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WRESTLING COLUMNS

Is Shelton Benjamin Next?
November 2, 2006 by Jonathan Binks


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My question appears to be a bit open ended, next what? You may be asking, but that is the glory of the question because there are two possible questions to ask and only one can happen. I’ll leave you to work out the questions for now as will be coming back to them later.

Shelton Benjamin is an amazing athlete; in high school he competed in football, wrestling and athletics. Most impressive of these however, is that he finished his wrestling career with a 122-10 win-loss record, and was a two-time South Carolina State Heavyweight Champion. He was quickly signed by WWE and has since become a 4-time OVW tag champion, 2-time WWE tag champion and a 3-time WWE Intercontinental Champion. Not only that but he is one of only four people to beat Triple H three times in a row and he is called the best pure athlete by JR. In doing this he has shown off some amazing in ring skills; he has run up ladders, jumped straight onto the top rope for a super-plex as well as many others impressive offensive maneuvers. He has achieved quite a bit but since losing his first intercontinental championship after an eight-month reign, he has reached a bit of a plateau and not really achieved anything new. Not only that but he has been turned into a momma’s boy and more recently someone who believes his is being held back for being black. Neither of these has really aided his standing in the WWE card nor have put him over as a top contender for any title, especially when combined with the losing streaks he constantly ends up on.

This leads me to my questions:

Will Shelton Benjamin be the next WWE champion?

Will Shelton Benjamin be the next person to leave WWE for TNA?

As you can see only one of these two events can occur and if he doesn’t win the WWE title I would expect him to move on to TNA where he will get the respect his wrestling skills actually deserve.

So why hasn’t Shelton moved onto winning one of the two main titles in WWE yet? Because his microphone skills aren’t good enough for Vince McMahon to believe he can be a top draw and have a good feud and as you know in the WWE world of sports entertainment, having charisma and being able to talk are all that you need to be able to do, just look at John Cena (although he can wrestle better than WWE lets him I would like to say). Yet there have been other wrestlers who couldn’t really talk yet still made it to the top: Brock Lesnar, the Big Show and Goldberg spring to mind. Shelton can wrestle better than any of them he just isn’t a very big wrestler as Vince wants everyone to be nowadays. This just makes me think that there really isn’t any real reason why Shelton hasn’t moved to the upper card yet.

So how might Shelton move up to being a top contender for the title? Shelton needs to develop some sort of ‘X factor’, which will separate him form the other wrestlers in the WWE. Big Show’s rise was due to his size; no one really cared that he didn’t talk much as they didn’t want to see him talk they wanted to see him squash everyone with his blubber. I don’t really know what he could come up with but until he finds this or to help him come up with this ‘X factor’, I believe there are two things that could be done. Firstly I think he needs to get himself a better finisher, as I don’t believe that his T-bone is good enough as it doesn’t have a build up or have a huge impact that makes the opponent look out of it. He used to use the 450 splash in OVW but that is banned in WWE so he needs to use something new. My suggestion would be a side slam like the rock used to use. This could be a real improvement as you know the sort of reaction the Rock got when using the Rock Bottom and it would allow Shelton to put some attitude into the move after he places the opponents arm over his shoulders. Secondly he could get himself a manager - not a momma like he already has done - a manager that will build him up as a top-notch wrestler, a man that deserves to hold the title.

However, if this doesn’t happen then I would expect Shelton to get fed up with being underused and being thrown into another dead end angle. Just like many other wrestlers, most notably Christian Cage, who also had had great charisma but never got anywhere. Moving to TNA could be very tempting for Shelton because it will allow him to show us his full potential while competing in either the heavyweight division or in the X Division. Did you know that Shelton used the 630 on occasion in OVW? And in TNA he could make it to the top because they focus more on the quality of the wrestling over how well they can talk. Or even if he doesn’t win the NWA title and wins the X Division title he will at least have won a title that has some prestige to it.

Overall I think it is clear that Shelton Benjamin is probably one of the most underrated wrestlers on the WWE roster along with Matt Hardy and only time will let us know what is going to happen. Personally I think that time will be WrestleMania 23.

