Shelton Benjamin Done?

[Afro-Ameri-Spawn]

During his time in the WWE, Shelton Benjamin has went from being a tag team champion and midcarder on Smackdown, to being a IC champion and midcarder on RAW, and then a trip to ECW. Where he essentially is a midcarder again.

He has the skills. He has the athleticism. He has the talent. But for some reason, Shelton Benjamin has never been able to break through to being a main event wrestlers. So now, as he is essentially on the "C", he is once again down at the midcard level as he feuds with ECW newcomer Kofi Kingston.

So my question is this. Is this just the beginning of Shelton finally finding his way out of the midcard ranks or is he essentially done ever getting pushed again?

 

[Audioslave]

"he is once again down at the midcard level"

Once again? Shelton has always been at the midcard level and has sometimes been on the verge of breaking through, but never quite making it. This seems to be his first real feud in a long time. The Kane thing pattered out and disappeared.. and I can't really think of anything he did for a while before that of any substance. This Kofi thing seems to be a way to elevate both guys, but who knows.

What irks me about Shelton is that he's been given so many chances to break through and he's NEVER been able to make anything stick. This is why it disheartens me that they don't use Elijah Burke, since he (as opposed to Shelton) is a total package. Charismatic, can talk, has skill, can work and he has a good look. Shelton only has the last three down, but not the first two. I mean, he has charisma, it's just.. not enough to punch him through, whereas I believe Burke could be a future main-eventer for the company just based on that alone.

 

[klunderbunker]

I think for now Shelton is done. He had the best chance possible back when he was getting that IC run back in I want to say 2005. He was on fire back then and I always thought all he needed was one main event shot that he never got. Right now I think the main thing he needs to do is dye his damn hair. Shelton is a great talent in the ring and could be a main eventer in WWE based on that alone, but everytime I see him I think of Ernest Miller. That blonde hair makes him lose any seriousness he could have in my eyes. He needs to get off ECW so he can have something longer than a 6 minute match once in awhile. He's not done, but if WWE doesn't finally get him right he is.

 

[Gelgarin]

And what exactly was wrong with Ernest Miller?

On the topic of Shelton; I don't think he's done, if only because more or less every young talent on ECW is guaranteed to get a title feud at some point in time. (In spite of how it seems, WWE really can't keep showing Kane Vs Chavo forever.

I don't think the guys much good to be honest. His in ring skill of overrated, and his charisma... well It's hard to find adjectives for things that don't exist. Nevertheless but a couple of decent matches and perhaps a memorable high spot could earn him a new fan base with the minimum of effort; and if it doesn't then he can go back to jobbing for Kofi.

If he was on RAW or Smackdown then I'd say he was done; pushes on those shows are few and far between, and you only get so many shots at the big time before you become perpetual Snitsky food. On ECW; why not, pushing him makes about as much sense as pushing anyone else, and certainly a lot more sense than pushing Mike Knox.
So now I’ve meandered around the point long enough; no, he’s probably not done. He’ll get a push, but it probably wont be soon and it probably wont get him over as a main eventer.

 

[Danmen001]

The guy, I hate to say it, is DONE.

DON'T get me wrong here, I think he is a great athlete and decent on the mic. But he just doesn't have enough charisma to make it too the big times. His matches seem to be boring, something in them makes it boring. His time will never come because of the way he is booked.

Sure, he will always get his high spots in ladder matches. Sure he is a great athlete, one of the greatest pure athletes there is. But he will never make it simple for the reason, of his booking.

 

[The Mark of Zur-En-Arrh]

Shelton needs to make some powerful friends backstage or do something that's pure impro to get people's attention.

He's been in 3 out of 4 MITB ladder matches and has provided some of the best action in all 3, yet is still mid card jobbing on the 'C' show. How can a guy go from debuting on Smackdown and being a 3 time tag champ in his rookie year, to moving to Raw and beating the one of the company's biggest names and no. 1 talent burier 3 times in a row, then having 2 long IC title reigns, to doing nothing for nearly 2 years now, when his wrestling ability is far better than some of the guys in the ME tier?

