1. Shelton James Benjamin was born on July 9,1975 and is an American professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler.
71 Facts About Shelton Benjamin
1. 2.
Shelton Benjamin is known for his appearances in Ring of Honor, and in Japan with New Japan Pro-Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Noah under the ring name Shelton X Benjamin.
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Shelton Benjamin started his professional wrestling career in WWE's developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling, where he held the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship four times.
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Shelton Benjamin was released from WWE in April 2010, and began performing for ROH, where he reunited with Charlie Haas and went on to win the ROH World Tag Team Championship twice.
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Shelton Benjamin made his NJPW debut in 2012, and appeared in Pro Wrestling Noah in 2015, both as a member of Suzuki-gun.
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Shelton Benjamin was released again in September 2023, returning to the independent circuit.
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Shelton Benjamin began wrestling his sophomore year at Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School.
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Shelton Benjamin then attended Lassen Community College in Susanville, California, winning National Junior College Athletic Association championships in wrestling and 100 meters.
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Shelton Benjamin then transferred to the University of Minnesota on a wrestling scholarship for his junior and senior years of college.
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Shelton Benjamin achieved All-American status twice in wrestling, placing fifth in the heavyweight division of the NCAA Championships in 1997, then improving to third place in 1998.
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Shelton Benjamin thought about trying to qualify for the 2000 Summer Olympics but decided instead to pursue a professional wrestling career.
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On January 10,2000, Shelton Benjamin signed a contract with the World Wrestling Federation and was placed in its developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling.
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Shelton Benjamin was sidelined for approximately one month, but the pair competed together again, taking part in a Fatal Four-Way match for the WWE Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania XX.
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Shelton Benjamin defeated Ric Flair at Backlash and lost to Randy Orton in an Intercontinental Championship match at Bad Blood.
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Shelton Benjamin returned in the fall of 2004 helping Randy Orton fight off Evolution and was later chosen by the fans to compete for the Intercontinental Championship in a match against then-champion Chris Jericho at Taboo Tuesday.
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Shelton Benjamin won the match, giving him his first singles title in the company.
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In 2006, Shelton Benjamin then began a rivalry with then-Intercontinental Champion Ric Flair.
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Shelton Benjamin continued to feud with Flair, but Momma no longer accompanied him to ringside.
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Shelton Benjamin explained her absence by stating that she was undergoing heart surgery in the hospital.
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Shelton Benjamin competed in the second Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 22.
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Shelton Benjamin then began a rivalry with Rob Van Dam, the winner of the match, in an attempt to take Van Dam's Money in the Bank contract.
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Shelton Benjamin pinned Van Dam, picking up his third Intercontinental Championship.
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Subsequently, Shelton Benjamin feuded with Carlito and others for his Intercontinental Championship before losing the title to Johnny Nitro in a Triple Threat match involving Carlito at Vengeance.
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Shelton Benjamin entered the Royal Rumble match at the Royal Rumble, but was eliminated by Shawn Michaels.
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Shelton Benjamin, who had dyed his hair blond before leaving Raw, began wearing gold wrestling attire and referring to himself as "The Gold Standard".
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On ECW, Shelton Benjamin began receiving more airtime and higher profile matches, defeating Tommy Dreamer in his debut.
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Shelton Benjamin appeared in the Royal Rumble match at the Royal Rumble, entering at number 17, but was eliminated by Shawn Michaels.
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Shelton Benjamin suffered his first loss since coming to ECW to Kane by count-out, on the January 29,2008, episode of ECW.
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On ECW's 100th episode Shelton Benjamin defeated Kingston, thus ending Kingston's undefeated streak.
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At The Great American Bash, Shelton Benjamin defeated Hardy to win the United States Championship.
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Shelton Benjamin then participated in the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 25, but failed to win as CM Punk won the match for the second year in a row.
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On June 29,2009, Shelton Benjamin was traded to the ECW brand.
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Shelton Benjamin defeated Tatsu in a rematch the following week on ECW.
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The next night on ECW, Shelton Benjamin lost to Sheamus in Sheamus' final match on the brand.
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At the Royal Rumble on January 31,2010, Shelton Benjamin entered the Royal Rumble match at entry number 20, but was eliminated by John Cena in under a minute.
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Shelton Benjamin made his independent circuit debut on July 24,2010, in San Diego, California against Scorpio Sky.
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On July 31,2010, during the World Wrestling Council's "La Revolucion" show in Puerto Rico, Shelton Benjamin defeated Ray Gonzalez to win the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship.
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Shelton Benjamin had tag team matches with Haas taking on Booker T and Scott Steiner.