By Jonathan Binks


RaEsaUnDAcHeF wrote:
Shelton Benjamin could be a lot better than what the wwe has him doing right now, lets face it all matches in wwe are setup a lot of the wrestlers choices are up to the wwe and vince so its not like when benjamin loses every match for the past 3 months , he really loss them its what vince wants. Benjamin isnt the first great talent and potential that has gone to waste cause of the wwe ,look at there roster randy orton,carlito,kahli,kennedy,boogeyman,chris masters,mnm,simon dean, all these guys could be the new face of the wwe including cena with a few emerging veterans like egde . All those guys have good gimicks that around the atittude era WWF would of propelled them into the next rocks the next steve austins and takers and godfathers next kanes,bossmans, shane o macs and all these guys who had good gimmicks and good ideas built around there gimmicks. Benjamin dosent need any mic skills that could be his style not everyone who was legendary ran there mouth for example hardy boyz didn't use the mic a lot they just fought and people loved them for there action not words. Somewhere along the line the wwe has lost there brilliant ideas and surprises i think it goes to vinces sellfishness and gay ass ego that is destroying the wwe slowly but surely. Benjamin has a lot of potential the best thing for him is to like drop the shelton , and have his name called Mr. Benjamin with a whole bunch of benjamin 100 dollar bills on his attire and become the next highflying superstar on raw, if the wwe isnt to scared for highflying moves.
Jason "Xtremefalls" Simmons wrote:
First off man you only look at this from one direction and that's Shelton's skills. Now don't get me wrong Shelton is a very talented wrestlers that can't be argued. Problem with Shelton is he can't cut a promo. Shelton feud with Triple H, Jericho, and anyone above Midcarder status usually falls apart because the guy can't carry it outside of the ring. Wrestling is more then just wrestling. Also Shelton going to TNA be down right stupid for his career. In TNA he be around a bunch of other good workers who can't cut promos. Also TNA is not going to pay Benjamin anywhere near the amount Benjamin gets in the WWE, and Shelton I see down the road becoming a much bigger player but until he learns to cut a promo he's screwed.
Adam Hudson wrote:
If Shelton Benjamin would go to TNA they can make tag team with Shelton Benjamin and "Primetime" Elix Skipper and make up X Division Championship Tag Titles. Shelton Benjamin would fit in better in TNA than WWE
AJ Nye wrote:
OK, OK, OK...I agree with both of you even though I would love either thing to happen. See I happen to be a huge fan of shelton benjamin, he is honestly one of my favorite wrestlers. As much as I would love to see him feud with cena for the title. I would also love to see him go to TNA. while im on the topic of TNA, i honestly think they should have a X division Tag Title, but something inside me says they wont, even though they have plenty enough wrestlers to do so.

I agree with RaEsaUnDAcHeF about Vince making everyone popular by using the mic. as much as I love a good promo, and enjoy cutting my own on my E-fed, anyways. even if shelton went to TNA and didnt get paid enough, he would stand a better chance at getting some kind of title. I know his mic skills are poor but maybe he could work them out and get back on the top of WWE, and maybe get some what of an uppercard status to his name. By no means is shelton an undercard by the way.

And the TNA side of this argument could go like this. X division champ, feuding with any of the mainstay X divivioners. AJ STYLES, "THE FALLEN ANGEL" CHRIS DANIELS, CHRIS SABIN!, SENSHI. the possibilities are ENDLESS, and they would be the most amazing matches any of us would possibly get to see. And as far as shelton going for the NWA title. I see great things going there as well. Feuding with Kurt ANgle ( who's styles are very similar, and they know what eachopther can do from past matches and teamings.), Christian Cage, Sting ( I would like to see that), SAMOA JOE (that would be badass). See what I mean, either way he went he would do great.

And as far as Vince and the WWE, I am a fan of WWE and TNA, I love both feds. But now TNA is getting my attention more because, WWE is getting ridiculous with promo's i sit there for atleast an hour maybe an hour and a half listen to the wrestlers talk, yet the whole reason i watch "WRESTLING" is to see the talents of the wrestlers used, who cares if they can talk. Sure its nice to here a good promo cut once in a while. But at times watching WWE i find myself walking away and reading articles from OWW. especially the one about claudio castagnoli, GOD I LOVE THAT MAN. but aside from that....WWE IF YOUR READING THIS....GET OFF THE PROMO's MAKE A FEW HERE AND THERE AND WRESTLE LIKE WRESTLING WAS MEANT TO DO! USE THE WRESTLERS FOR WRESTLING, NOT JUST A MANS SOAP OPERA! SO THERE, IM SORRY IF YOUR RATINGS GO DOWN CAUSE I DONT WATCH YOU, YOURE BORING!

So i hope you fine fellow wrestle fans see my point in which i state that shelton could be "SIMPLY PHENOMENAL" in either fed...no matter what skill he works on!
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