How much is WWE Shelton Benjamin’s net worth? The former United States Champion has an estimated net worth of US$2.01 million. He is currently performing under the Raw brand and is known for being a part of The Hurt Business alongside Bobby Lashley, Cedric Alexander and MVP. Previously, he was part of Team Angle with Kurt Angle and Charlie Haas. He has made multiple records including being the winner of the Intercontinental Championship three times, the WWE Tag Team Championship three times and the WWE 24/7 Championship three times.
How much does Shelton Benjamin make?
The main source of Benjamin’s income is his remuneration which he earns from his wrestling career. It is reported that his annual salary is between US$500,00 to US$900,000. His net worth is also influenced by his appearances in other media including WWE video games like WWE 2K19 and 2K20.
Whom is Benjamin married to?
Shelton Benjamin hasn’t revealed anything about his wife and it seems like he is yet to be married. However, he has openly stated that he is blessed with two daughters. One of his daughters named Kyana Benjamin completed her high school graduation in May 2017. He thanked his daughter for making him proud and described her as his first true love and the apple of his eyes.
Rumored to have a relationship with Mia Yim
Benjamin and California born wrestler Mia Yim was rumored to have been dating secretly. The rumor was so serious that they have to come in front of the audience to clear the dilemma. Both of them revealed that they were good friends. On January 4, 2013, he made a tweet stating that he isn’t married and Mia Yim is like his annoying little sister. This tweet made us suppose that he has already split with his first daughter’s mom.
How old is the WWE superstar?
Benjamin was born on July 9, 1975, which makes his age be 46 years old as of 2021.
Birth name
Shelton J. Benjamin
Birthplace
Orangeburg, South Carolina, the United States
Height and weight
Benjamin stands at a tall height of 6 feet and 2 inches or 1.88m. He weighs about 112 kilograms or 248 pounds making him perfectly balanced compared to his tall height. He is a fitness freak and his healthy lifestyle has always helped him physically fine. He ensures proper consumption of diet and is strict when it comes to going for workouts and rehearsals.
Are Shelton Benjamin and Brock Lesnar friends?
Yes, they are very close friends. They initially met him at the University of Minnesota and even shared a room together. There are like brothers and have always been supporting each other. When Brock Lesnar was experiencing a financial crisis, Benjamin allowed him to stay in his basement. He is also close to Lesnar’s family and is the godfather to Lesnar’s daughter.
Close Friendship with Charlie Haas
Benjamin and fellow wrestler Charlie Haas are also close friends. When Haas was celebrating his wedding with wife Jackie Gayda, he served as the best man in 2005. He is also the godfather to Haas’ oldest daughter named Kayla who was born in 2006. Both the wrestler teamed with Kurt Angle for a faction called Team Angle. They also formed a tag team “The Worlds Greatest Tag Team” after debuting together on SmackDown in December 2002. The duo earned the WWE Tag Team Championship twice.
Is Thea Vidale Shelton’s real mom?
The simple answer is, ‘No’. They were presented as mother-son as per the WWE storyline and they carry no blood relationship. American stand-up comedian and actress Thea Vidale appeared as the mother to Shelton on WWE in 2006. During that time, he was going through difficulties and Vidale appeared on the January 2 episode of Raw and was nicknamed “Momma Benjamin”. After the appearance of “Momma Benjamin”, Shelton broke his losing streak.
Momma Benjamin tried to interfere in Shelton’s match on February 6, 2006, where he was facing Big Show. The interference made Big Show turn to Vidale and screamed in her face. Eventually, Big Show finished the match recording a win which made Momma Benjamin fainted to the ground. It was reported that Vidale suffered from a heart arrhythmia for which she needs to rest at home and the match was presented in that way.
The following week, Momma Benjamin made her return to the wheelchair having an oxygen tank. She started turning as a weapon herself helping Shelton win his matches. On March 13, 2006, she appeared for the final time on WWE television and announced that she was having heart surgery. Further, she stated that she had no plans to appear in WWE again.
Who is his real mother?
His real mother’s name is Carolyn Benjamin. His parents raised him along with two other siblings. His father died on April 8, 2018, which Shelter made public through his social media on the following day.
Early life
He grew up in his hometown and started wrestling in his sophomore year at Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School. He was able to become the two-time South Carolina state high school heavyweight wrestling champion and was very popular in his school. For his higher education, he was enrolled at Lassen Community College located in Susanville, California. He gained recognition as National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) track and field champion (100 meters). Also, he was named NJCAA collegiate wrestling champion. In 1995, he attended North Carolina State University on a full football scholarship. However, he took a quick transfer to the University of Minnesota on a wrestling scholarship.
