

Yeah, the WWE made a bad decision in dropping Elijah Burke.

He was really good in the ring, although not the biggest guy.

And he was absolutely gold on the mic.

But that's another topic for another day.

I really hope he lands on his feet somewhere, because he's a tremendous talent.

With all the new stars being moved up to main event i dont see why the WWE doesnt have more faith in Shelton, he can work and has ok Mic skills, and the match he had with taker was very well recieved, i just hope that he is either given the push he needs to get going on smackdown or moved to ECW where he can at least get a good run with the title belt, there is no reason why the WWE cant give Shelton another attempt at getting over before its all said and done, i just hope that its not too late.

 

[shazam]

I think that all Shelton needs is a good fued to get him over. There are a few people that could help him out and let everyone see his potential to really get him over. He can work on his mic skills on his way up the ladder.

John Morrison - I think that they could really work well off each other and if Morrison is going to take the face turn that is expected then Shelton would a good solid heel for him to start off his turn and Shelton could get alot of heat from fueding w/ (hopefully) everyone's new good guy.

Rey Mysterio - Let him get another shot at the IC title just to remind everyone the level that he has been at, and again Rey is very close to the biggest face in wrestling so this could draw heat.

Cryme Tyme - He could team back up w/ Charlie Haas and Shelton could complain how Cryme Tyme is just a horrible sterotype of what people think about black people, calling them racist and things along that line. After getting over on CT the newly reformed world's greatest tag team could call out the unified tag champs, have a title shot at a ppv, and lose... leading into

Charlie Haas - Even though Charlie is pretty low on the WWE totem pole I think that having a tag team fued is something people can get behind. Charlie could be blamed for their previous loses and Shelton could just beat him up all the time, in matches, after matches, backstage, anywhere. Charlie could be extremely sorry and want to make everything right between the two and try to make peace and Shelton pretends all is forgiven then attacks him and puts him on the shelf for awhile.


I def think that Shelton has one more of those long title runs in him for the IC belt... but what happens after that will determine his future.

 

[Deexter Jorgan]

I think that all Shelton needs is a good fued to get him over. There are a few people that could help him out and let everyone see his potential to really get him over. He can work on his mic skills on his way up the ladder.

John Morrison - I think that they could really work well off each other and if Morrison is going to take the face turn that is expected then Shelton would a good solid heel for him to start off his turn and Shelton could get alot of heat from fueding w/ (hopefully) everyone's new good guy.

Rey Mysterio - Let him get another shot at the IC title just to remind everyone the level that he has been at, and again Rey is very close to the biggest face in wrestling so this could draw heat.

Cryme Tyme - He could team back up w/ Charlie Haas and Shelton could complain how Cryme Tyme is just a horrible sterotype of what people think about black people, calling them racist and things along that line. After getting over on CT the newly reformed world's greatest tag team could call out the unified tag champs, have a title shot at a ppv, and lose... leading into

Charlie Haas - Even though Charlie is pretty low on the WWE totem pole I think that having a tag team fued is something people can get behind. Charlie could be blamed for their previous loses and Shelton could just beat him up all the time, in matches, after matches, backstage, anywhere. Charlie could be extremely sorry and want to make everything right between the two and try to make peace and Shelton pretends all is forgiven then attacks him and puts him on the shelf for awhile.


I def think that Shelton has one more of those long title runs in him for the IC belt... but what happens after that will determine his future.

IMO Shelton needs to stay away from Charlie Haas, he needs to go forward not backwards, the fact is Shelton has more singles runs left in him, he can do a damn good job for this business, the fact is Shelton is only lacking Mic Wise, IMO he has all the tools to go to the top but is taking more time to accomplish it then guys such as Cena, Shelton can work better then most on the roster and i have never seen a bad match out of him, sooner or later he needs to either step up, or move to ECW to at least prove he can hold the main belt otherwise Shelton will still be jobbing to more and more up and comers such as morrison.

 

[nthomas504]

I like tha fact that everyone wants Shelton to become main event, and believe me, it would be a sight to see. But maybe Mid-Card is all the WWE needs him to be. He's excellent at it to me. Sure a push would be awsome. But Shelton being a Multi-Intercontinal/US Champ would be just as impressive. HOF worthy to me.

