Shelton Benjamin

 

 

A native of Orangeburg, South Carolina, Shelton Benjamin was one of the most decorated athletes ever in both wrestling and track and field.  On his way to the ROH World Tag Team Championship with Charlie Haas in “Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team”, Shelton became an All-American at the University of Minnesota and was an assistant coach and training partner of current UFC star, Brock Lesnar.

 

Known for his incredible athleticism, Benjamin has been a decorated champion throughout his 10-year professional career and at one time called the “Gold Standard”.  In 2010, Haas and Benjamin reunited and debuted in Ring of Honor to round out the deepest tag team division in the sport.  Their match with the Kings of Wrestling at “Glory by Honor IX” launched a great rivalry that culminated with Haas & Benjamin winning the ROH World Tag Team Titles in Atlanta, GA in April 2011.   Shelton describes winning the ROH World Tag Team titles as the biggest accomplishment on his impressive athletic resume.

 

While WGTT’s championship run was quite impressive, defeating the KoW, the Briscoes, ANX, and Future Shock, it may be the way the handled their loss at “Final Battle 2012” that is how they are remembered in the future.  Since that night, they have become a pair of thugs, viciously assaulting their opponents with little care about a win or loss, and freely using steel chairs just to make a point.  One of those instances put Benjamin on suspension for a month, a suspension he happily served since it meant cracking a Briscoe in the skull with a chair.  That is what Shelton & Charlie have become since losing the belts and it doesn’t appear that anything will stop them from using whatever means necessary to get the belts back, and seemingly more important to them, leaving the Briscoes on the shelf…