TSC Evaluation #31: Shelton Benjamin

[mrken12]

In the last evaluation, Owen Hart got a score of 7.79.

TSC Evaluation #30: Owen Hart

Spoiler: Leaderboard

Rick Rude: 9.16 TSC Evaluation #21: Rick Rude
Sting: 9.00 TSC Evaluation #20: Sting
Rey Mysterio Jr.: 8.78 TSC Evaluation #15: Rey Mysterio Jr
Scott Steiner: 8.59 TSC Evaluation #2: Scott Steiner
Booker T: 8.53 TSC Evaluation #25: Booker T
Terry Funk: 8.40 TSC Evaluation #11: Terry Funk
Vader: 8.25 TSC Evaluation #12: Vader
Rob Van Dam: 8.14 TSC Evaluation #9: Rob Van Dam
Andre The Giant: 8.10 TSC Evaluation #18: Andre The Giant
DDP: 7.95 TSC Evaluation #16: Diamond Dallas Page
CM Punk: 7.92 TSC Evaluation #7: CM Punk
Raven: 7.71 TSC Evaluation #19: Raven
Batista: 7.69 TSC Evaluation #28: Batista
Ron Simmons: 7.56 TSC Evaluation #26: Ron Simmons
Roddy Piper: 7.53 TSC Evaluation #6: Roddy Piper
2 Cold Scorpio: 7.36 TSC Evaluation #23: 2 Cold Scorpio
Goldberg: 7.18 TSC Evaluation #3: Goldberg
Sycho Sid: 7.02 TSC Evaluation #4: Sycho Sid / Sid Vicious
Junkyard Dog: 6.92 TSC Evaluation #24: Junkyard Dog
Ultimate Warrior: 6.79 TSC Evaluation #10: The Ultimate Warrior
MVP: 6.64 TSC Evaluation #27: Montel Vontavious Porter
D'Lo Brown: 6.48 TSC Evaluation #13: D'Lo Brown
Sabu: 6.12 TSC Evaluation #22: Sabu
Lex Luger: 6.03 TSC Evaluation #8: Lex Luger
Tazz: 6.02 TSC Evaluation #5: Tazz
Mike Awesome: 5.94 TSC Evaluation #29: Mike Awesome
Chyna: 5.74 TSC Evaluation #17: Chyna
Jeff Jarrett: 4.49 TSC Evaluation: Jeff Jarrett
Tommy Dreamer: 3.96 TSC Evaluation #14: Tommy Dreamer

If people have any requests for future wrestlers you want to see evaluated, let me know. I'll have one wrestler evaluated for each week every Monday.

For #32 it will be Ricky Steamboat.

Pending requests: Ted DiBiase, Jake The Snake Roberts, Bam Bam Bigelow, Kurt Angle, Billy Gunn, X-Pac, Kane, Undertaker, Big Show, Rikishi, Mr. Perfect, Chris Kanyon, The Godfather, Val Venis, Big Boss Man, JBL, Harley Race, Stan Hansen, Eddie Guerrero, Christian Cage, Brian Pillman, Goldust, William Regal, Tully Blanchard, Arn Anderson, Eddie Gilbert, Sandman, Barry Windham, Bobby Eaton
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Major accomplishments

Millennium Wrestling Federation
MWF Heavyweight Championship (1x)

Ohio Valley Wrestling
OVW Southern Tag Team Championship (4x) – with Brock Lesnar (3) and Redd Dogg (1)
Danny Davis Invitational Tag Team Tournament (2015) – with Charlie Haas

Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Tag Team of the Year (2003) with Charlie Haas
PWI ranked him #9 of the 500 best singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2005

Ring of Honor
ROH World Tag Team Championship (2x) – with Charlie Haas

World Wrestling Council
WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship (1x)

World Wrestling Entertainment
WWE United States Championship (1x)
WWE Intercontinental Championship (3x)
WWE Tag Team Championship (2x) – with Charlie Haas

Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Most Underrated Wrestler (2005–2007)

Misc

Track and field
National Junior College Athletic Association
Junior College 100 meter Champion

Amateur wrestling
National Junior College Athletic Association
Junior College National Wrestling Champion

National Collegiate Athletic Association
2x All-American (1997, 1998)



With a scale of 1-10 how would you rate Shelton Benjamin in these categories:

-Mic work/promos

-Personality/gimmicks

-Ring work (along with some of your favorite matches/feuds)

-Overall rating (which doesn't have to be an average of the above scores)

 

[Buggsy Mogues]

The greatest athlete to ever step into a wrestling ring.

Could have been a main event player if he had the right creative behind him and a good mouthpiece, because he wasn't a great promo, didn't ever have great gimmicks/charisma.

But on sheer talent alone he gets an 8.

 

[Rout3r2035]

9, had everything but the mic skills. Not a stretch to say he's the most athletic ever.

Still gives me chills.

 

[Ed MOTHERFUCKING G]

-Mic work/promos

• C- , Benjamin was the the first victim, imo, of the overscripted promos killing a wrestler. He talked like today's WWE women and nxt men do and it's not his fault. He had WAAAAAY more potential than they built up. He could've been a superstar if he got the leash that even MVP got.

-Personality/gimmicks

• C-, Same as above, but the original WGTT could've parlayed into a good heel team if they stuck with it. Gold standard was terrible. Benjamin's mama storyline was terrible.

