Shelton Benjamin

Shelton James Benjamin (born July 9, 1975) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenures with WWE, from 2000 to 2010, and then again from 2017 to 2023.

He 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 for American promotion Ring of Honor (ROH) under his real name. Within the World Wrestling Council (WWC), he won the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship once. Prior to becoming a professional wrestler, he was a two-sport athlete in college. Benjamin 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 (his first title reign lasted 244 days, the longest in this century that lasted until 2023), the United States Championship once, and the WWE Tag Team Championship two times with Haas. He was released from WWE in April 2010 but returned 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.