Shelton Benjamin

Shelton Benjamin was born in Orangeburg, South Carolina on July 9, 1976. A powerful athelete from an early age, Shelton was the South Carolina state heavyweight champion in high school wrestling in both his junior and senior years at Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School. In addition to his wrestling career, he was also the state champion for the 100-meter dash in Track, and was a two-time All-State selection in football. After graduating from O-W, he went on to Lassen Community College in Susanville, California, where he again starred in wrestling (1996 NJCAA Champion) and track (100 meter junior college champion), before transferring to the University of Minnesota. After graduation, he spent two seasons at Minnesota as an assistant coach for the wrestling team, where he trained future WWE Champion Brock Lesnar, among others. Shelton then spent time in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) where for a time he and Lesnar held tag-team gold as a team known as the Minnesota Stretching Crew. Both members of the MSC would soon win WWE contracts. Benjamin officially debuted in the WWE in December 2002 as part of the heel clique Team Angle with Charlie Haas and Kurt Angle. Haas & Benjamin captured the WWE Tag Team Championship twice in 2003, and after parting ways with Kurt Angle during his short-lived face turn, dubbed themselves The World's Greatest Tag Team. Shelton was traded to WWE Monday Night Raw in March 2004 as part of a "draft lottery," swiftly putting an end to the Haas/Benjamin tag team. In his first match on Raw, March 29, 2004, Shelton ran afoul of the dominant heel clique of Raw, Evolution. This resulted in a match between Shelton Benjamin and veteran Triple-H and a dramatic upset victory by Benjamin, which secured his place as a fan-favorite. A rematch the following week resulted in another victory for Benjamin via count-out, but the members of Evolution exacted a punishment on the young wrestler after the match. Shelton Benjamin has an extensive background in amateur wrestling and a speed advantage thanks to his background in track. He is a charismatic, powerful and skillful wrestler who has limitless potential to become a key player in the pro-wrestling world.