 

[FoleyIsGod]

Expect a push on ECW in the near future, along with Eiljah Burke being mvoed to another brand. WWE are having craploads of negative publicity from the Michael Haynes "*****" incident. Plus they want a black star that appeals to the black demogaphic, something they have not had since Booker T first came into the promotion.

 

[Sicko]

This "Gold Standard" thing is working very well I think but they need to push him up to at least compete for the ECW championship instead of having him pick on Kofi then he will likely end up losing to Kofi Kingston but that will be a GREAT match because they are very similar as far as athletic ability goes

I don't know who is in charge of ECW but they suck, I think Knox has potential but they don't use him well, same for Elijah Burke

Shelton is doing well in ECW I think, even developed a little charisma but for some reason they still won't push him even in ECW

 

[HellBoundPower]

I think the biggest problem with Shelton right now is that he's just not a credible heel. He was much better as an underdog face, facing off against people with more experience than him. His mini-feud with Triple H got him SUPER-over when he was a face, and led to two lengthy Intercontinental Title Reigns. Then they turned him heel and had his "Mama" as his manager, and that's when his credibility went down the shitter. It's been hard to take him seriously ever since. I think after his feud with Kofi he needs to shave that God-awful blonde hair off and revert back to an underdog face. Maybe Kane could turn heel and Shelton could feud with him for the ECW Title. Losing for a few months before finally conquering the giant for the Gold. That would put him over with authority. He's much more suited for this than as the cocky heel.

 

[xmoshx]

shelton best chance to get in the main event scene was when he was on raw facin triple h he has all the talent in the world but just has a borin personality he kinda reminds me of benoit both solid ring workers but couldnt talk on the mic to save there lives

 

[Sparky]

i think shelton benjamin is done for, simply becouse he isnt entertaining becouse of his character.
Bu with that being said if creative was to rapackage him, and finally decide whether he will be a face or heel he might be savable. Look at Gregory Helms he was a jobber almost a nobody when he was the hurricane but as soon as the wwe dropped the gimmick he was actualy entertaining that saved his career imo. if you was to do that to shelton give him an actual gimmick he might be able to move from midcarder. either that or he will have to wait for the next tradgedy to happen and capitolise on it like ray and nitro

 

[Afro-Ameri-Spawn]

Shelton needs to make some powerful friends backstage or do something that's pure impro to get people's attention.

He's been in 3 out of 4 MITB ladder matches and has provided some of the best action in all 3, yet is still mid card jobbing on the 'C' show. How can a guy go from debuting on Smackdown and being a 3 time tag champ in his rookie year, to moving to Raw and beating the one of the company's biggest names and no. 1 talent burier 3 times in a row, then having 2 long IC title reigns, to doing nothing for nearly 2 years now, when his wrestling ability is far better than some of the guys in the ME tier?

It's sad to think that the biggest thing that Shelton has done since beating Triple H is the spot where he took a superkick to the face from Shawn Michaels. I doubt that anything, even new found affirmative action practices due to Michael Hayes mouth, will be able to help Benjamin resurrect his career.

 

[Father:_Polley]

I wouldn't say he's completely done though. Ok, so he may not be getting the big push that he deserves, he's still there. he's teamed with one of the brighter prospects on ECW, against Kofi Kingston. He's just biding his time until he gets a mid-card title push again. Big deal if he's not main event yet...if he keeps hanging around there's a chance he'll get a push in the future. Patience is needed though

 

[RoyHahn]

I don't believe Benjamin is done. However, he's close. The writers need to use him on ECW. Otherwise, he'll be lost in the fray. With Burke and Kingston rising through ECW, Benjamin is caught with nothing in ECW. He's a talented guy, and can do well. I think he should be used to feud with Kane, and maybe win the title eventually. Then, after he loses the title, move him into Smackdown for the US title. They need more contenders there.

 

[AnthonyMango/NoFate007]

Right now, Shelton doesn't have the momentum to even win the ECW title, and if you don't have that, you have no chance at winning the WHC or WWE titles.

