Shelton Benjamin - the American wrestler who received the greatest popularity during his stay in the WWE Federation. The career history of the eminent athlete is very interesting. This is the path of his ongoing struggle, ups and downs. So who is Benjamin Shelton? In the article you will find the answer to this question.
Introducing Wrestling
Benjamin Shelton was born in the city of Orangeburg (USA) in 1975. In college, the boy was actively involved in collegiate wrestling and athletics. For these two sports, Shelton won several championships. The young man began wrestling in his second year of high school. Benjamin has twice won the heavyweight champion title in student competitions. Then the athlete entered Lassen Community College (Susanville, California). Here, the future wrestler also proved himself. He became the NJCAA champion in athletics in hundred-meter running and collegiate wrestling.
After college, Benjamin Shelton entered the University of Minnesota. Thanks to his sporting merits, the young man received a wrestler scholarship. After training, Shelton remained working as an assistant coach in his alma mater. Few people know, but at that time Benjamin was engaged with Brock Lesnar, who would become his teammate at Ohio Valley Wrestling (a wrestling company) in the future. At that moment, the hero of this article was thinking about passing the selection for the upcoming Olympic Games. But then he decided to take up the fight professionally.
Contract with WWF
In 2000, Shelton Benjamin received an offer from the World Wrestling Federation. The young man without hesitation signed a contract with WWF, which sent him to OVW. It was here that Shelton formed his own team. Benjamin's partner was his university friend Brock Lesnar. They performed together for a long time and three times (in February, July and October 2001) defended their championship title among the southern OWV teams. After that, Lesnar went into the main squad, and Shelton teamed up with Redd Begnaud. In 2002, they won the title of the strongest team in the south.
WWE
In January 2003, Shelton Benjamin joined the SmackDown Sports and Entertainment Program at WWE. Wrestler performed with Charlie Haas. Olympic champion Kurt Engle became their mentor. The formed alliance was called Team Angle. Already on January 2, 2003, their debut match against Chris Benoit and Edge took place. According to the plot, Shelton played the role of a healer (negative character). Angle's team was able to win the championship title only a month after the first fight. But then again lost to his rivals.
In June 2003, Haas and Benjamin entered into confrontation with Angle and left the team. Now their duet was called The World's Greatest Tag Team. On July 3, they were able to regain their belts. Thus, Charlie and Shelton for the second time won the title of team champions. In September, they again lost to opponents. This happened because Benjamin injured his knee during the match. The fighter recovered in just a month and, together with Haas, performed on the WrestleMania XX show.
From 2004 to 2007, Benjamin was an intercontinental champion. He won this title three times. In March 2004, Shelton was invited to the Raw program to participate in the WWE Draft project. Here, in fights with the strongest fighters, the wrestler performed at a very decent level.
In one of the matches (as part of the Heat program), Benjamin broke his arm and went out of order for some time. The athlete returned to the ring only in the fall of 2004. Shelton became the strongest fighter among the most famous wrestlers. But sometimes there were defeats. For example, in Benjamin’s debut match on Raw, when he fought against Carlito. At the end of 2006, the hero of this article, together with ex-partner Charlie Haas, celebrated the victory over Super Crazy. Soon, the official reunion of The World's Greatest Tag Team took place.
New image
In 2007, Shelton Benjamin decided to change his fighting image. Wrestler took the nickname Gold Standard, began to wear costumes of the color of precious metal and repainted in blond. He performed quite successfully, becoming the champion of the United States. Benjamin has repeatedly defended this title. But in March 2009, he still lost the belt to the enemy. Then a series of matches followed, in which Shelton either won or lost. In April 2010, WWE freed the wrestler from the contract.
Japan
Now you know who Benjamin Shelton is. Since 2012, the fighter has been collaborating with the Japan Wrestling Federation. He has already become a team champion there many times.