Spotlight On Shelton Benjamin
Watch this video. In hindsight this one move seemingly destroyed Benjamin's confidence and his career never recovered. He's had his moments don't get me wrong, but I better start from the beginning before I dive too deep.
Shelton Benjamin was supposed to be the next big superstar following his 2004 draft to Monday Night Raw, splitting him from his tag partner Charlie Haas. And for about a year he was. He was a solid mid-card guy having great matches and holding on to the IC title for a lengthy reign, and stole the show in the first ever Money in the Bank Ladder match. This was the apex of Benjamin's success, and I even thought that he would be main eventing the next year's WrestleMania. Well the previously mentioned botched dive was just 2 months after MITB and sent Benjamin into a tailspin.
I'm not exaggerating about this. You can search other Benjamin boneheaded maneuvers following that one; ones that were seemingly nonexistent from 2004 through the first half of 2005. Benjamin lost the belt to Carlito on that night, and it was quite fitting parallel. Benjamin literally drifted on and off TV for the next few years, only coming into the limelight when they needed to fill the last spot in the MITB match, or when they didn't have anyone else to put one of the secondary titles on.
It was frustrating for fans of Benjamin, with his wrestling ability and ridiculous athleticism, to see him floundering like he was. Was his lack of confidence really what was holding him back? Was it Triple H? It all kind of dawned on me during a "eureka" moment I had last year.
My cousin and I went to a ROH show, and after it was over one of the things he said was, "Shelton really looks like he doesn't give a shit." "What do you mean," I asked, even though I obviously knew what he was implying. "I was just watching him as he stood on the apron, and he just looked like he didn't even want to be there." I thought about that statement, and all my Benjamin knowledge starting creeping to the forefront.
I personally had given up on Benjamin after about late 2006. I knew WWE wasn't going to do anything with him, and knew that he hadn't been the same since the botch. So I didn't have high hopes for him anymore. Then it hit me, maybe his confidence wasn't down after all. Maybe he really didn't give a shit anymore. If you rationalize it with the fact that he was just going through the motions, and living off his athleticism purely, and not heart, it made for a pretty valid conclusion. The dude was hungry in '04, '06 and beyond he was drifting because he didn't care. Think Jeff Hardy in 2003.
Maybe he threw up his hands because he was getting held down, and he reached the pinnacle of his career. Triple H did say something like, "he has all the pieces, he just needs to figure out how to put them together." Well at the time everyone was outraged, "HOW DARE HE SAY THAT ABOUT BENJAMIN! HE'S JUST PISSED BECAUSE HE HAD TO JOB TO HIM TWO STRAIGHT WEEKS!" Or maybe he was just right.
If Shelton Benjamin did have all the pieces put together he probably would have been WWE Champion. (Granted, he couldn't and still can't cut a promo worth a damn, but they can work around that.) I do truly think now that Shelton drifts at times (maybe not all the time), and I think that most people would at least agree with that. Which is why WWE could never fully give him "the push". Had he had the charisma of a Jeff Hardy or Rob Van Dam they probably would have tried anyway (Neither were model employees, but both were too beloved to be ignored). Unfortunately for Shelton he didn't have that particular "X" factor.
I guess my whole point is simply this: I'm tired of hearing people talk about how Shelton needs to go back to WWE and tear it up. Or he needs to be singles and not in tag matches blah blah blah. Maybe he is tearing it up right now in NJPW for all I know, but I would assume, like always, that if he is doing good, he still isn't living up to his enormous potential. The guy has been wrestling for 10+ years now, if he hasn't got it yet, he's not going to. Yes he's talented, but if he doesn't truly have the "killer instinct" then he will never reach the top. End of story.
Shelton Benjamin was supposed to be the next big superstar following his 2004 draft to Monday Night Raw, splitting him from his tag partner Charlie Haas. And for about a year he was. He was a solid mid-card guy having great matches and holding on to the IC title for a lengthy reign, and stole the show in the first ever Money in the Bank Ladder match. This was the apex of Benjamin's success, and I even thought that he would be main eventing the next year's WrestleMania. Well the previously mentioned botched dive was just 2 months after MITB and sent Benjamin into a tailspin.
I'm not exaggerating about this. You can search other Benjamin boneheaded maneuvers following that one; ones that were seemingly nonexistent from 2004 through the first half of 2005. Benjamin lost the belt to Carlito on that night, and it was quite fitting parallel. Benjamin literally drifted on and off TV for the next few years, only coming into the limelight when they needed to fill the last spot in the MITB match, or when they didn't have anyone else to put one of the secondary titles on.
It was frustrating for fans of Benjamin, with his wrestling ability and ridiculous athleticism, to see him floundering like he was. Was his lack of confidence really what was holding him back? Was it Triple H? It all kind of dawned on me during a "eureka" moment I had last year.
My cousin and I went to a ROH show, and after it was over one of the things he said was, "Shelton really looks like he doesn't give a shit." "What do you mean," I asked, even though I obviously knew what he was implying. "I was just watching him as he stood on the apron, and he just looked like he didn't even want to be there." I thought about that statement, and all my Benjamin knowledge starting creeping to the forefront.
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| "Aint no stopping me now!" Well the only thing that did was himself. |
I personally had given up on Benjamin after about late 2006. I knew WWE wasn't going to do anything with him, and knew that he hadn't been the same since the botch. So I didn't have high hopes for him anymore. Then it hit me, maybe his confidence wasn't down after all. Maybe he really didn't give a shit anymore. If you rationalize it with the fact that he was just going through the motions, and living off his athleticism purely, and not heart, it made for a pretty valid conclusion. The dude was hungry in '04, '06 and beyond he was drifting because he didn't care. Think Jeff Hardy in 2003.
Maybe he threw up his hands because he was getting held down, and he reached the pinnacle of his career. Triple H did say something like, "he has all the pieces, he just needs to figure out how to put them together." Well at the time everyone was outraged, "HOW DARE HE SAY THAT ABOUT BENJAMIN! HE'S JUST PISSED BECAUSE HE HAD TO JOB TO HIM TWO STRAIGHT WEEKS!" Or maybe he was just right.
If Shelton Benjamin did have all the pieces put together he probably would have been WWE Champion. (Granted, he couldn't and still can't cut a promo worth a damn, but they can work around that.) I do truly think now that Shelton drifts at times (maybe not all the time), and I think that most people would at least agree with that. Which is why WWE could never fully give him "the push". Had he had the charisma of a Jeff Hardy or Rob Van Dam they probably would have tried anyway (Neither were model employees, but both were too beloved to be ignored). Unfortunately for Shelton he didn't have that particular "X" factor.
I guess my whole point is simply this: I'm tired of hearing people talk about how Shelton needs to go back to WWE and tear it up. Or he needs to be singles and not in tag matches blah blah blah. Maybe he is tearing it up right now in NJPW for all I know, but I would assume, like always, that if he is doing good, he still isn't living up to his enormous potential. The guy has been wrestling for 10+ years now, if he hasn't got it yet, he's not going to. Yes he's talented, but if he doesn't truly have the "killer instinct" then he will never reach the top. End of story.
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