The Career Of Shelton Benjamin....

[logan_punisher]

Lets Get Started on a career based off of High Flying Ability. He is one of those guys who can create a Holy Shit Moment in spots that you would think, "That Can't Be Done". Oh yes it can. Besides what people think of mid Carders nowadays I feel this was a career I needed to talk about. Call me crazy, but I saw something in Benjamin during his last run that makes me feel really upset. A guy who nowadays is Replaced by guys like Kofi Kingston. Guys from the past like John Morrison. I feel like Shelton Benjamin deserved more. I think a lot of talent does. Every superstar should be given a chance atleast once to fight for a title. Definitely a guy like Daniel Bryan got wgat he deserved, but it was taken away just of a snap of fingers. Unbelievable. Does anyone else think the same way I do? Shelton Benjamin had everything you could look at. Its NOT all about the same damn guys. Its NOT all about guys of a certain Height & Weight. Fuck your minds if you disagree. Kevin Nash stated this last year that guys under a certain height shouldn't be in the World Title Hunt? Really? He mentioned that Eddie Guerrero & Chris Beniot didn't deserve the title at WrestleMania. Really?

Shelton Benjamin was part of a tag team called "World's Greatest Tag Team", and they weren't bad. At all. Then he won the Intercontinental Champion and feuded with many competitors. Here it is.

Intercontinental Champion (2004–2007)

On March 22, 2004, Benjamin was drafted to the WWE Raw brand as part of the 2004 WWE Draft. After arriving, Benjamin quickly became a face when he scored an upset pinfall victory over Triple H. Benjamin then feuded with Triple H, beating him three times in total all: once by pinfall, once by count-out, and once by disqualification. As part of the storyline, Benjamin then feuded with the other members of Triple H's stable Evolution. Benjamin defeated Ric Flair at Backlash and lost to Randy Orton in an Intercontinental Championship match at Bad Blood.

Then he changed his gimmick to a interesting one. Here's some more information.

The Gold Standard (2007–2010)

On the November 20, 2007 airing of ECW, Elijah Burke introduced Benjamin as the newest ECW superstar. Benjamin, who had dyed his hair blond before leaving Raw, began wearing gold wrestling attire and referring to himself as "The Gold Standard". On ECW, Benjamin began once again receiving more airtime and higher profile matches, defeating Tommy Dreamer in his debut. Benjamin then qualified for the Royal Rumble match and won an over the top rope preview. Benjamin appeared in the Rumble match, entering at number 17, but was eliminated by Shawn Michaels.
He suffered his first loss since coming to ECW to Kane by count-out, on the January 29, 2008 episode of ECW on Sci Fi. On the February 22 episode of SmackDown!, Benjamin defeated Jimmy Wang Yang in a qualifying match for the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania XXIV, which was won by CM Punk. After WrestleMania, Benjamin briefly feuded with Punk, before he began an on-screen rivalry with Kofi Kingston, who defeated Benjamin on the April 22 episode of ECW. On ECW's 100th episode, however, Benjamin defeated Kingston, thus ending the latter's undefeated streak. To end the feud, Kingston then defeated Benjamin in an ECW Extreme Rules match.

Now we could say that Benjamin has dine a lot along the lines of Mid-Carding. Also don't forget the dive from the huge ladder onto the participants in the Money In The Bank. I'm sorry for giving my opinion earlier, but I feel like I needed to express my anger towards things. To be honest this is what's happening to many superstars. Some guys make it past others. I understand. Some of the them are terrible at getting over. I understand, but were is the ones getting pushed to Main Champions when they prove they deserve it? Daniel Bryan fucking deserved it. Others do to.

Opinion. Finished. Over.

Logan_Punisher Out.

 

[Slash-LN]

I disagree that every superstar should be given a chance at least once to fight for a title. Some superstars just aren't cut out to be champions. Why give undeserving people title shots? That doesn't make sense.

As far as Shelton goes. I was a big fan of him. He did some really cool stuff in the ring. When he wrestled you knew you were going to get a pretty good match out of him. For whatever reason he just didn't connect with the crowd enough. It also hurt him that he wasn't very good on the mic. I know not everyone is but he needed that little extra to get him to the next level and he didn't have it. He made for a solid Intercontinental champion though. He was entertaining in the ring but just didn't have "it".

