Shelton Benjamin Recalls Being First Signed By WWE, Discusses His Future

On the latest episode of the Kurt Angle Show, the WWE Hall of Famer welcomed Shelton Benjamin on the podcast where he discussed being signed by WWE and his future. You can check out some highlights below:

On being signed by WWE: “So I did my tryou in Stanford, and Dr. Tom Prichard was running it. And it was just me and one other guy, a guy named Andrew Bryniarski. You might know him from the movie The Program, he played Latimer. I think he played Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Leatherface in a few of those movies. So it was me and him, basically palling together for that weekend and just in just training. So you know, that was an experience. I trained hard for that tryout, but it was — I trained amateur wrestling hard for that tryout, which is psycho. When I got there, I felt like the tryout was way easier than it should have been. And I didn’t really have a sense of what they were thinking. I didn’t this — was a week before Thanksgiving in ’99. They didn’t call me back, I think it was Johnny Ace I called me in late December, said, ‘We’re going to sign you, and you could go to Atlanta or you can go to Louisville.’ And I said ‘Well, I’m going to Louisville.’ But me and Brisco’s actual relationship didn’t really blossom until I was actually on the main roster. And he basically took me under his wing, I call them my wrestling father because if I had any kind of advice I knew he was there for me. We joke a lot with each other, like, he looked out for all the amateurs. And I can’t say enough good things about Jerry, he is my pro wrestling father because he watched out for me like he was my old man.”

On getting heat early in his career: “I guess — I feel like back then, I used to get a lot of heat because I didn’t get nervous before matches. So one – again, I trained so hard, and I knew I knew I was good. And it was one of those it was one of the things where like — from a performance standpoint, I was never ever worried about, ‘Am I going to have a good match? Am I going to remember anything? Am I going to screw up anything?’ I was never worried. Not saying those things didn’t happen, and I didn’t have to respond when it did happen. But going into matches, I never really got nervous. You know, we might touch on it later, but even when I had the match with Triple H. From an in-ring standpoint, I never got the butterflies in my stomach or anything like that. I I knew I was prepared, I knew I knew what I was doing. And I knew obviously, there were people who could want to lead me and who were just great. So I just wanted to look like I belong.”

On his future: “To be honest, I don’t know. I’m still weighing options. I’ve had a knock on my door here and there. I have no commitments, nothing major to announce aside from a few indie dates and a lot of autograph sessions. I’ve been taking my time to decide what I want to do next. Because I am at a point in my career where I want to have fun. If it’s not worth it, I want to have fun and make money. If it’s not worth it, I just don’t want to do it. I’m not trying to build a name; I have a name, but I want to be where I’m appreciated and featured and can have some fun. I’ve never had the superstar complex where ‘I have to do this.’ No, January 10th marked 24 years in the business for me, and I’ve been extremely fortunate with injuries and family life that I can still go out and tear it up with the best of them. I’m just not sure where that’s going to be at this point. But I’m taking temperatures all over the place.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit the Kurt Angle Show with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.