Best option for him, in my opinion, is to take MVP's spot when he moves up to the main event. Raw doesn't have enough time for their midcard talent, for the most part, so that's a better spot for Burke to fill. Benjamin needs to run with the US title if he wants to stay at the very least on the same level he's on now. Otherwise, we'll be seeing a reunion with Haas very soon.

Also, there's the issue of his gimmick/personality. He's adopted the "cocky black guy" personality...though we already have Killings coming up most likely with that gimmick, Burke, and MVP.....Kofi is already the happy-go-lucky guy, so what does he have to do in order to have people notice him? I say, push Shelton as a face, but not so much the "all smiles Kofi Kingston" type, instead, push him as more of a "healthy competition" kind of guy. Shelton comes out looking for challenges, gets beaten sometimes, but asks for a rematch and wants to test himself to the limits. Sure, we might not care about him that much, but do we really care about him now?

 

[a7xoff]

I don't know what to think of Shelton anymore. Here as Spawn said he was tag champ on SD!, IC champ on Raw, now on ECW. He had insane momentum on Raw when he first got there. He beat HHH twice in a row, which for a guy comin over from SD! as a mid carder is impressive. Things IMO started to go downhill for Shelton when they decided to bring in his "momma." I'm sorry, but I just do not think that made him look good or strong at all. From that point, I can't remember him doing anything else noteworthy. He has incredible athletic ability, and his mic skills are.... ok I guess the word would be. He's not as good as Santino or Y2J on the mic, but nowhere near as bad as say Charlie Haas, who has talent, but no mic skills at all.

I think Shelton's time in the WWE spotlight is runing out fast. If WWE wants toever have him back in the upper mid card they need him to essitally do one of two things.... A.) Win the ECW title. He's on the C show right now, where the mid card is essietally the lower card for either Raw or SD!. or B.) Switch to Raw or SD! and get a US/IC title run. Shelton was a pretty good IC champ, but once he lost it and WWE brought his momma in, he was finished. If WWE wants to see this kid move up again, the time is running out for them to do so.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

I am just so vastly dissappointed by the idea of building Shelton a little, simply to feed him to Kofi. I just dont understand how they arent capable of staying behind a push for this guy. Even his promo skills and out of ring prescence has improved greatly. Honestly, he may very well be done. If they cant even push him against a face ECW champion, who is glorified enhancement talent at this point (Kane) he never will be pushed. Shamefull.

 

[Slim Pickns]

I am just so vastly dissappointed by the idea of building Shelton a little, simply to feed him to Kofi. I just dont understand how they arent capable of staying behind a push for this guy. Even his promo skills and out of ring prescence has improved greatly. Honestly, he may very well be done. If they cant even push him against a face ECW champion, who is glorified enhancement talent at this point (Kane) he never will be pushed. Shamefull.

I was excited when he first went to ECW because he could actually win matches, get a push, and appear on Smackdown. To now know that his build was simply to put over Kofi is sad. I can only hope that this feud will pick up and both men will look good after.

Shelton to me, seems like another one of the superstars that are being held back for no reason. There has to be someone in the back holding him down because there is no reason he shouldn't be pushed. His promo skills are bad, but Triple H has been on top for a while and the only way he knows how to do a promo is by burying the other guy or making a joke that 12 olds find immature. Anytime Shelton gets momentum, its inexplainibly taken away. Remember on the ECW episodes leading into the Rumble, he got more hype than anybody. Then when it came Rumble time, he was kicked out by HBK in 20 seconds. Did HBK need a rub there so badly that he needed to boot out Shelton in under a minute. What about when WGTT and the Hardys had a great ladder match that looked to turn the division around? Shelton looked great coming out of that, but he had to get sqaushed by HHH three weeks later. Why, did HHH really need the boost?

Shelton is either A) being held back by someone backstage or B) asked to job so often and is too softspoken to argue about it. Therefore management is always comfortable with him jobbing.

 

[kieran_devlin]

For me Shelton is the most entertaining in ring the WWE has. He has great skill and ability at wrestling that converts to a huge list of moves and athletisicm.