 

[Spidey Revivey]

Shelton Benjamin and John Morrison both are two competitors that I wish WWE would bring back. Both had the most unique aerial style about them, and both I thought were okay on the mic, especially Morrison. But there is a huge, huge reason why we don't see them, and may never see them:

They couldn't get the fans to care about them.

Oh yes, a few people here and there would buy a shirt with their faces on them, yes. I still see Morrison's silhouetted shirt sometimes when I am out enjoying the town. But the only time I've ever seen people show any interest in Benjamin was when he 1. Beat Triple H and 2. Did that sick move in that one Money In The Bank Match. Notice how neither one of those has anything to do with his personality and whether or not the crowd loved him. Those were just spots and how the game was played.

They are excellent mid-carders who with enough time could/could've been huge Main Event stars. But as of now from what I have seen in the past I think WWE made a wise decision in not giving them a run for the WWE Championship.



Course, I'm biased; I think Morrison as a heel could've made it.

 

[Rhodes2TheFuture3313]

Shelton Benjamin PINNING HHH was one of those HOLY $#*T moments of WWE Raw. I thought he was destined for big things after that. I think where they went wrong with Shelton was when they inserted his "mom" and turned him heel. People just weren't into it and that did not get him over. I really liked his in-your-face theme. I think he'd be a bigger star today for sure. With the right booking he could return and make it to the top. Heck if Mark Henry can go from Sexual Chocolate to the World's Strongest Man anything is possible...

 

[123NewChamp]

Now I followed Shelton Benjamin since before he entered WWE. And I understand where you all coming from, but from my point of view yeah Benjamin had stale gimmicks, and his Mama maybe did drown him out. But Shelton was a Wrestler first and an entertainer second. His Entertainment and his drawing ability was in his matches. If it was down to actual pure wrestling ability then Shelton Benjamin would of had numerous WHC and WWE Championship title opportunities and a better career in the WWE. But since the WWE is more Entertainment than wrestling, he was put on the back burner and not able to shine. So his mic skills weren't up to par, it shouldn't stop him from having a storybook career. If you ask me just a generic wrestler is believable any day of the week. If you don't believe me, ask Bret Hart and Chris Benoit. 2 of the most generic yet not so good promo wrestlers in the business. Bret Had boring Mic Skills, and Benoit was not so great but their wrestling spoke for their careers and they went on to win WCW, and WWE Championships on plenty of occasions. So yeah if it was more about wrestling than entertainment then Shelton would've had a better career. And all cause his Mic Skills weren't that of a Triple H, Chris Jericho, and Shawn Michaels do not mean he can make the most of his career. Bret and Benoit did.

 

[EastCoastFan]

The general consensus on Shelton Benjamin has been that he was/is a very good wrestler, but he didn't have mic skills/personality to get over in a big way in WWE. In a different age, he would have been paired up with a manager to be his mouthpiece and probably would have done better.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Shelton Benjamin's someone who had a great look, great natural athletic ability and was a genuinely skilled mat technician. I don't mean this in any sort of negative connotation, but if Benjamin had been born in the 1930s-1940s and wasn't African American, he could have easily been NWA World Heavyweight Champion.

So in the modern era, what would stop Benjamin from being a top guy? Zero charisma or personality. He was great inside the ring, there's no denying that, but he had the charisma of a moldy loaf of bread. It can't be said that he wasn't given pushes because he was given several strong pushes as IC & US champ during his time in WWE and scored huge wins over guys like Chris Jericho, Rob Van Dam and even Triple H. He was given opportunities but could never sustain the momentum. That's where personality and good mic work come in. Fans can connect with wrestlers during promos, thereby investing & caring about them. If you can't make fans rally behind you or care about whatever it is you're involved in, then nothing else really matters as far as being a top guy. The primary job of any main event wrestler is to make fans interested in what program you're involved in. Having the body of a god brought to Earth, good looks to make women swoon & men green with envy, Olympic level athleticism and technical skill second to none mean nothing if you can't make the fans care.