-Ring work (along with some of your favorite matches/feuds)

• A-, very very good worker. His matches age well when you watch ruthless agression era. Best match was vs Hbk, but really my favorite was the work he put in during MITB and ladder matches. Him, Ziggler, and Kofi are so entertaining to me for that alone. He was similar to RVD or even Jerry Lynn in the way he moved in the ring, but not as crisp (who is?).

Overall - 7 8

• A LOT of coudvebeen with Shelton, and I anticipate his return to WWE. Had to increase his rating after I thought about it more

 

[TheWhackMamba]

8, dude was so athletic and talented, just a poor promo cause he was used to hard too fast

 

[R=G]

Shelton is a 8 to me..he delivered every time and is the definition of being held down. He wasn't no bully or no a$$hole backstage...so it's just that good ol boy bullshyt but it's odd. Vince put him over the night before Taboo Tuesday 04 and clearly protected him for awhile...him and Cena barely lost in 2004..lol. Count on one hand the losses they had on TV as singles wrestlers. Too good to have been misused like that.

 

[DamienWayne]

biggest waste wwe ever made. he had it all. black randy orton. wish i could give him an 8 but gotta go with 7. golden standard could have worked if done right. hopefully he gets at least one title run before he retires

 

[Cartier Murphy]

-Mic work/promos - 6

I don't really recall much of anything by him minus like, him yelling catchphrases or his entrance theme. He has no stand out promos but also no offensively bad ones so I can't really rank him much on this.

-Personality/gimmicks - 5

Team Angle was a good intro and made sense with his history with Brock. WGTT was cool. His lane was really as a white meat baby face as that's when he shined the most. 04-05 dude was on another level. The shades and Hawaiian shirts were cool but didn't really add anything to him. The less said about the Mama stuff the better. Gold Standard was lame.

-Ring work (along with some of your favorite matches/feuds) - 8

He could GO. A guy who's ring work really outshone his weak points. His matches with RAW's undercard like Christian, Jericho and others really standout. That HBK match is a classic. His performance in MITBs, namely the first one, was what helped make that match something to look forward to every year. Once they deaded his push is when he basically just went into limbo after that. His ROH run with Haas was not good and I haven't seen him NJPW so I can't comment on how he was there.

-Overall rating (which doesn't have to be an average of the above scores) - 8

He was an absolute favorite of mine when I was younger and a guy who I really wish got a stronger push because he could more than deliver when needed. I do hope he returns to WWE one day to get some of the glory he should've got a decade ago, was really excited for what was supposed to be his return last summer.

 

[Golayitdown]

8 for me. Dude was not only athletically gifted but an overall awesome wrestler. Promos definitely weren't his strong suit, but I always felt like they never gave him anything to really work with. Seems like once they found out that he wasn't the next superstar on the stick, they just put him in roles and gimmicks that were never going to get him over that hump, which resulted in him never getting any better (or at least getting a chance to show what he could do).

Regardless, dude could and should have been at least had a short stint in the main event off of talent alone.

 

[Ill Lou Malnati]

-Mic work/promos: 4. Can't talk.

-Personality/gimmicks: 3. Has no personality.

-Ring work (along with some of your favorite matches/feuds): 6. It's obvious he's a gifted athlete, but what the fukk does that matter when you keep botching in all your matches? Got to the point where it was a running joke and embarrassing. Maybe he's gotten better and more confident outside WWE, but he's way overrated for his stuff in WWE.

-Overall rating (which doesn't have to be an average of the above scores): 5.

 

[Playaz Eyez]

Gets high marks from me on athleticism alone. Dude was doing some great stuff during Team Angle, initially in his solo run when he was moved to Raw, and even during his "Gold Standard" phase. He just couldn't cut promos, and in classic WWE fashion, they constantly shined a light on that. Didn't help that when he started botching, they put the spotlight on that too. He gets a 7 instead of an 8 from me because of promos. he was a highlight during MITB matches, and put on good-great matches with an assortment of people, Benoit, Eddie, Jericho, Angle, HBK, Edge, Christian, and a bunch of others. A manager would have done him wonders, and no, not that embarrassing "Shelton's Mama" shyt. I'd say the Gold Standard stuff as a heel was his best shot to have a resurgence, cause when he'd be faking sick and coughing to get counted out or DQ'd, that shyt was and his promos were serviceable during that time. A lot of what could have beens for Shelton, would elevate him from a 7 to a 9 if he was even average at speaking.

 

[mrken12]

Christian vs Benjamin [TLC 2009, Ladder Match, ECW Championship]



RVD vs Benjamin [Backlash 2006, Intercontinental Title vs. Money In The Bank Briefcase Match]



Katsuyori Shibata vs Benjamin [7/28/14, NJPW G1 Climax 24 Day 5]

 

[Nero Christ]

just gonna repeat what others have already said, he is one of if not the most athletically gifted wrestler ever. Always had very solid to great matches and that Sweet Chin music spot is a classic that they tried to replicate for awhile after it. He doesn't have any standout promos but so do a lot of guys from that era til now. Doesn't have standout feuds but he, Jericho, Christian, Orton, Edge and then Carlito and Morrison held down the midcard for some years.

I'll give him a 7.5 but round up to an 8.

 

[Breh Obama]

 

[#1 pick]

The best athlete, you can say this or that but he's Black, dark skin and Vince just don't push Black dark skin wrestlers. To me, he's a legend. One of the best. He should have been used like his teammate Brock Lesnar. 9.5. Top 10 for me.