After completion of his graduation., he went to serve as an assistant wrestling coach and also trained with Brock Lesnar. Although he was elected for the 2000 Summer Olympics he chose to pursue a professional wrestling career.
Joining WWF
He made a giant leap by concluding a contract with World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 2000 after which he started wrestling for Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). He formed a tag team with Brock Lesnar and was recognized as Minnesota Stretching Crew. The duo became able to held the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship on three occasions.
In the late 2001, Lesnar was called for the main roster after which Benjamin teamed with Redd Dogg Begnaud. On July 17, 2002, he was able to earn the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship again. He made his WWE television debut on Sunday Night Heat after wrestling at several house shows for the main WWE roster.
Joining SmackDown! brand
On the December 26, 2002 episode of SmackDown!, he joined the brand as a heel where he formed an alliance with Charlie Haas and Kurt Angle who was popular as an Olympic gold medalist. Angle was presented as their mentor and the group was called ‘Team Angle.’ On the January 2, 2003 episode of SmackDown!, they made their first televised match together in WWE facing Chris Benoit and Edge.
Benjamin and Haas won the WWE Tag Team Championship by being victorious against Eddie and Chavo Guerrero on February 6. They started a feud with Benoit which came to an end when Benoit teamed with Brock Lesnar and defeat Team Angle. The duo was able to retain their title in a Triple Threat match against Los Guerreros (Eddie and Chavo Guerrero) and Chris Benoit & Rhyno in their first WrestleMania match at WrestleMania XIX that took place on March 30, 2002.
They lost their WWE Tag Team Championship title in a ladder match to Guerrero and Tajiri at Judgement Day on May 18, 2003. Benjamin and Haas were confronted by Kurt Angle after which they were fired from Team Angle on the June 12 episode of SmackDown!. This made the duo refer to themselves as The World’s Greatest Tag Team. They became able to regain their WWE Tag Team Championship title from Guerrero and Tajiri on July 3. During the title match, Benjamin suffered from a knee injury making the duo lost the title to Eddie and Chavo Guerrero on the September 18 episode of SmackDown!. The injury made him sidelined for a month and upon his return taking part in a Fatal Four-Way match at WrestleMania XX.
He was drafted to the Raw brand on the March 22, 2004 episode of Raw after which he came into the limelight when he scored an upset victory over Triple H. This made began a feud between them where Benjamin defeated Triple H three times by pinfall, count-out and disqualification. He also defeated the other members of Triple H’s stable Evolution like Ric Flair but lost to Randy Orton at Bad Blood on June 13, 2004.
He was able to earn the Intercontinental Championship from Chris Jericho at Taboo Tuesday on October 19, 2004, after which he defended his title against Christian, Maven and Chris Jericho at Survivor Series, New Year’s Revolution, and Backlash respectively. On the June 20 episode of Raw, he lost his title to Carlito who used ropes during the pinfall. After this, he started experiencing a losing streak and comedian Thea Vidale.
On April 2, 2006, he participated in the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 22. On the April 17 episode of Raw, he lost to his former tag team partner, Charlie Haas. He lost his WWE Intercontinental Championship to Rob Van Dam but was able to regain the title Tornado Tag Team match
When he defeated Super Crazy, his former partner Charlie Haas came out to celebrate on the December 4 episode of Raw. It was announced that The World’s Greatest Tag Team is back again and they became successful in defeating The Highlanders (Robbie McAllister and Rory McAllister). They also feuded with Cryme Tyme (JTG and Shad Gaspard) who eliminated them at New Year’s Revolution in a tag team turmoil match.
Benjamin participated in the Royal Rumble on January 28, 2007, where he got eliminated by Shawn Michaels. After losing multiple times, The Greatest Tag Team was able to register a win against Cryme Tyme on the January 29 episode of Raw. They lost to the team of Ric Flair and Carlito on April 2 but were able to take revenge by defeating Ric Flair and Carlito in a rematch. They unsuccessfully challenged The Hardys (Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy) for the World Tag Team Championship in a ladder match on June 3, 2007.