I don't agree with the notion that every wrestler should get a shot at being WWE Champion. Like any other pro wrestling organization, WWE's a business and not a charity. In a perfectly fair world, every single wrestler who ever worked in WWE would have an opportunity to be a main eventer and even be WWE Champion. In a perfectly fair world, people wouldn't die around the world every day from hunger & disease; politicians wouldn't lie to the public for their own personal gain; dictators would never rise to power. It's damned unfortunate, but the real world has never been "fair". In the real world, pro wrestling companies, like any other business, it isn't about doing what's "fair" it's about doing what you think will connect the most with the fans and, thereby, make the most money. Not every wrestler can be a WWE Champion for any number of practical purposes.

1. There's not enough room for everyone at the top. I suppose you could give EVERYONE a shot at being WWE Champion but, in order to accommodate EVERY male wrestler on the roster, you'd have to have a new champ on a weekly basis. If EVERY male even had a shot at the title, the champ would have to defend the title on a weekly basis on television. It's just not at all realistic.

2. Some wrestlers simply don't have the "it" factor. As I said with Benjamin, he was never really able to connect with fans on that major level, that level that can propel men to another level in their careers. Benjamin never had that "it" factor.

3. As part of the realistic way things work, the WWE brass has to take a look at someone and determine if they have what it takes to be WWE Champion. Crowd reactions, television ratings for segments featuring them, even merchandise sales can all be a means of measuring popularity. Sometimes, they make the right decision on who to push and sometimes they don't. They can't predict who'll really shine and who won't, otherwise they'd be pumping out wrestlers like Stone Cold Steve Austin & The Rock on an assembly line. It's intuition, not anything resembling an exact science.

If Shelton Benjamin returned to WWE, I think he'd find himself exactly where he generally was: working the mid-card or tag team picture, which is where he's been since working in places like ROH and New Japan.

 

[Kris Benwa]

I was a huge fan of Benjamin I thought he at least deserved the ECW title when it was somewhat of a world title and it upsets me that he didn't get it. I think that if he were to make a surprise return on Smackdown he could eventually win the WHC pretty easily especially if he were able to turn on the speaking skills which I'm sure he could do now and if not I think a manager would be good for him. Every year I hope that one of the surprise entrants in the rumble is him and it hasn't been so far hopefully this is the year

 

[FlairFan2003]

I liked him when he 1st came out, although he had no real gimmick other than being young & athletic. Personally, although the "Mama's Boy" gimmick was cheesey, I liked it, it was a much needed dose of personality for a guy who previously had little. It got him legit heat as a heel too. I thought WWE made a mistake abandoning it (Flair beat her up during a match on Raw and she was never seen again as SB quickly adopted his bling look). I thought WWE made another mistake not riding SB as IC champ in 07. Flair's title reign had restored some much needed luster to that title, both due to his importance as a character and the important matches vs Kurt Angle, HHH, & Edge, either to get a World Title shot or actually for the title, the IC belt was once again an important title that legit main eventers would fight for (Flair successfully defended vs both HHH & Edge on PPV) and was a stepping stone to the World Title. I felt Benjamin should have been given a lengthy full on feud with Flair & RVD over the IC title and been permitted to retain, it would have been a huge boast for him. For whatever reason his IC title run in 07 was short and anti climatic, then he disappeared.

Benjamin may not have had the natural charisma some others have but within the context of the right gimmick he could have sold well. For whatever reason he didnt, a lost opportunity, but too late to change now.

 

[d_henderson1810]

The general consensus on Shelton Benjamin has been that he was/is a very good wrestler, but he didn't have mic skills/personality to get over in a big way in WWE. In a different age, he would have been paired up with a manager to be his mouthpiece and probably would have done better.

If they ever bring back Shelton, maybe they should have Paul Heyman manage him, and make him a "Paul Heyman" guy.

If Heyman couldn't get Shelton over, no-one can.

 

[The Kid]

Shelton's problem was he looked bland and spoke bland. Yes, he could fly and steal moments, but his attire was bland, his personality was bland and well, he was bland. He had nice moments like his awesome match against HBK and him stealing the show in gimmick matches, but he just didn't have the look or the "it" factor.