Now as for his ECW tenure if they cant even get him in a serious feud with a semi decent wrestler that is established then how is he meant to become a world champion one day.

If wwe dosnt step in and move him to Smackdown to build him up for a title or back to RAW wher he can at least have a semi decent person to feud with then he will fade away into jobberdome and be one of the WWEs most underused talents.

As Joey Styles said he is a human highlight reel!

Benjamin has the talent to get him over with the general audience and he can get over with us smarks so to speak.

EVEN KHALI who cant even speak english got a world title reign come on Shelton has a better than average mic skill and seriously as long as he can not bugger up a line and sounds entertaining whats the big deal?

As Slim said someone has to be holding him back because he has the ability to show up the whole WWE roster.
Maybe because he is so talented they would have to start pushing other unused but great talents in order to keep WWE looking realistic?

 

[shua08]

If they don't change his gimmick he'll fade into complete jobber mode, if they do change his gimmick i think they should have him mimic Kurt Angle to an extent. Make him into this wrestling machine, he does have a quite impressive wrestling resume'. Maybe have him lose the fued with Kofi and him being so pissed about it, have him do a more amatuer wrestling style with takedown(Single, and double leg, maybe a few running slams) keep the exploder as his secondary finisher and use Haas's Hass of pain submission for his normal finisher.

Attitude wise he has to be intense all the time, when doing interviews be complete business, Ultra confident with his Amatuer background that he can do takedowns on anyone he faces.

I think it would be a good mix if they also kept a few of his high-spot moves for the impact but more of a ground chain wrestler.

 

[Mr. TM]

I think Shelton Benjamin needs a running mate to the top of the WWE. The Rock had Stone Cold, who helped bring him from an unpopular face to one of the greatest entertainers of all time. Shelton just needs to have someone like that, as well as a backdrop of great matches, and great storylines. If he were to feud with Kofi Kingston for the Cruiserweight title on WWECW it could create two great wrestlers and further both of their careers.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

It looks like this thread is redundant. From Smackdown I got the impression we'll soon be seeing a Hardy/Shelton push. It'll probably start at ONS, Ladder match is my guess. Then they'll have another match, then new US Champ. It's not like Hardy is going to have a long run like MVP, he also won't elivate anybody. He'll pass it on to Shelton, of that I'm certain. Mid card is exactly where Shelton should be. Team him with Edge if they have to, that stable needs somebody that the fans give a shit about.

 

[Big Daddy Fool]

i bet shelton is really irked that dusty went to FCW. with dusty in control of the writing shelton was "the gold standard" on ECW going undefeated until dusty left and once dusty left "the gold standard" has lost his luster losing to up and coming kofi kingston on a regular basis until recently. i know this guy isnt much of a talker but he has so much natural ability and puts on really good matches. jeff and matt hardy arent the best of cutting promos (if you dont agree with me about matt look at his promo after backlash) but they are still getting big pushes. jeff would be mr. MITB if isnt wasnt for the suspension. now they have a bit more charisma but shelton definitly has more athleticism

 

[Trumike]

Shelton Benjamin is almost done. He knew he was done when Dusty left. He is a very talented athlete. He and Haas made a great team. Then with Kurt Angle on their side they were very credible. Now he does nothing exciting. He needs to go to Smackdown to start over. Let him and Finlay have a feud. Finlay knows some chain wrestling and he puts people over. Then let him Matt Hardy feud. Maybe a small feud with either Jimmy Wang Yang or Shannon Moore. Maybe then he will have a chance.

 

[Taker316]

Well seems to me like Shelton's status changed on a weekly basis. 1st he's the *golden standard*, beatin everyone left and right, undefeated. 2nd, puts on a hell of a show( as always) in the MITB match, but of course (as always again) comes up short, even though he's been probably the best competitor in the whole match. 3rd, losing to kofi, seems to be going tits 1st down a hill.

THEN again, he bests Kofi, ends his undefeated streak and now they seem to have a hell of a feud going. Never know WHATS gonna happen wit the poor guy :S completely wasted talent to say the least.