SHELTON BENJAMIN

Shelton J. Benjamin is a 47-year-old professional wrestler from Orangeburg, California. He is currently signed with WWE and performs on Monday Night RAW.

Benjamin began wrestling his sophomore year in high school and had an impressive record. He had a 122–10 overall win-loss record in high school and was a two-time South Carolina state high school heavyweight wrestling champion from 1993 to 1994.

Benjamin attended Lassen Community College in California and became a National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) track and field champion in the 100 meter. He was also a NJCAA collegiate wrestling champion. In 1995, Benjamin went to North Carolina State University on a full football scholarship. He later transferred to the University of Minnesota on a wrestling scholarship for his junior and senior years of college where he achieved a 36–6 overall win-loss record.

Shelton Benjamin’s WWE Contract

In 2000, Shelton Benjamin signed a contract with WWF (now WWE). He was assigned to WWF’s developmental territory at the time, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). While there, he teamed with Brock Lesnar, whom he coached at the University of Minnesota. They were called the “Minnesota Stretching Crew,” and held the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship three times. After Lesnar was called up to WWE’s main roster, Benjamin formed a tag team with Redd Dogg Begnaud. They called themselves, The Dogg Pound, and won the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship on July 17, 2002.

Shelton Benjamin’s Main Roster Debut

Shelton Benjamin made his main roster debut on December 26, 2002, forming an alliance with Charlie Haas. They were known as “Team Angle” or “The World’s Greatest Tag Team” and were coached by Kurt Angle. Their first televised match together in WWE was on the January 2, 2003 episode of SmackDown! against Edge and Chris Benoit. They won the WWE Tag Team Championship just a month after their debut by defeating the champions, Los Guerreros. They lost the titles to Eddie Guerrero and Tajiri in May 2003. Benjamin and Haas won the tag titles back on the July 3 episode of SmackDown!

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Benjamin was drafted to RAW in 2004 and had a win over Triple H on his first appearance. In the fall of 2004, he faced Chris Jericho for the Intercontinental Championship and won. This was Benjamin’s first singles title in the company. He lost the title to Carlito when he debuted on RAW during the June 20, 2005 episode. His reign at 244 days. Since then, he has held the WWE Intercontinental Championship two more times since then.

Shelton Benjamin Moved to ECW

In 2007, Shelton Benjamin was moved to WWE’s ECW brand but then drafted back to SmackDown in the 2018 supplemental draft. At the Great American Bash pay-per-view event, he won the United States Championship by defeating Matt Hardy. He defended the title for 240 days before losing it to Montel Vontavious Porter. On April 22, 2010, Shelton Benjamin was released from his WWE contract.

Following his release, Benjamin moved to the independent scene and wrestled for Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro-Wrestling. He wrestled on the independent scene until 2017 when he made his return to WWE on the SmackDown episode after SummerSlam. Upon his return, Benjamin became Chad Gable’s new tag team partner. He had his return match teaming with Gable in a winning match against The Ascension. Gable and Benjamin never won the tag team titles and were disbanded after Gable was moved to RAW.

The Hurt Business

From 2018 to 2020 Shelton Benjamin had very few appearances with the WWE. In 2020, Shelton Benjamin returned to WWE on a regular basis and joined MVP and Bobby Lashley to form the stable, “The Hurt Business” at the end of July when they helped him defeat R-Truth for the 24/7 Championship title. So far, he has won the 24/7 Championship three times. On the August 10th episode of RAW, Benjamin defeated United States Champion Apollo Crews in a non-title match following a distraction by MVP and Lashley.

WWE RAW Tag Team Titles

Shelton Benjamin teamed with Cedric Alexander as they feuded with The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) for the WWE RAW Tag Team Championship. At TLC (Tables, Ladders, Chairs) on December 20, 2020, Benjamin and Cedric Alexander defeated The New Day to win the WWE RAW Tag Team Championship.

On March 15th, 2021, Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander lost the RAW Tag Team titles to Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods.

On the March 29 episode of RAW, Lashley berated Alexander and Benjamin for losing the Raw Tag Team Championships and losing to Drew McIntyre in a 2-on-1 handicap match. This loss meant they would be barred from ringside at Lashley’s WWE Championship match at WrestleMania 37 against McIntyre.

The Hurt Business

Lashley then attacked Alexander and Benjamin, kicking them out of the faction in the process. Benjamin and Alexander started a losing streak. They lost to teams such as The Viking Raiders (Erik and Ivar) twice, and to RK-Bro (Randy Orton and Riddle). On the May 3rd episode of RAW, Alexander turned on Benjamin after losing to Lucha House Party. The following week on RAW, Benjamin fought Alexander in a match and won. In September, Benjamin and Alexander reunited and helped Lashley fight off The New Day and in the process, the Hurt Business reunited.

In January 2022, after not being seen together, Benjamin and Alexander approached Bobby Lashley under the assumption they were still a faction, only to be dismissed. This caused them to launch an attack later that night but were easily fended off by Lashley.

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STATS

Birth name: Shelton J. Benjamin
Born: July 9, 1975, Orangeburg, South Carolina, USA
Height: 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight: 248 lb (112 kg)
Children: 2
Ring Name(s): Shelton Benjamin, Shelton X Benjamin
Current Roster: WWE RAW
Finishing Move(s): T-Bone Suplex

Shelton Benjamin’s Social Media:

Shelton Benjamin Photos

Career Championships and Accomplishments

Millennium Wrestling Federation
- MWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Ohio Valley Wrestling
- OVW Southern Tag Team Championship (4 times)
- Danny Davis Invitational Tag Team Tournament (2015)
Ring of Honor
- ROH World Tag Team Championship (2 times)
World Wrestling Council
- WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)
- WWE Intercontinental Championship (3 times)
- RAW Tag Team Championship (1 time)
- WWE Tag Team Championship (2 times)
- United States Championship (1 time)
- WWE 24/7 Championship (3 times)