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* CombinationAttack: As Team Angle when they are ganging up on one target; Haas performs Manhattan Drop on their opponent, then Benjamin strikes the opponent's chest with a Super Kick, and as the opponent falls down, Haas immediately chains with a bridging pin, which is hard to kick out from.
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Just got future endeavored by WWE.
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Benjamin started his professional wrestling career in WWE's developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), where he held the Southern Tag Team Championship four times with Wrestling/BrockLesnar three times and Rodney Mack one time. WWE then moved him to the main roster in 2002 where he formed an alliance with Wrestling/KurtAngle and Charlie Haas, first known as Team Angle and later Wrestling/TheWorldsGreatestTagTeam with just Haas. During his tenure with the company, he won the Intercontinental Championship three times, the United States Championship once, and the WWE Tag Team Championship twice with Haas. He left WWE in 2010 for the independent circuit, before returning in 2017.
to:
Benjamin started his professional wrestling career in WWE's developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), where he held the Southern Tag Team Championship four times with Wrestling/BrockLesnar three times and Rodney Mack one time. WWE then moved him to the main roster in 2002 where he formed an alliance with Wrestling/KurtAngle and Charlie Haas, first known as Team Angle and later Wrestling/TheWorldsGreatestTagTeam with just Haas. During his tenure with the company, he won the Intercontinental Championship three times, the United States Championship once, and the WWE Tag Team Championship twice with Haas. He left WWE in 2010 for the independent circuit, before returning in 2017. Shortly after WWE's merger with UFC took full effect in September 2023, WWE released Benjamin.
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* PerkyFemaleMinion: Wrestling/BlackRose was his and Wrestling/BookerT's in WWC during 2011. She later met Shelton again in Japan.
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* PerkyFemaleMinion: Wrestling/BlackRose was his and Wrestling/BookerT's in WWC during 2011. She later met Shelton again in Japan. Even though Rose did it of her own volition Benjamin still sent her his approval for slapping Mia Yim.
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* PerkyFemaleMinion: Wrestling/BlackRose was his and Wrestling/BookerT's in WWC during 2011. She later met again in Japan.
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* PerkyFemaleMinion: Wrestling/BlackRose was his and Wrestling/BookerT's in WWC during 2011. She later met Shelton again in Japan.
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* OvershadowedByAwesome: He's a member of the famous OVW Class of 2002, which, including him, comprised of Wrestling/BrockLesnar, Wrestling/JohnCena, Wrestling/{{Batista}}, and Wrestling/RandyOrton. While Shelton has had a relatively successful career, it absolutely pales in comparison to his classmates, who all became world-famous megastars.
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Dark Skinned Blond is no longer a trope
Deleted line(s) 19 (click to see context) :
* DarkSkinnedBlonde: The African-American Benjamin dyed his hair blond as "the Gold Standard."
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->"Ain't no stoppin' me...now!"
to:
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->"Ain't no stoppin' me...now!"
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X Makes Anything Cool: His NJPW name.
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* XMakesAnythingCool: His NJPW name of Shelton X Benjamin.
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Moving to trivia.
Deleted line(s) 14 (click to see context) :
* BreakupBreakout: Subverted. Shelton managed to have a better WWE singles career than Haas, but Haas has had a little more individual success in the wider world of wrestling. Their team has more drawing power than either of them separately anyway, which is why they got back together for a second WWE run and later in ROH. However, Haas retired in 2013 while Shelton returned to WWE in 2017, so maybe Shelton got dealt the better hand after all.
