Shelton Benjamin to be the Next Chris Benoit?

[Shaved Monkey]

I was thinking last night, that as much as Shelton is a friggin awesome wrestler much like Benoit, his mic skills are truly lacking much like Chris Benoit. Its truly unfortunate, but I just don't see Shelton winning anything past the IC title because of his lack of mic skills, which are extremely important in the WWE. He'll be a challenger for the World title at some point I'm sure, but I doubt he'll win it. Which is too bad, because Shelton kicks ass. Anybody else see this happening?

[DaBrasko]

I wouldnt count out Sheltons ability on the mic just yet. He's young, he can only get better with time. I may be wrong on this but I dont think he has had many chances on the mic lately, but like I said i may be wrong.

[Karlsberg]

While i agree it is a possibility Shelton hasn't really been given the chance to prove himself on the mic yet so i will reserve judgement untill then.

[NoRoolz]

Yeah don't write Shelton out just yet, look at Christian in his early days. In the brood and in his tag team with Edge, Copeland did all the talking, now look. I'm sure he'll improve.

[Anybody Thrilla]

He won't be the next Chris Benoit. He'll be the first Shelton Benjamin.

[Gouda]

Yeah don't write Shelton out just yet, look at Christian in his early days. In the brood and in his tag team with Edge, Copeland did all the talking, now look. I'm sure he'll improve.
Actually Christian did a fair amount of talking in E&C and was often the source of some of their most memorable one-liners.

[Innovator]

He won't be the next Chris Benoit. He'll be the first Shelton Benjamin.

[Fignuts]

He won't be the next Chris Benoit. He'll be the first Shelton Benjamin.

Bingo Daddy-O.

[Mayo]

Benji has more of a high flying style than Benoit, but if you mean with respect to mic work, then Shelton will definitely be better than Benoit. He won't be anywhere near Jericho or The Rock, but he'll most likely get the job done pretty well.

[Londoner]

He won't be the next Chris Benoit. He'll be the first Shelton Benjamin.


:y:

[Kane Knight]

Benoit and Shelton have charisma in totally different fields. Benoit's short, to the point promos are very strong, like a chainsaw through Kleenex. However, his real strengths lie in his "ring presence." People almost always attribute charisma to mic skills, but that's nowhere near what gets Benoit over, even though he does have a lot of charisma. People love him because of his intensity, his sheer "determination."

With Benjamin, I see a lots of potential within Shelton's mic skills. I think he could be a "total package" deal in time. I think he's already got better mic skills than Benoit, and great showmanship in the ring. He's less a Benoit/Undertaker intensity type and more a Chris Jericho/Rock type (Though not necessarily in terms of mic skills).

[Shaved Monkey]

He won't be the next Chris Benoit. He'll be the first Shelton Benjamin.

By the next Chris Benoit, I mean undervalued, and eventually underpushed. They never truly gave Benoit a real shot at being a star, except when he first came in and feuded with the Rock as a heel, but they botched that pretty badly too by not giving him the title then.

Now, I just see Shelton's career heading the same way. A great wrestler appreceated by the masses, but never really getting that shot.

I've seen him talk on the mic, and I wasn't too terribly impressed, especially when he was on the Highlight reel last with Jericho, just not very good, and that wouldn't be too bad, if he could draw the crowd in with his interviews, kinda like Chris Masters, shitty wrestler, but he really can make the fans hate him thus far, despite his mic skills not being the best.

Maybe I'm wrong, I hope I'm wrong because I really like Shelton, but he needs to appeal to the average fans in ways beyond his wrestling skills. We appreceate him, but we're the minority here in terms of wrestling fans.

The idea of giving him a mouthpiece is a good idea, but that can only last for so long before they take that mouthpiece away, because that always happens, and then what? He's on his own for mic skills, and if he hasn't really got the skills where does he go from there?

Maybe I'm jumping the gun a bit here, but I just don't see Shelton being a big star.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Shelton's got an entertaining out of ring presence if you ask me. His backstage skit with Vince McMahon and Trish Stratus was awesome, and I seem to remember The World's Greatest Tag Team mocking the APA.

I don't think Benjamin is the best promo guy in the world yet, but I guarantee that if this guy gets a feud going with somone, he will be able to say and do the right things to make it extremely intense and/or entertaining.

[HHH = 3 H's Too Many]

I laughed when I read the thread name for this, I thought you were being sarcastic or something. I must say I disagree with you though. Benjamin has the potential to become huge in the industry, however he already has shown some form of normalcy as far as emotions go, so that puts him apart from Benoit. Also, Benjamin shows a bit more of what I think I can call agility in the ring (or at least it appears so in his fighting style, Benoit may just be more stiff because of age/past injuries/whatever.)