Thoughts From The Top Rope 2.04.09: Judging the Gold Standard

I’m not one to often go out of my to knock the infamous “Internet Wrestling Community,” (I prefer the more infrequent subtle jibes) but it is one of the predominant complaints of the aforementioned collection of know-it-alls and experts of “the biz” that has prompted me to delve into today’s topic: Shelton Benjamin.

For many years now, countless people have said how good Shelton Benjamin is, how it’s a sham that he hasn’t been given more of a chance or even, hasn’t been given a run with a world championship. Well I’m here to open the eyes of those same people, because Shelton Benjamin isn’t that good, and he has been given every chance to succeed.

I’m not fully aware of exactly when Shelton become one of those IWC darlings, as I simply haven’t been around long enough, but if I were to make an educated guess I would say it was either when he beat Triple H on Raw back in 2004, or when he stole the show in the very first Money in the Bank Ladder match at WrestleMania 21. Certainly when Shelton’s fans seek to point out how good the guy is, they’ll be sure to point out the ridiculous athletic display that was his Money in the Bank performance. Either way, Shelton’s infrequent display of breathtaking athleticism have meant he’s one of the first many people think of when they hear the words “underused,” “underrated” and “underappreciated.” I would argue that he is none of those three words, and if anything, he’s very much overrated.

Don’t get me wrong; I am in fact a Shelton Benjamin fan. I’m also a fan of the likes of Jack Swagger, Dolph Ziggler and John Morrison, but I don’t think any of those guys should be in the main event either. Interestingly, the difference between all of those guys and Shelton Benjamin is that they may have a future in the main event, whereas I don’t think Shelton does.

Benjamin debuted way back in 2002 alongside Charlie Haas as part of Team Angle. The idea was that these young kids were really good in the ring, and they were, and Kurt would mentor them and groom them into something great. Of course, more than that they were their to ensure the WWE Championship stayed around Kurt’s waist, but the basic premise, that these guys were going to be something big, was heavily implied. For a couple of years Haas and Benjamin tore shit up as a tag team, but other than Los Guerreros there wasn’t much of a tag team division on SmackDown, and the team weren’t given a great deal of air time to develop their personalities. Perhaps if they had have been given some mic time to develop their skills early on, I wouldn’t be writing this column right now.

Alas, as is often the case in this modern era, the team broke up far too early and Benjamin was asked to sink or swim as a face over on Raw. Benjamin’s solo career got off to a huge start as he earned a pinfall victory (and a couple of subsequent victories) over Triple H. As one of several guys opposed to Evolution, Benjamin garnered quite the following and his in-ring skills helped him become one of the most popular and promising young stars on Raw, and he was rewarded with the longest Intercontinental Championship reign of the decade. During that reign, Benjamin took part in the first Money in the Bank match at WrestleMania and awed fans with some ridiculous spots – a T-Bone off the ladder comes to mind, as well as Shelton running up one ladder, propped against another, to knock Chris Jericho off the second ladder. Benjamin had another memorable match around the same time against Shawn Michaels, and the ending saw Shelton springboard the length of the ring only to be caught with Sweet Chin Music; another tremendous display of athleticism for which Shelton is greatly remembered.

But still Shelton had no promo skills to speak of. He was given a heel turn to freshen him up – but unfortunately for Shelton, nice shirts and cool shades a personality do not make. “Shelton’s momma” was even brought in to aid him, but it certainly wasn’t Shelton’s personality that shone through throughout that little experiment. Despite being one of the most capable hands in the ring on Raw, Shelton was floundering. So it was no surprise when The World’s Greatest Tag Team was reunited on Raw, but that didn’t kick start the tag team renaissance many had hoped for. So Shelton was shipped to ECW and given another minor change of look, this time dyeing his hair blonde.

Now because ECW is ECW, Benjamin got plenty of screen time and I think it’s his time on ECW that allowed him to begin working on his promo skills more. While he hardly transformed into Ric Flair or The Rock, Shelton became passable on the mic. His time on ECW would be short-lived as last year he was drafted to SmackDown where he won the United States Championship. But while Shelton isn’t as bad as he once was, his personality hardly stands out from any of the other generic heels with which the wrestling world is littered.

Benjamin’s greatest asset always has been and always will be his athleticism. His ring skills are nothing special whatsoever. He’s not the kind of guy who will go out and steel the show on a weekly or even monthly basis. He’s the kind of guy that will give you one or two stunning moments to add to the clip reel at the end of WrestleMania. His recent series of matches with The Undertaker has been a lot of fun, but there are at least a dozen guys who could go out and have a ten or fifteen minute match with Taker and put on a good show. Combine that with the fact that Shelton doesn’t have the ability to make himself stand out using a microphone and it’s clear that in no way is the guy ready for a main event slot, and I doubt he ever will be.

It’s no surprise that Shelton’s most successful spells have come during his face run on Raw. Working as a heel very much limits the amount of athleticism one can do in the ring; if you do too much flashy stuff, the fans are going to get behind you, especially if you can’t play “cocky” very well to counterbalance your athletic prowess. Working as a face gives Shelton the opportunity to hide his lack of charisma by awing crowds with his moves. You can count on one hand the number of guys who have won world championships in WWE with the charisma, or lack thereof, that Shelton possesses.

If you look at the guys main eventing WWE today, we’re talking about guys who have good ring skills, but boat loads of charisma. John Cena wouldn’t be where he is today if he’d stuck with his plucky face gimmick he had when he started in 2002. The exact same thing can be said for Randy Orton. Chris Jericho debuted with a charismatic verbal rundown of The Rock, and two years later he was world champion, and he’s still one of the top guys today. Shawn Michaels gets by today as much on his charisma and acting ability as his in-ring work. Jeff Hardy has done some amazing “spots” in his career, but he has that undeniable “it” factor, that connection with the fans that Shelton Benjamin can only dream of.

Again, I’m a Shelton Benjamin fan. But I’m happy to admit that he is right where he should be: the mid card. Perhaps if he worked elsewhere, where in-ring skills were just as if not more important than talking ability, then he’d fair better. Shelton’s current predicament isn’t some kind of glass ceiling preventing him from moving up, it’s his own lack of certain vital skills needed to be one of the top stars in the wrestling world. If we’re honest, Shelton’s been riding off the back of those few memorable spots for the majority of his career. He’ll produce something innovative perhaps once a year just to make sure people remember what he can do, and maybe he’ll leap to the top rope every few weeks to keep his most die-hard fans appalled at the push he isn’t getting. Shelton’s good and he’s proved it, but good isn’t good enough.

I like forward to WrestleMania 25 and the inevitable Shelton Benjamin highspot in the Money in the Bank match. It’ll have people talking for a couple of hours, that is, until the likes of John Cena, Randy Orton and Edge give us something better to talk about in the main event. Unfortunately, I can’t see Shelton getting that consistency or that personality that would put him in the same league as those guys.