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misused
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* TheWorfEffect: What Shelton was largely used for on ''Raw''. He beat Triple H twice and pinned Ric Flair, but then lost a lot. Got to win some, then lost, and so on, such as when he passed out in Chris Masters's full nelson or lost the Intercontinental Championship to a ''Raw''-debuting Carlito. On ECW he put over Yoshi Tatsu in a SquashMatch after being pinned with just one kick. Then he was used to put over Wrestling/KofiKingston, to the point people substitute "[[{{Leitmotif}} I hear them shouting]]" with "[[{{Mondegreen}} I beat Shelton!]]" but this finally cut out after he was allowed to beat Kofi...until it was time for Sheamus to debut on ''Raw''. Sheamus (whom Shelton was able to handle up until then) called Shelton's whole career a waste and said that he was wasting time in WWE, then beat him with no payoff.
to:
* TheWorfEffect: What Shelton was largely used for on ''Raw''. He beat Triple H twice and pinned Ric Flair, but then lost a lot. Got to win some, then lost, and so on, such as when he passed out in Chris Masters's full nelson or lost the Intercontinental Championship to a ''Raw''-debuting Carlito. On ECW he put over Yoshi Tatsu in a SquashMatch after being pinned with just one kick. Then he was used to put over Wrestling/KofiKingston, to the point people substitute "[[{{Leitmotif}} I hear them shouting]]" with "[[{{Mondegreen}} "[[MemeticMutation I beat Shelton!]]" but this finally cut out after he was allowed to beat Kofi...until it was time for Sheamus to debut on ''Raw''. Sheamus (whom Shelton was able to handle up until then) called Shelton's whole career a waste and said that he was wasting time in WWE, then beat him with no payoff.
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* RedBaron: Shelton is known as "Rodan" (since he teams with "Black Godzilla" MVP) and "Invader X" in Japan.
to:
* RedBaron: WWE occasionally flirted with "The World's Greatest Athlete" (an obvious spinoff of The World's Greatest Tag Team) due to his incredible feats of agility, before ultimately giving him a more defined gimmick as "The Gold Standard." "The World's Greatest Athlete" caught on more in the indies, while in NJPW Shelton is was known as "Rodan" (since he teams (during his Black Dynamite teamup with "Black Godzilla" MVP) and "Invader X" in Japan.(due to Suzuki-gun occasionally featuring a masked man called X before Shelton was revealed to have joined them).
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* PowerStable: Besides the original Team Angle (he and Haas plus Kurt Angle), Shelton was part of the Nightmares in OVW under "Nightmare" Danny Davis and Suzuki-gun in New Japan under Wrestling/MinoruSuzuki and the Hurt Business during his run with WWE in the late 2010's-early 2020's.
to:
* PowerStable: Besides the original Team Angle (he and Haas plus Kurt Angle), Shelton was part of the Nightmares in OVW under "Nightmare" Danny Davis and Suzuki-gun in New Japan under Wrestling/MinoruSuzuki and the [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Wrestling/TheHurtBusiness Hurt Business Business]] during his run with WWE in the late 2010's-early 2020's.
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* VitriolicBestBuds: With Mia Yim, as almost all of their interactions consist of nothing but endless trash talk directed towards each other.
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* PowerStable: Besides the original Team Angle (he and Haas plus Kurt Angle), Shelton was part of the Nightmares in OVW under "Nightmare" Danny Davis and Suzuki-gun in New Japan under Wrestling/MinoruSuzuki.
to:
* PowerStable: Besides the original Team Angle (he and Haas plus Kurt Angle), Shelton was part of the Nightmares in OVW under "Nightmare" Danny Davis and Suzuki-gun in New Japan under Wrestling/MinoruSuzuki.Wrestling/MinoruSuzuki and the Hurt Business during his run with WWE in the late 2010's-early 2020's.
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* BashBrothers: With Charlie Haas, and with Wrestling/{{MontelVontaviousPorter}}VP in New Japan.
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* BashBrothers: With Charlie Haas, and with Wrestling/{{MontelVontaviousPorter}}VP Wrestling/{{M|ontelVontaviousPorter}}VP in New Japan.
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* BashBrothers: With Charlie Haas, and with MVP in New Japan.
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* BashBrothers: With Charlie Haas, and with MVP Wrestling/{{MontelVontaviousPorter}}VP in New Japan.
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* PerkyFemaleMinion: Wrestling/BlackRose was his and Wrestling/BookerT's in WWC during 2011. She later met again in Japan.
