It's all about the Benjamin: Ohio Valley Wrestling stud Shelton Benjamin should be money in the bank for the WWF

Wrestling Digest, Feb, 2002 by Jason Scales

THERE'S A SPECIALIZED BREED of up-and-coming wrestlers rising in the WWF's developmental territories. These aspiring grapplers don't get noticed by performing foolish leaps off roofs in backyard wrestling matches or by participating in ultra-violent hardcore matches featuring light bulbs and barbed wire.

These guys are in the mold of Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle--top physical specimens who have excelled in the "real" wrestling world of amateur competition.

Shelton Benjamin--half of Ohio Valley Wrestling's Minnesota Stretching Crew with Brock Lesnar, another amateur wrestling phenomenon--is one such performer. His list of amateur wrestling accolades reads like an all-star resume: Even though he only started wrestling in 10th grade, he won the state wrestling heavyweight championship while attending Orangeburg (S.C.) High School; he won a junior college national championship in the 100-meter dash (best time: 10.3 seconds) and a junior college national wrestling heavyweight title while attending Lassen Junior College in Susanville, Calif.: and he was a two-time All-American heavyweight wrestler at the University of Minnesota.

After his collegiate wrestling career ended, Benjamin served as an assistant wrestling coach at the university.

"Most of my attention was focused on Brock, considering there were only three of us who could hang with him and only two of us who could give him a match," he says.

Lesnar went on to win the national wrestling heavyweight championship, and Benjamin got a tryout with the WWF after meeting agent Gerald Brisco, who was the former college roommate of J. Robinson, the head wrestling coach at the university.

"I guess I did pretty good," Benjamin says of his tryout match, which took place at WWF headquarters in Stamford, Conn.

Pretty good, indeed.

Benjamin has been under a WWF developmental contract at OVW in Louisville since early 2000. Lesnar joined Benjamin in OVW later in the year, and the two have recently been performing in dark matches for the WWF as the Minnesota Stretching Crew. It may be just a matter of time before WWF fans see Benjamin in action on WWF programming.

We recently sat down with Benjamin to get his thoughts on making the transition from amateur wrestling to professional wrestling, his dark-match experiences, his lifelong dream of being a pro wrestler and what he's learned from Jesse Ventura and Angle.

WRESTLING DIGEST: What's the biggest difference between being an amateur wrestler and being a pro wrestler?

SHELTON BENJAMIN: Pro wrestling is geared toward entertainment. Obviously in college my only goal was to go out there and just beat the heck out of whomever I was across the mat from. I figured that was entertainment enough, that I won. In professional wrestling, that's not.

WD: How are amateur and professional wrestling similar?

SB: They are both pretty grueling. While they are both hard on bodies, professional wrestling is harder on your body. In amateur wrestling, I pretty much shut down my opponent. In professional wrestling, you don't have that luxury. At the same time, it's still very competitive, and everyone wants to impress the crowd with their skills. There's no real difference in that everybody wants to be a winner.

WD: Is it difficult to subdue your amateur wrestling instincts to allow your opponent to execute his offense?

SB: No, because I grew up watching pro wrestling. But I liked the kind of characters, like the Road Warriors, who would just come in and beat the heck out of the guys. I understood what I was getting into, and if I had a problem with what I was going to be asked to do, then I wouldn't have gotten into it.

WD: What's been the most difficult aspect of going from an amateur wrestler to a pro wrestler?

SB: Learning in-ring psychology. There aren't a whole lot of moves I see that I can't do. It's just putting them in their proper place that's difficult. Learning how to know what a crowd wants and projecting to the crowd is the hardest thing to figure out, because the fans don't want the same thing every night.

WD: What have you learned from Angle?

SB: Kurt opened the door for amateurs. Because of our background, we're geared to totally beat guys down and not give and take--just give. Kurt's given me advice about just hanging in there and learning my craft. He's been more like a support group, not a lot of technical advice, just because we're not exposed to each other enough. When I am around, he'll give me little pointers, nothing major. For the most part, he gives me confidence and lets me know I'm doing the right things.

WD: Do you pattern yourself after another professional wrestler?

SB: I've gotten out of that. When I first got in, [I studied] guys like Goldberg for his posture and the way he walked, and other guys like Sting, who I've watched since middle school. I had to pretty much erase that and try to develop my own style. I look up to certain guys, like the Undertaker and Triple H, but as far as patterning myself after guys, I've tried to develop my own style.