Atleast, Kofi Kingston has cool hair and a cool smile. He is worth more to the WWE then Shelton Benjamin for his looks and style alone. I was also a fan of Shelton Benjamin, but I'm being honest.

 

[CM Steel]

Shelton Benjamin is the only superstar from the OVW class of '02 who never won a world championship in the WWE. He made his WWE TV debut in mid-2002 on Sunday night Heat which was on the RAW at that time. It was "all about the Benjamin" on Heat for awhile until early January '03 in where Shelton Benjamin was paired up in a tag team with Charlie Haas as a member of Kurt Angle's "Team Angle" on the Smackdown brand. After winning the WWE tag team title's two-times with Haas. Shelton Benjamin was drafted back to the RAW brand in 2004 two weeks after Wrestlemania 20 in New York.

His first feuds were with members of Evolution! What a way to start fresh after coming out the tag team scene! He won the WWE IC championship in the same year too against Chris Jericho. And has won the WWE U.S. championship years later back on the Smackdown brand against Matt Hardy. Shelton Benjamin was the golden ticket (with a new Gold Standard gimmick) until he got released from the WWE in 2010 right after Wrestlemania 26 from Arizona. Many feel that if Shelton Benjamin was better with his mic skills he would have been a world champion in the WWE or atlease still had a job in the WWE.

So do you think that Shelton Benjamin will be back in the WWE one day and the E made a mistake in firing him. Or do you think that the E did what was "best for business" in firing Benjamin?

 

[WackerJr]

I thought that Benjamin studied a Uni course directly after being released? I really liked Shelton, with his excellent athleticism and dynamic moves (MVP in several Money In The Bank matches). I was disappointed to see him go after he helped a number of young stars (e.g., Evan Bourne, Kofi Kingston) in WWECW, but I don't think it made the difference to WWE that I'd like it to have done.

He desperately needed to improve his mic skills (Randy Orton did it, why don't WWE give their guys more acting training?) and needed more matches that allowed him to tell a story besides his obvious athleticism and 'wrestling' moveset. They did with Kurt and should have given Shelton the opportunity.

I'd love to see him back, whether singles wrestler or tag team, and still think he has plenty to offer, even if it's in Midgard feud. I can see him putting on entertaining matches with Ziggler, Sandow, Kingston, etc.

 

[Fabulous Freebirds]

I don't see Shelton Benjamin returning anytime soon. WWE gave Shelton every opportunity possible to get over: A win over Triple H, a run with the Intercontinental title, The Gold Standard gimmick with the fancy pyro. And he still failed to get over. At this point, as he gets older, there would no purpose for the WWE to hring him back where most fans would not care.

 

[Kris Benwa]

I'd like to see him return soon and hopefully he will for a Royal Rumble appearance but I'm not sure he should have another run with E because he still won't be world champ. He should have beaten Christian for the Ecw title also. If i remember correctly Benjamin was pretty over at certain points in his career I think his mic skills were more of a factor than they should have been and also giving him a mama was a mistake.

 

[Da Solo]

Shelton should have definitely won a world title, even if only as a transitional champ. Point blank, he's one of the best in-ring superstars WWE has ever come across, and while he couldn't talk much, he did improve towards the end of his run, like the promo he did on Yoshi Tatsu's debut (Granted it was racist as hell).

Besides, Jeff Hardy couldn't talk either and he got a run. Khali can hardly form full sentences and he got a run too.

And Shelton had periods where he was extremely over, it's just booking that killed him. The "Mama" angle especially hurts me, because they should have gone either all the way with her or not at all. He was on FIRE, then they buried him as an excuse to bring his mama in. And she could've helped too. Hell, she could've managed him to a WHC run if they pulled it off well enough.

 

[akathelaw]

His last few matches on Smackdown were against Undertaker. They were really good of course. He could have gone places after a feud with 'Taker or a WM match against him. WWE lost faith in him I guess, which is a shame because he had all the potential in the world.

 

[Pedigree1]

The Golden Standard as JR has said many of times is the best pure athlete on the roster. The things that Sheldon did,he made them look like flawless with no effort into doing alot of his moves. He was an awesome athlete,and still is IMO. The only thing that hurt him was he wasnt that much of a talker and couldnt really cut a promo. But a lot of guys who couldnt cut a promo,got a run Khali,Jeff Hardy etc.