They lost to Paul London and Brian Kendrick in their debut match on June 18. Benjamin also lost to London in a singles match. Their feud came to an end when The Greatest Tag Team got victorious over London and Kendrick on the July 23 episode of Raw. When Benjamin joined the ECW roster, the team was disbanded. He was introduced as the newest member of the ECW brand by Elijah Burke on the November 20, 2007 airing of ECW. He started referring to himself as “The Gold Standard” after wearing gold wrestling attire. Benjamin got released from his contract with the promoion on April 22, 2010.
On July 24, 2010, he made his independent circuit debut against Scorpio Sky. He got victorious against Ray González making him become the winner of the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship. However, he lost the title to Carlito on November 27.
Ring of Honor debut
With his partner Charlie Haas, he made his Ring of Honor debut by defeating Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli at Glory By Honor IX on September 11, 2010. They were defeated by Harlem and Lance (Bravado Brothers) at the Ring of Honor Wrestling television tapings. They were able to record victory over the All-Night Express after which they participated in the eight-man tag team match which ended in a no contest. They defeated the Briscoe Brothers on February 26, 2011, making them earn another shot at the Kings of Wrestling. They got victorious against Kings of Wrestling at Honor Takes Center Stage making the duo become the ROH World Tag Team Championship. The duo retained their title against the All Night Express, the Kings of Wrestling and the Briscoe Brothers in a four-way match. They lost the title to the Briscoe Brothers at Final Battle 2011. However, they regained their title from the Briscoe Brothers on May 12, 2012. Later, they lose their title to Kenny King and Rhett Titus at Best in the World 2012.
He was scheduled to work for Japan for which storyline was created that he was suspended and the reason was presented as his attacks on Titus and several ROH officials with a steel chair. At Death Before Dishonor X: State of Emergency, he made his return accompanying Charlie Haas and Rhett Titus. He teamed with Haas to defeat Titus and B.J. Whitmer in a street fight at Final Battle 2012: Doomsday. He was released from his ROH contract upon his request.
Joining New Japan Pro-Wrestling
He was announced to have joined the New Japan Pro-Wrestling on December 9, 2011, by accompanying MVP against Masato Tanaka and Yujiro Takahashi. Benjamin and MVP came out as a winner of the match and continued their winning streak defeating Karl Anderson and Tama Tonga in a tag team match. His profile from NJPW’s website has been removed since early 2015.
Return to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)
His WWE return was promoted by a vignette aired on July 26, 2016, episode of SmackDown. However, he revealed his torn rotator cuff and explained that he needs surgery which would take him on hiatus. He was medically cleared which he announced through his Twitter account on March 30, 2017. He officially re-signed with WWE on August 17, 2017, and made his return on the August 22 episode of SmackDown. He teamed with Chad Gable and turned to be a fan favorite tag team. On August 30, 2017, they defeated The Ascension in their debut match. They also defeated The Hype Bros on October 8, 2017. They also faced The Usos multiple times. Although they defeated the Usos on the January 2, 2018 episode of SmackDown Live for the titles, the decision was reversed as the referee came to know that they had unknowingly pinned the wrong twin.
They accused the general manager Daniel Bryan of being biased after which Bryan offered them a rematch which they lost. They both participated in the Giant Memorial Battle Royal but couldn’t record a win at WrestleMania 34 on April 8, 2018. The following week, the team got disbanded after Gable being traded to Raw.
Benjamin participated in the titular 50-man Royal Rumble match entering as entrant number 48 at the Greatest Royal Rumble in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He also partnered with The Miz to face Randy Orton and Jeff Hardy. He was able to win Daniel Bryan following the interference by The Miz on the October 2 episode of SmackDown.
He participated in the Royal Rumble pay-per-view on January 27, 2019, where he got easily eliminated by Braun Strowman. He also attacked Seth Rollins making his return on the March 11 episode of Raw. He participated in the King of the Ring tournament where he lost to Chad Gable in the first round.
The Hurt Business
He appeared in the limelight after joining MVP and Bobby Lashley’s stable The Hurt Business on the July 20 episode of Raw in 2020. The stable helped him capture the 24/7 Championship from R-Truth. He also became successful in being victorious against Apollo Crews in a non-title match. It would be interesting to our readers that the win against Crews was the first victory for him in Raw after 14 years. The Hurt Business welcomed their new member as Cedric Alexander who turned heel to his partners. After this, he teamed with Alexander in a winning process to The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) for the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship at TLC on December 20, 2020.
Instagram and Twitter
He has managed more than 240k followers on his Twitter account @sheltyb803. He is also available on Instagram @sheltyb803 with more than 220k followers.