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On March 8,2011, Shelton Benjamin wrestled in a dark match prior to the SmackDown tapings in Houston, Texas, defeating Curt Hawkins.
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On March 9,2011, Shelton Benjamin won the MWF Heavyweight Championship and lost it on June 4.
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Shelton Benjamin participated in Global Force Wrestling's inaugural tournament to crown their very first GFW Global Champion, which served as the company's world heavyweight championship.
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Shelton Benjamin made one more appearance for ROH on February 2,2013, when Haas turned on him during an ROH World Tag Team Championship match against the Briscoe Brothers.
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On December 9,2011, New Japan Pro-Wrestling announced that Shelton Benjamin would be joining MVP for a tag match against Masato Tanaka and Yujiro Takahashi at Wrestle Kingdom VI in Tokyo Dome on January 4,2012.
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On January 4,2013, at Wrestle Kingdom 7 in Tokyo Dome, Shelton Benjamin unsuccessfully challenged Tanaka for his title.
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On May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku 2013, Shelton Benjamin unsuccessfully challenged Nakamura for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship.
46.
From August 1 to 11, Shelton Benjamin took part in the 2013 G1 Climax, where he finished with a record of five wins and four losses, narrowly missing advancement from his block.
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Shelton Benjamin returned to New Japan on January 4,2014, at Wrestle Kingdom 8 in Tokyo Dome, where he and Suzuki were defeated by The Great Muta and Toru Yano in a tag team match.
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On March 15, Shelton Benjamin entered the 2014 New Japan Cup, defeating Yujiro Takahashi in his first round match.
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From July 21 to August 8, Shelton Benjamin took part in the 2014 G1 Climax, where he finished fifth in his block with a record of five wins and five losses.
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Shelton Benjamin returned to New Japan on January 4,2015, at Wrestle Kingdom 9 in Tokyo Dome, where he, Davey Boy Smith Jr.
51.
On June 12,2016, Shelton Benjamin unsuccessfully challenged Go Shiozaki for Noah's top title, the GHC Heavyweight Championship.
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However, on August 7,2016, Shelton Benjamin announced that due to a torn rotator cuff which required surgery, he "will not be returning to WWE at this time".
53.
In March 2017, Shelton Benjamin announced that he had been cleared for return to action, following his injury.
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Shelton Benjamin appeared at the Greatest Royal Rumble in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, competing in the titular 50-man Royal Rumble match.
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Shelton Benjamin entered the match as entrant number 48 and was eliminated by Chris Jericho.
56.
At the Royal Rumble pay-per-view on January 27,2019, Shelton Benjamin competed in the Royal Rumble match, but was eliminated by Braun Strowman.
57.
On May 14,2022, it was reported that Shelton Benjamin suffered an undisclosed injury and would be out of action.
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However, the reunion angle was quietly dropped shortly after although Alexander and Shelton Benjamin would continue teaming together.
59.
Shelton Benjamin was released from his WWE contract on September 21,2023, ending his second tenure of six years with the company and effectively disbanding the tag team of Alexander and Shelton Benjamin.
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On February 8,2024, it was announced Shelton Benjamin would make his debut for Prestige Wrestling at their event Alive or Just Breathing on May 16 against Josh Alexander, who was later replaced by Tom Lawlor due to health issues.
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Shelton Benjamin made his All Elite Wrestling debut on the fifth anniversary episode of Dynamite, where he was reunited with and introduced by fellow former Hurt Business member MVP as his business partner.
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On November 24, Shelton Benjamin was announced as a participant in the 2024 Continental Classic, where he was placed in the Blue league.
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Shelton Benjamin finished the tournament with 6 points, but failed to advance to the playoff stage.
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Shelton Benjamin won WWE's THQ Superstar Challenge, a video game tournament that took place every year during WrestleMania weekend, four years in a row before retiring from the event in 2007.
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Shelton Benjamin has the Guinness World Record for "wrestler who won the most WWE THQ Superstar Challenges".
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Shelton Benjamin is close friends with Brock Lesnar, having met him at the University of Minnesota and roomed with him.
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Shelton Benjamin once let Lesnar stay in his basement when Lesnar was out of money.
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In 2004, Shelton Benjamin visited Four Dwellings Primary School in Birmingham, UK, to teach students about reading week.
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Shelton Benjamin has revealed on Lilian Garcia's podcast Chasing Glory in 2020 that he has two daughters.
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Shelton Benjamin has said he has vertigo, which can make his in-ring performance difficult.
71.
Shelton Benjamin is a teetotaller who does not consume drugs or alcohol; In 2025 he stated, "I was "straight edge" before straight edge was a [culture]".