One of AEW's most recent signees had a lot of people rooting for him behind the scenes, and some spoke on his behalf to help him get signed with the company. Shelton Benjamin was with WWE for a combined 14 years across two runs, but was released for the second time in 2023 after being a part of the popular Hurt Business faction alongside MVP, Bobby Lashley, and Cedric Alexander.
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WWE Hall of Famer and former AEW employee Mark Henry said on "Busted Open Radio" that he advocated for Benjamin right after his release, speaking to Tony Khan immediately.
"The first day that Shelton got let go, I went to Tony and I said, 'Tony, you got to pick him in. Bring him in. Let me work with him. Anything. He's the guy,'" Henry said. "Nothing happened. I'm glad that they've seen the error of their ways and they got him on board. Shelton is special, you've got to use him like he's special. It's only going to be good for everybody in the long run."
Benjamin didn't win a world championship during his time with WWE but held gold in the form of the United States title, the Intercontinental Championship three times, and the WWE Tag Team Championships three times, alongside Charlie Haas twice and once with Alexander.
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Benjamin, who wassigned by AEW and reunited with MVP on the October 2 edition of "AEW Dynamite," could be a future AEW World Champion, as per Henry.
"He can be the TBS Champion," Henry said. "You got to take steps, you can't just go straight to the top. Let him build himself to the AEW World Championship."
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Busted Open Radio" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
