Shelton Benjamin On Beating Triple H: They Wanted To Create A Black Superstar

Shelton Benjamin recalls working with Triple H.

In 2004, Shelton Benjamin was split from Charlie Haas when he was drafted to WWE Raw. In his first singles matches on Raw after the draft, Benjamin scored a victory over Triple H.

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Speaking to Kurt Angle on the Kurt Angle Show, Benjamin was asked about the win and the plans for him at the time.

"Basically to fast track me. I don’t think, I don’t know because I didn’t ask questions, I just did what was asked of me. I do know the term ‘fast track’ was used when they were saying I was going to have the match with Hunter. I think, at the time, they wanted to create a Black star. Today, there is tons of every color of the rainbow in WWE. At the time, there was not. There was me, Mark Henry, Ron Simmons, Truth was still in TNA. There weren’t a lot, and I was the new guy, and they wanted to create a Black superstar. That much, I do know. As far as where the program was going to go, I never knew because it went for a couple of weeks and then I got moved to (working with Ric). I thought my first pay-per-view match was going to be with Hunter, but it ended up being with Ric," said Benjamin.

Benjamin would face, and defeat, Ric Flair at WWE Backlash 2004. Benjamin would continue to work with members of Evolution, but lost to Randy Orton in a WWE Intercontinental Championship match at WWE Bad Blood 2004.

Elsewhere during the podcast, Benjamin gave an update on his future after his WWE release in September 2023. You can find his full comments by clicking here.

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