 

[nthomas504]

Just to explain what i mean about Benjamin. Everyone talks about how good Benjamin is and how he should be in the main event. Believe me, I'm a die hard Shelton Benjamin fan. But lets think about this. Orton, Batista, Cena, and Shelton all have one thing in common, they all came in the same year. The difference is that those three individuals were recognized more. Now its safe to say that Shelton in real life would be able to beat all three of them (maybe Batista) because of his wrestling background, so skill is not the problem. Many argue because he doesnt have Mic skills, well, u show me a good Batista promo, and i'll show you a good Shelton promo, and i can surely say that Shelton has has great promos in the past. It cant be the look because to me (no homo to tha fullest), Shelton looks very athletic, and has a geniue heel attitude, and can play a pretty good face when given the chance.

We all can see similar shadows of previous superstars in those particualar four. Orton's has Austin's ruthlessness, Cena has Hogan and Rocks charisma, Batista has Takers "doesnt have to say much, but lets his actions take control", and Shelton has Kurt Angles "im better than you, and its true."

So really what is holding questionably the most athletic superstar in the WWE from Main-Event Status. Creative. I believe that creative has no Main-Event plans for Shelton Benjamin. He has done some impresive things in his career so far. And he can reach the top of the Mid-card tower in no time. But putting him in the main-event is not a necessity. He has basically keep the same position he is in for years, besides a gimmick change, he virually the same character. I know he'll be in the HOF some day, he just wont be headlining it.

 

[Hero]

Shelton doesn't have near the required charisma to be a main eventer. Sure, he's good in the ring. Sure, he's athletic. But what a main eventer needs more than anything is charisma, and sadly, Shelton doesn't have that charisma.

He rose through the midcard in 2004 so rapidly because he was being pushed as a bluechip face, who was athletic. Basically, the crowd got behind him because what he was pushed for was his wrestling. The thing is that he came to a roadblock after awhile, and that was because to progress any further, charisma was required. Shelton, as stated above, doesn't have it. He's pretty much been lingering in the same spot for years now because he hasn't improved eoughto move up. Sure, he's got a tiny bit of charisma now, but even the so called 'good' Shelton promos aren't anywhere near good enough. Could you see this guy on the mic, trading insults with Triple H? With Edge? With John Cena? With Randy Orton? No to all. He's just not in their league.

Fact is that Shelton is this generation's Chris Benoit. Whether or not he'll reach the pinaccle of the World Heavyweight Title like Benoit did eventually or not is highly doubtful, but he's basically a career midcarder. He can go in the ring, and that's what they'll use him for.

 

[Kaze Enigma]

Shelton doesn't have near the required charisma to be a main eventer. Sure, he's good in the ring. Sure, he's athletic. But what a main eventer needs more than anything is charisma, and sadly, Shelton doesn't have that charisma.

He rose through the midcard in 2004 so rapidly because he was being pushed as a bluechip face, who was athletic. Basically, the crowd got behind him because what he was pushed for was his wrestling. The thing is that he came to a roadblock after awhile, and that was because to progress any further, charisma was required. Shelton, as stated above, doesn't have it. He's pretty much been lingering in the same spot for years now because he hasn't improved eoughto move up. Sure, he's got a tiny bit of charisma now, but even the so called 'good' Shelton promos aren't anywhere near good enough. Could you see this guy on the mic, trading insults with Triple H? With Edge? With John Cena? With Randy Orton? No to all. He's just not in their league.

Fact is that Shelton is this generation's Chris Benoit. Whether or not he'll reach the pinaccle of the World Heavyweight Title like Benoit did eventually or not is highly doubtful, but he's basically a career midcarder. He can go in the ring, and that's what they'll use him for.

Hero i happen to agree with you even though Shelton was the reason i got into the WWE and wresteling in General. Shelton is destined to be a mid carder for life while he has the skills to be the best his charisma will always hold him back. He needs to go to an acting coach to work on his promo delivery otherwise he is destined to be a multiple IC/US champion with a few tag team reigns.
.... Future HOF.... Hopefully.

 

[The Palace of Wisdom]

Shelton Benjamin is still a relatively young man. He doesn't have the presence in the ring that warrants a HUGE push like the likes of Cena, Batista, and Orton got upon their debuts. He doesn't have that look, that marketability.

But what Shelton does have is fan support. He is an internet darling, and for good reason. He has proven to be an entertaining in-ring competitor, with the capability to steal the show at any given time. I believe he has improved a lot, and the only thing that seems to be lacking, in my eyes, is the creative team's direction for him.

He has a persona now. The Gold Standard is a monniker that is both catchy and appropriate. He has been a champion multiple times over, and he's only just begininng.

Shelton will get his chance on the top of the heap. All he needs is the chance. He has proven to have it when in the ring with HHH, HBK, The Undertaker, and other wrestlers at the top. This guy can go, and once Creative finds something significant for him to do, we'll all be in for a treat.