The whole mama benjamin angle just killed him IMO. It made him look like too much of a mommas boy and that was a horrible idea. LIke Da Solo said,either go all the way with it or dont do it at all. I want Benjamin to come back,i just dont think he will sniff the title picture as the title is unified now!

 

[Alex]

Thing about guys like Jeff Hardy (and to a much lesser degree. Khali) is that they're interesting regardless of how bad they were on the mic.

Hardy is the crazy rocker/arty looking guy who did insane risks. People identified with him because he looked and acted different to guys like Cena and Orton. People can identifiy with that to a degree (being different) Heck his promo on Smackdown after winning the WWE title was pretty much that.

Khali is just an attraction. Like Big Show, Kane and Undertaker. He's big and intimidating. They gave the title to Khali more to further storylines than anything.

Shelton Benjamen is just bland as hell, let's be honest. Aside from his wrestling skills he had nothing going for him. You would have difficulty spotting him in a crowd.

Poeple will bring up Benoit as similar, but at the time WWE had few big players (Rock and Austin had left, Goldberg, and Lesnar were leaving and Triple H had saturated Raw) so they decided to give it to a reliable hand in Benoit. When Benjamen was coming up there were far more interesting people to invest in between 2006 and 2009/10ish (when he left). If Benjamen had been in WWE around 2003/04ish he might have had a shot, but at the time when he was around he just didn't stand out enough to warrant any such reign.

 

[Rhodes2TheFuture3313]

The Mama-thing and Heel turn buried SHelton. He was almost as good as RVD. A program between the 2 if it didn't happen could have torn the roof off of the arenas night in/night out. When he came to Raw and beat HHH I thought he'd get pushed to the moon. Instead they gave him the IC title where he was a pretty good champion. Does this sound familiar? Hmmm

 

[THTRobtaylor]

The biggest issue Shelton faced was one he faced for most of his career...

He was NCAA Champion and had his career mapped out, then to the same school comes this kid Brock Lesnar... who then wins the NCAA...and then comes to WWE as well.

Whatever deal Shelton got, Brock's was bigger - because he was more Vince's "prototype" I am certain had Lesnar not won the NCAA then Shelton would have been Vince's guy and he'd be a national/international household name. Not many guys had the legit skill to be a future Thesz or Sammartino level hero but Shelton did... even before he started. But since wrestling isn't the business he got into he was immediately at the disadvantage cos he wasn't a good talker.

To me it makes me dislike Brock even more from reading his book recently, he clearly never wanted the WWE life, just the dollars... Shelton clearly wanted the WWE life, was his equal yet got the short end of the stick only for Brock to throw it away (at the time)... Now I get Brock won the UFC belt yada yada yada so I'm not talking his deal now... but then, to sign a developmental deal bigger than someone who has done the same thing as you is hard to justify and then bitch, moan and walk... Shelton should have kicked his damn ass...

 

[$Mr. 100%]

Wwe missed da boat on shelton and haas 2 4 that matter. They had loads of in ring ability and haas had some charisma while shelton did need mic work. But given a push both could have kept da tag division as well as midcard titles relevant these past few yrs. Could very well c them feuding w/each other or either 1 of em feuding w/guys like dolph/bryan/punk/sheamus/delrio/shield etc 4 titles including whc. Alas vince misused them both. What made him think sheltons mama would get him over??? and haas imitating other wrestlers or personalities was just as stupid. Altho haas did a fairly decent job w/da dumbass gimmick. 2 more wrestlers vince missed da boat on and coulda sorely used these past few yrs. Hell tna missed out 2. Benjamin/rvd worlds greatest tagteam/beer money. Aces and eights woulda been a whole lot more interesting and credible w/them 2 instead of other wwe no name rejects tna bought n or even taking bischoff and briscoe place. Hell shelton n da xdivision and ofcourse their history w/Kurt angle writes itself. Smh never understood y tna never went after either of em.

 

[Slash-LN]

The biggest issue Shelton faced was one he faced for most of his career...

