Shelton Benjamin

Shelton Albert Benjamin (born July 9, 1975) is an American professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment wrestling on its Raw brand as one half of the The World's Greatest Tag Team with Charlie Haas.

Early career
Benjamin grew up in Orangeburg, South Carolina, and was an accomplished amateur wrestler he held a 36-6 win-loss record while attending the University of Minnesota. He finished his career with a 122-10 win-loss record, and was a two-time South Carolina State Heavyweight wrestling champion.

Ohio Valley Wrestling
Benjamin was offered and accepted a contract from World Wrestling Entertainment and was placed in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) as half of a tag team with Brock Lesnar (also a wrestling teammate at The University of Minnesota). Together they were known as the Minnesota Stretching Crew and held the OVW Southern Tag Team Titles on three occasions.

After Lesnar was called up to the main roster, Benjamin formed a tag team with Redd Dogg Begnaud and again held the OVW Southern Tag Team Titles.

2002-2003
He joined WWE's SmackDown brand as a heel along with Charlie Haas on December 26, 2002 to form Team Angle, with Olympic gold-medalist wrestler Kurt Angle as their mentor.

Their first official match in WWE together was on the January 2, 2003 edition of SmackDown! against Edge and Chris Benoit in a feud that continued until No Way Out 2003.

The duo managed to win their first WWE Tag Team Championship just a month after their debut by defeating the champions, Los Guerreros (Eddie and Chavo Guerrero) on February 6, 2003. The two then went on to compete in their first WrestleMania match at WrestleMania XIX successfully defending their tag titles in a triple threat match. Team Angle would later lose the titles to Eddie Guerrero and his new partner Tajiri at Judgment Day 2003 in a ladder match.

On the June 12, 2003 Smackdown, Kurt Angle confronted Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas and ended up firing them from Team Angle. They would then begin referring to themselves as The World's Greatest Tag Team, and would win the tag titles back on the July 3, 2003 edition of SmackDown!.They would hold the tag team titles until losing them to Los Guerreros that September. Benjamin would suffer a knee injury in the match that would sideline him for a couple of weeks but the pair would soon compete together again, taking part in a four-way tag team title match at WrestleMania XX.

2004
Benjamin was then drafted to RAW in late March of 2004. Upon arriving, Benjamin quickly became a face by picking up an upset pinfall victory over Triple H. Benjamin would go on to pick up two more victories over Triple H, beating The Game three times in total; by pinfall, countout, and disqualification, respectively.

Benjamin would feud with the other members of Triple H's stable Evolution which saw Benjamin defeat Ric Flair at Backlash 2004 and lose to Randy Orton in a WWE Intercontinental Championship match at Bad Blood 2004.

During a match with Lance Cade on Heat, Benjamin would punch Cade's kneebrace, breaking his hand in the process which briefly put Benjamin out of action.

Benjamin returned in the fall of 2004, and would be chosen by the fans to compete for the Intercontinental Championship in a match against then-champion Chris Jericho at Taboo Tuesday 2004. Benjamin won the match, giving him his first singles title in the company.

2005
During his reign as the Intercontinental Champion, Benjamin defeated challengers such as Christian at Survivor Series 2004, Maven whom he defeated twice at New Years Revolution 2005, and Chris Jericho at Backlash 2005. Benjamin finally lost the title to the RAW-debuting Carlito on the June 20, 2005 episode of RAW. He was the longest reigning champion of the decade.

Benjamin participated in the very first "Money In The Bank" Ladder Match at WrestleMania 21 but came up short<. He would later lose a match on RAW against Shawn Michaels in the 'Gold Rush' tournament. The finish of this match saw Michaels Sweet Chin Music Benjamin while he was in mid-air springboarding towards Michaels off the top rope.

For months afterwards, Benjamin would job to wrestlers on the RAW roster such as Carlito, Chris Masters, Snitsky and Rob Conway. Benjamin would then engage in a brief feud with Kerwin White and his caddy Nick Nemeth.

On the December 5, 2005 edition of RAW, Benjamin was given a speech by Shawn Michaels to get him psyched for their tag match together later in the night. Benjamin would carelessly lose the match for himself and his partner Michaels.

