Shelton Benjamin

Shelton Benjamin
Benjamin in 2013
Birth nameShelton James Benjamin[1]
Born (1975-07-09) July 9, 1975 (age 49)[2]
Orangeburg, South Carolina, U.S.
Alma materLassen Community College
University of Minnesota
Children2
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Shelton Benjamin
Shelton X Benjamin[3]
Billed height6 ft 2 in (188 cm)[4]
Billed weight248 lb (112 kg)[4]
Billed fromMinneapolis, Minnesota
Orangeburg, South Carolina[4]
Trained byDanny Davis
Dean Malenko
Doug Basham
DebutJanuary 10, 2000[5]
Sports career
Medal record
Collegiate Wrestling
Representing the Minnesota Golden Gophers
NCAA Division I Championships
Bronze medal – third place 1998 Cleveland 275 lb

Shelton James Benjamin (born July 9, 1975) is an American professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler. As of October 2024, he is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of The Hurt Syndicate. He is best known for his tenures with WWE, first from 2000 to 2010, and then again from 2017 to 2023. Benjamin is also known for his work in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and Pro Wrestling Noah through their working relationship under the ring name Shelton X Benjamin and in Ring of Honor (ROH) under his real name.[6]

Prior to becoming a professional wrestler, Benjamin was a two-sport athlete in college, having won an NJCAA championship in both track and field and collegiate wrestling. After attending junior college, he completed his degree from the University of Minnesota.

Benjamin started his professional wrestling career in WWE's developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), where he held the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship four times (three times with Brock Lesnar and once with Rodney Mack). WWE then moved him to the main roster in 2002, where he formed an alliance with Kurt Angle and Charlie Haas, known as Team Angle, and later, The World's Greatest Tag Team with Haas. During his first tenure with the company, he won the Intercontinental Championship three times, with his first title reign lasting 244 days, the longest reign in this century until 2023,[7] the United States Championship once, and the WWE Tag Team Championship two times with Haas. He was released from WWE in April 2010, and began performing for Ring of Honor (ROH), where he reunited with Charlie Haas and went on to win the ROH World Tag Team Championship twice. He made his New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) debut in 2012, and appeared in Pro Wrestling Noah in 2015, both as a member of Suzuki-gun. He returned to WWE in August 2017, going on to join The Hurt Business and win the renamed WWE Raw Tag Team Championship a third time with Cedric Alexander, and the WWE 24/7 Championship three times. He was released again in September 2023, and returned to the independent circuit. He made his AEW debut on October 2, 2024, reuniting with MVP.

  1. ^ "Shelton J. Benjamin". Twitter. Archived from the original on October 20, 2021. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  2. ^ "WWE Profile - Shelton Benjamin". ESPN.com. July 29, 2016. Archived from the original on February 17, 2019. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference SheltonXBenjamin was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference wwe was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ @Sheltyb803 (January 6, 2020). "My career hits its 20 year anniversary in just five days (Jan 10) I honestly did not expect to have made it this…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference HonorTakesCenterStageOne was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference IC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).