He was NCAA Champion and had his career mapped out, then to the same school comes this kid Brock Lesnar... who then wins the NCAA...and then comes to WWE as well.

Whatever deal Shelton got, Brock's was bigger - because he was more Vince's "prototype" I am certain had Lesnar not won the NCAA then Shelton would have been Vince's guy and he'd be a national/international household name. Not many guys had the legit skill to be a future Thesz or Sammartino level hero but Shelton did... even before he started. But since wrestling isn't the business he got into he was immediately at the disadvantage cos he wasn't a good talker.

To me it makes me dislike Brock even more from reading his book recently, he clearly never wanted the WWE life, just the dollars... Shelton clearly wanted the WWE life, was his equal yet got the short end of the stick only for Brock to throw it away (at the time)... Now I get Brock won the UFC belt yada yada yada so I'm not talking his deal now... but then, to sign a developmental deal bigger than someone who has done the same thing as you is hard to justify and then bitch, moan and walk... Shelton should have kicked his damn ass...

Where do you get your often wrong information?

Shelton was never an NCAA National wrestling champion.
He was a high school state wrestling champion.
He was a junior college TRACK national champion.
He was a two time NCAA All-American in wrestling.
He never even won his conference let alone a National championship.

Lesnar on the other hand placed 2nd in the National championship his Junior year and won a National championship his Senior year.
Lesnar also won the Junior college wrestling championship before going to Minnesota.
He won the Big Ten Conference championship both years he was at Minnesota and finished his college wrestling career with 106 wins and only 5 losses.
He also was a two time NCAA All-American.
On top of that Dana White from the UFC has openly come out and said he was trying to recruit Lesnar to join the UFC out of college and that Lesnar told him that he had an offer from Vince. In the end Lesnar opted to sign with Vince.

On top of all that Lesnar and Shelton got signed to the WWE the same year and worked as a tag team in OVW.

I'm not a fan of Lesnar either but I really really don't see how you can blame him for Shelton not being the guy to get the major push.

It's no secret Vince likes guys who are bigger. Lesnar has nearly 40 lbs on Shelton and has a better "look". It's really not Lesnar's fault that Vince picked him over Shelton. That's if there was even ever a consideration between the two to start with.

Shelton had roughly 5 years after Brock left to get over and never did. This being after he had already established himself as an entertaining in ring performer. The guy just couldn't get over to the next level.

As I said in my earlier post. Good Intercontinental champion.
Not a main event guy with the "it" factor.

 

[LBGetBack]

Lets Get Started on a career based off of High Flying Ability. He is one of those guys who can create a Holy Shit Moment in spots that you would think, "That Can't Be Done". Oh yes it can. Besides what people think of mid Carders nowadays I feel this was a career I needed to talk about. Call me crazy, but I saw something in Benjamin during his last run that makes me feel really upset. A guy who nowadays is Replaced by guys like Kofi Kingston. Guys from the past like John Morrison. I feel like Shelton Benjamin deserved more. I think a lot of talent does. Every superstar should be given a chance atleast once to fight for a title. Definitely a guy like Daniel Bryan got wgat he deserved, but it was taken away just of a snap of fingers. Unbelievable. Does anyone else think the same way I do? Shelton Benjamin had everything you could look at. Its NOT all about the same damn guys. Its NOT all about guys of a certain Height & Weight. Fuck your minds if you disagree. Kevin Nash stated this last year that guys under a certain height shouldn't be in the World Title Hunt? Really? He mentioned that Eddie Guerrero & Chris Beniot didn't deserve the title at WrestleMania. Really?

Shelton Benjamin was part of a tag team called "World's Greatest Tag Team", and they weren't bad. At all. Then he won the Intercontinental Champion and feuded with many competitors. Here it is.

Intercontinental Champion (2004–2007)

On March 22, 2004, Benjamin was drafted to the WWE Raw brand as part of the 2004 WWE Draft. After arriving, Benjamin quickly became a face when he scored an upset pinfall victory over Triple H. Benjamin then feuded with Triple H, beating him three times in total all: once by pinfall, once by count-out, and once by disqualification. As part of the storyline, Benjamin then feuded with the other members of Triple H's stable Evolution. Benjamin defeated Ric Flair at Backlash and lost to Randy Orton in an Intercontinental Championship match at Bad Blood.