Benjamin would then go on a losing streak over the next several weeks which led to Benjamin's noisy, scolding, and domineering "Momma" (played by comedian/actress Thea Vidale) coming to RAW to confront Benjamin about his losing streak. Momma would slap and yell at Benjamin anytime he lost a match, and before long she would assist Benjamin in his matches, often interfering on his behalf.

2006
As soon as Benjamin turned heel he gained the Intercontinental Championship for the second time. Benjamin would later feud with then-Intercontinental Champion Ric Flair. On the February 20, 2006 edition of RAW, Shelton Benjamin, with Momma at ringside, defeated Ric Flair to regain the Intercontinental Championship, after Momma faked a heart problem, causing enough of a distraction to allow Benjamin to cheat and win the title.

Benjamin, along with Momma, would continue to feud with Ric Flair. Shelton's momma was later written out of the script, with Benjamin stating that she was undergoing heart surgery in the hospital, and that he held Flair responsible.

Shelton Benjamin would later compete in the second Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 22, Benjamin would later feud with the winner of that match, Rob Van Dam, in an attempt to take RVD's Money in the Bank contract. During this time, Benjamin would emphasize his heel turn by wearing shades, jewelry, and occasional colored shirts while entering the ring. At one point, Benjamin would be defeated by his former tag team partner, the returning Charlie Haas during an episode of RAW. A stipulation added to this loss meant that Benjamin would have to defend the Intercontinental title in the same match as his shot at RVD's contract, meaning at Backlash 2006 it would be a "Winner Takes All" match. Rob Van Dam would come out on top at Backlashto take Benjamin's Intercontinental title.

However, it wouldn't be long before Benjamin regained the title from Rob Van Dam, in a Texas tornado tag match, pitting Benjamin, Triple H and Chris Masters against Van Dam and WWE Champion John Cena. Both the WWE Championship and WWE Intercontinental Championship could be won by whoever pinned the appropriate champion. After Triple H Pedigreed Van Dam, he turned his attention to John Cena and went for the pin on the WWE Champion. However, Benjamin got to Van Dam first, picking up the pin and his third Intercontinental Championship.

Benjamin would go on to feud with Carlito and others for his Intercontinental Championship before losing the title to Johnny Nitro in a triple threat match also involving Carlito at Vengeance 2006.

World's Greatest Tag Team Reunion
During late 2006, Benjamin would find himself beginning a racial gimmick. He depicted how other African American wrestlers reflect a negative stereotype and that he was being discriminated against in the company because he was black. During December 2006, after a match with Super Crazy in which Benjamin scored the victory, Benjamin's former tag team partner Charlie Haas came out to celebrate with Shelton. The World's Greatest Tag Team officially reunited when they scored a victory over the Highlanders on the December 11, 2006 episode of RAW. The WGTT would then feud with Cryme Tyme and compete mainly on Heat.

In wrestling

 * Finishing and signature moves
 * T-Bone Suplex (Exploder suplex lift into a powerslam pin)
 * Dragon whip
 * Superkick
 * 450° splash - in OVW
 * Shelton Splash (Stinger splash)
 * Samoan drop
 * Flying clothesline
 * Top rope springboard bulldog
 * Northern lights suplex
 * Inverted facelock backbreaker
 * Roundhouse kick
 * Somersault plancha, sometimes springboarding off of a ladder
 * Springboard blockbuster
 * Falling neckbreaker, as a counter to a vertical suplex where Benjamin lands on his feet first


 * Managers
 * "Momma" Benjamin

Championships and accomplishments

 * Black Athlete Sports Network
 * 2005 African-American Wrestler of the Year
 * Ohio Valley Wrestling
 * OVW Southern Tag Team Championship (4 times) - with Brock Lesnar (3), and Redd Dogg (1)
 * Pro Wrestling Illustrated
 * PWI Tag Team of the Year Award, with Charlie Haas (2003)
 * PWI Top 500 wrestlers: ranked 9th (2005)
 * World Wrestling Entertainment
 * WWF Intercontinental Championship (3 times)
 * WWE Tag Team Champion (2 times) - with Charlie Haas
 * THQ Superstar Challenge winner (4 times)
 * Wrestling Observer Newsletter
 * 2005 Most Underrated Wrestler
 * 2006 Most Underrated Wrestler