Shelton Benjamin Says He Expected More From WWE Return In 2017

Shelton Benjamin recently got his hands on AEW World Tag Team Championship gold alongside Hurt Syndicate teammate Bobby Lashley, but his road to getting there was an up and down one, especially after a disappointing spell in WWE. Benjamin returned to the company back in 2017 after an absence of over six years, and in that time he was often not used in a prominent capacity. 

Speaking on Talk Is Jericho, Benjamin revealed that he was expecting more from his WWE comeback.  

“When I went back to WWE, I had bigger expectations. One, in my head, I always felt like if you had ever done anything worth memory in WWE, there’s always a chance you’ve gotta go back. So in my head, I always felt like I was going to go back. I didn’t know it was going to take six or seven years, but in my head, I always knew I was going to go back. First, I got a call from William Regal and he asked me a very odd question. I didn’t quite see the writing on the wall at the time when he asked me because he asked me, he basically said that he’d been asked to contact me and ask me if I were brought back, am I willing to help other talent get over or do I want more. I remember going, well, of course I’m gonna want more, that had been what I was doing before I left, helping other talent get over at the cost of my own career. I didn’t get it.”

Benjamin went on to explain that he was also expecting more from a financial standpoint, feeling as if he was lowballed by their offer. Without an agent, Benjamin ended up signing a deal that he wasn’t overly happy with, especially with the downside of his deal not being what he thought. 

“I didn’t realize the business had changed now, the downside matters because no matter what I was making before, no matter what my downside was, I always made more. When they gave me [the new offer], I was like, ‘That’s low, but if I’m working, I’ll be fine.’ Then I get there and it’s like, oh no, we’re not based on touring anymore, we got TV deals and things like that, your downside is your downside. I was like, ‘Oh, you didn’t tell me that part.’” 

Benjamin revealed a few months back in an interview that he felt as though Vince McMahon didn’t have enough faith in him. 

H/T Fightful

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