Then he changed his gimmick to a interesting one. Here's some more information.

The Gold Standard (2007–2010)

On the November 20, 2007 airing of ECW, Elijah Burke introduced Benjamin as the newest ECW superstar. Benjamin, who had dyed his hair blond before leaving Raw, began wearing gold wrestling attire and referring to himself as "The Gold Standard". On ECW, Benjamin began once again receiving more airtime and higher profile matches, defeating Tommy Dreamer in his debut. Benjamin then qualified for the Royal Rumble match and won an over the top rope preview. Benjamin appeared in the Rumble match, entering at number 17, but was eliminated by Shawn Michaels.
He suffered his first loss since coming to ECW to Kane by count-out, on the January 29, 2008 episode of ECW on Sci Fi. On the February 22 episode of SmackDown!, Benjamin defeated Jimmy Wang Yang in a qualifying match for the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania XXIV, which was won by CM Punk. After WrestleMania, Benjamin briefly feuded with Punk, before he began an on-screen rivalry with Kofi Kingston, who defeated Benjamin on the April 22 episode of ECW. On ECW's 100th episode, however, Benjamin defeated Kingston, thus ending the latter's undefeated streak. To end the feud, Kingston then defeated Benjamin in an ECW Extreme Rules match.

Now we could say that Benjamin has dine a lot along the lines of Mid-Carding. Also don't forget the dive from the huge ladder onto the participants in the Money In The Bank. I'm sorry for giving my opinion earlier, but I feel like I needed to express my anger towards things. To be honest this is what's happening to many superstars. Some guys make it past others. I understand. Some of the them are terrible at getting over. I understand, but were is the ones getting pushed to Main Champions when they prove they deserve it? Daniel Bryan fucking deserved it. Others do to.

Opinion. Finished. Over.

Logan_Punisher Out.

Shelton was great. Easily my favorite wrestler from 2004 until 2008, when heel Chris Jericho took over as my favorite.

WWE killed Benjamin's heat for no apparent reason, just like they now seem to be doing with Bryan. Not that Shelton was as popular as Bryan, but he was very much over in 2004-2005. WWE inexplicably made him suddenly go on a long losing streak, even losing to nobodies like Trevor Murdoch and Kerwin white(Chavo). He goes from beating HHH 3 times, beating Jericho a few times, beating Flair, taking Orton and Michaels to their limits. Now he can't beat anyone?

Then they turned him heel, which again was dumb. His wrestling style lends him to being a face. His incredible athleticism and his personality fit the face role better.

He could've been a top upper-midcard face superstar(like Rey Mysterio level) for years if they didn't screw him up and kill his popularity and momentum by turning him into a scrub who always loses and then a heel.

 

[LBGetBack]

Shelton Benjamin and John Morrison both are two competitors that I wish WWE would bring back. Both had the most unique aerial style about them, and both I thought were okay on the mic, especially Morrison. But there is a huge, huge reason why we don't see them, and may never see them:

They couldn't get the fans to care about them.

Oh yes, a few people here and there would buy a shirt with their faces on them, yes. I still see Morrison's silhouetted shirt sometimes when I am out enjoying the town. But the only time I've ever seen people show any interest in Benjamin was when he 1. Beat Triple H and 2. Did that sick move in that one Money In The Bank Match. Notice how neither one of those has anything to do with his personality and whether or not the crowd loved him. Those were just spots and how the game was played.

They are excellent mid-carders who with enough time could/could've been huge Main Event stars. But as of now from what I have seen in the past I think WWE made a wise decision in not giving them a run for the WWE Championship.



Course, I'm biased; I think Morrison as a heel could've made it.

Incorrect. Shelton was very popular in 2004-05. So much so that he outpopped both Jericho and Cena in face vs. face matches in 04-05. He also had much of the crowd behind him against Shawn Michaels in the Gold Rush match. He was definitely over from the time he beat HHH throughout his first IC title run. It was after he lost the title,....and then like every match he wrestled for like 6 months, that the crowd cooled on him. WWE ruined him.