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Post by robferatu on Nov 6, 2007 3:36:35 GMT -5
I'm a pretty big fan of Shelton Benjamin. I like to think of him as WWE's version of AJ Styles. He's an phenomenal athlete and tends to still the show when giving the chance. Why isn't he ever pushed? Teaming him back up with Hass seems to be the worst thing that's happened to him.
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Mozenrath
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Post by Mozenrath on Nov 6, 2007 3:40:35 GMT -5
I think he just needs a manager, since his mic work is questionable.
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Post by Thread Pirate Roberts on Nov 6, 2007 3:45:22 GMT -5
A great athlete with tons of potential, although potential won't pay the rent.
He lacks a certain something...Hmmm what could it be.......I know Personality!
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Boku AKA Da Green Guy
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Post by Boku AKA Da Green Guy on Nov 6, 2007 3:46:20 GMT -5
Teaming him back up with Hass seems to be the worst thing that's happened to him. I think it's the hair personally. |
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Post by robferatu on Nov 6, 2007 3:50:09 GMT -5
A great athlete with tons of potential, although potential won't pay the rent. He lacks a certain something...Hmmm what could it be.......I know Personality! He's never really been given the chance to develop a personality. In the instances he's been give mic time he's not been horrible, he's even been rather good at times. Like last fall when they let him cut a "It's a race thing" promo, I personally thought that was a decent promo. It takes me back to AJ Styles. For years he didn't have any personality and then they aligned him with someone that helped him develop one and now he's one of my favorite things about TNA. If only they would align Benjamin with Johnathan Coachman or something. |
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Post by King Fox -1017 Bricksquad on Nov 6, 2007 3:51:36 GMT -5
It's because he's black, Isn't it?
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Tapout
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Post by Tapout on Nov 6, 2007 4:07:40 GMT -5
No charisma and can't work a stick.
Shelton is an amazing athlete, no doubt, and he's capable of putting on incredible matches, but he has no personality, as mentioned. He comes off as a bit of a spot monkey. (Keep in mind, this is coming from a huge Shelton mark. I'm a big fan of the guy's previous work.)
This sounds weird and arbitrary, but compare him to Jeff Hardy, who is also a spot monkey, but has built himself a persona as the never-say-die babyface who leaves it all in the ring with a high-risk offense. The crowds pop for Hardy when he successfully hits a highspot because Hardy took the gamble and it paid off. The crowds get very sympathetic and groan in horror when one of his highspots gets countered (e.g. heel rolls out of the way of the swanton, and Hardy sells the impact of falling on the mat it like he's just been tasered). Jeff Hardy is the daredevil babyface who takes high risks to delight us, the fans, and he's also usually booked to be very tenacious, so he makes a great underdog, especially in feuds with bigger men (Undertaker, Lesnar). This is basically Hardy's in-ring persona, and how the connects with the fans, despite not having a chance to talk all that much on the mic. Have Hardy go into a PPV feud with a kayfabe injury and you basically have guaranteed sympathy heat for him.
Now take Shelton. He's an incredible athlete, and at 245 pounds, he flies around like a man half his weight. But why? What's the motivation behind the highspots that we're supposed to interpret here? Is he a cocky heel who's trying to outdo everyone and steal the show? Was he thumbing his nose specifically at cruiserweights like Mysterio? If so, we haven't seen any sign of that (when was the last time he even picked up a mic?).
When he was the babyface IC champ, watching him fly around was awesome, but why was he doing all that awesome stuff? Was he a cocky babyface trying to show off? Nope. Was he a vulnerable, Hardy-esque babyface who could crash and burn at any second? Nope. He should've been the hungry youngster looking to make a name for himself, and that's kind of the gimmick that was implied for him when he turned face, went singles, and picked up the IC title, but it never came through in his ringwork. He just did the highspots. They were great fun to watch, but they were just highspots. Not a lot of psychology. One of the closest matches Shelton ever got to really develop his character was his amazing Gold Rush match with HBK, where the story implied in the match was, both guys were fantastic performers who kept turning up the heat and pulling out more of the stops as the match progressed. That could've (should've) set the table for a feud between the two men about who was the better in-ring performer, and that could've given Shelton's in-ring performance some kind of personality, a babyface who was trying to be the best he could be so he could stack up to a veteran like Michaels. Unfortunately, there was no feud and Shelton dropped the title and got buried.
I think Shelton needs, or needed, to develop an in-ring persona like Hardy did, since he can't get it done with promos. That'll take time and it'll require the guy to work with creative to really pick a direction for himself, and unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the way the winds are blowing.
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Post by Loki on Nov 6, 2007 9:08:27 GMT -5
If some wins over Triple H (during his reign of terror) and a IC title run following the small feud with Evolution, and a program with Jericho didn't work, regardless of the nice ringwork, there's little left to do.
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Post by Baixo Astral on Nov 6, 2007 9:11:05 GMT -5
No psychology, very little charisma, no talent on the mic, and whilst he's capable of some awesome stuff, can be a little botchy.
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Post by Mr. Mediocre on Nov 6, 2007 9:17:04 GMT -5
He seemed pretty charismatic last night as he crawled with Super Crazy.
I'll definitely agree that he's botchy and not even close to good on the microphone.
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Post by radicalbuttercup on Nov 6, 2007 9:32:14 GMT -5
I really like WGTT and find it mind boggling that they are like..the absolute bottom rung tag team on either roster. They should have gotten at least a title reign by now. MY MIND IS BOGGLED.
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Post by macdaddysquid on Nov 6, 2007 9:39:08 GMT -5
I don't like Shelton, yeah he can jump high and has mat skills but thats it, the guys awful. He doesn't get pushed because he hasn't grown since his debut.
Tapout that was a great post btw
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Post by LuckyD 8402 on Nov 6, 2007 9:58:04 GMT -5
Video games.
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Randy Barber 4-Life
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Post by Randy Barber 4-Life on Nov 6, 2007 10:07:55 GMT -5
Shelton Benjamin is a prime example of why managers are so important. I wonder how many guys in the 80s wouldn't have had half the success they did without a Bobby Heenan or a Jimmy Hart to talk for them. Eh, I'm living in the past.
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BHB
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Post by BHB on Nov 6, 2007 10:12:37 GMT -5
I think Shelton's awesome and definately deserves push. He needs to get out of WGTT, lose the terrible shirts and get his hair sorted out. Someone posted this video a week or so ago, but i'm gonna post it again anyway because it so awesome. Reminds me of how good Shelton used to be: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sy3ToE1AR5k |
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Post by macdaddysquid on Nov 6, 2007 10:14:24 GMT -5
What about Mama Benjamin? You guys have neglected this angle, a manager angle that only helped ruin him
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Post by MysteryPartner on Nov 6, 2007 10:33:39 GMT -5
I've always wanted to see Shelton get a push too.. I guess he had a pretty good IC run but then Carlito stole that from him literally.. He had the whole momma thing.. for a while he started coming out with sunglasses and seemed like he was goin to have a cocky gimmick.. I actually wanted the WGTT to come back at the time they had the Hardy Boys and a bunch of other good tag teams.. but WGTT was quickly sent to the bottom.. now they are just stuck.. Hass has even less personality than Shelton.. I really don't know what they can do with him.. hopefully they do something.. he can definatly be a future star.. it would of actually been good for him to go to ECW but now that they are pretty much breaking up the brands I guess it doesn't matter.. I kind of look at him as the next RVD
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Post by Avalanche Alvarez on Nov 6, 2007 10:37:00 GMT -5
I'm a pretty big fan of Shelton Benjamin. I like to think of him as WWE's version of AJ Styles. He's an phenomenal athlete and tends to still the show when giving the chance. Why isn't he ever pushed? Teaming him back up with Hass seems to be the worst thing that's happened to him. You didn't like last night's debacle? They're not pushing him because they've already crafted other wrestlers to the high spots. Like Umanga. And Kennedy. And HBK. And Orton. |
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Post by radicalbuttercup on Nov 6, 2007 10:43:22 GMT -5
What about Mama Benjamin? You guys have neglected this angle, a manager angle that only helped ruin him I don't think it ruined him at all. He was actually getting heat and "mama's boy's" chants. More than he gets now. He was also IC champ at the time. |
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Post by macdaddysquid on Nov 6, 2007 10:44:01 GMT -5
it started the downfall
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Hunt. Hunt.