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* BoisterousBruiser: Shelton became quite the trash-talker after his face turn in ECW.
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* BoisterousBruiser: Shelton became quite the trash-talker after his second face turn in ECW.
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* CoolShades: Benjamin would occasionally don a pair after his heel turn on ''Raw'', which carried over when the World's Greatest Tag Team reunited.
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* CoolShades: Benjamin would occasionally don a pair after his heel turn on ''Raw'', which carried over when the World's Greatest Tag Team reunited. He ditched them upon going solo again and becoming "the Gold Standard."
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Benjamin started his professional wrestling career in WWE's developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), where he held the Southern Tag Team Championship four times with Wrestling/BrockLesnar three times and Rodney Mack one time. WWE then moved him to the main roster in 2002 where he formed an alliance with Wrestling/KurtAngle and Charlie Haas, first known as Team Angle and later Wrestling/TheWorldsGreatestTagTeam with just Haas. During his tenure with the company, he won the Intercontinental Championship three times, the United States Championship once, and the WWE Tag Team Championship twice with Haas.
to:
Benjamin started his professional wrestling career in WWE's developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), where he held the Southern Tag Team Championship four times with Wrestling/BrockLesnar three times and Rodney Mack one time. WWE then moved him to the main roster in 2002 where he formed an alliance with Wrestling/KurtAngle and Charlie Haas, first known as Team Angle and later Wrestling/TheWorldsGreatestTagTeam with just Haas. During his tenure with the company, he won the Intercontinental Championship three times, the United States Championship once, and the WWE Tag Team Championship twice with Haas. He left WWE in 2010 for the independent circuit, before returning in 2017.
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* MommasBoy: Initially, Shelton's mother was shown to be about as nice a parent as you could ask for in the video vintages that played on ''Raw'' during Shelton's face turn. But then Shelton's winning streak ended, then his losing streak began, and then he turned on the fans and did all sorts of cocky and {{totally radical}} things [[{{Tweener}} that failed to get fans to truly turn on him]]. Rather than give up, the WWE decided to reintroduce Shelton's mother, [[ThreeMonthRule who seemed to have let herself go]] and was anything but a kind parent and made Shelton totally incapable of arguing with her.
to:
* MommasBoy: Initially, Shelton's mother was shown to be about as nice a parent as you could ask for in the video vintages that played on ''Raw'' during Shelton's face turn. But then Shelton's winning streak ended, then his losing streak began, and then he turned on the fans and did all sorts of cocky and {{totally radical}} things [[{{Tweener}} [[WildCard that failed to get fans to truly turn on him]]. Rather than give up, the WWE decided to reintroduce Shelton's mother, [[ThreeMonthRule who seemed to have let herself go]] and was anything but a kind parent and made Shelton totally incapable of arguing with her.
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* LetsGetDangerous: When Benjamin was drafted to ''Raw'', he found himself on the bad side of VillainSue Wrestling/TripleH. Most expected Shelton to become CListFodder for the Game. As it turns out, Shelton ''beats'' his ass! TWICE!
to:
* LetsGetDangerous: When Benjamin was drafted to ''Raw'', he found himself on the bad side of VillainSue Wrestling/TripleH. Most expected Shelton to become CListFodder for the Game. As it turns out, Shelton ''beats'' his ass! TWICE!
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* TheWorfEffect: What Shelton was largely used for on ''Raw''. He beat Triple H twice and pinned Ric Flair, but then lost a lot. Got to win some, then lost, and so on such as when he passed out in Chris Masters's full nelson or lost the Intercontinental Championship to a ''Raw''-debuting Carlito. On ECW he put over Yoshi Tatsu in a SquashMatch after being pinned with just one kick. Then he was used to put over Wrestling/KofiKingston, to the point people substitute "[[{{Leitmotif}} I hear them shouting]]" with "[[{{Mondegreen}} I beat Shelton!]]" but this finally cut out after he was allowed to beat Kofi...until it was time for Sheamus to debut on ''Raw''. Sheamus (whom Shelton was able to handle up until then) called Shelton's whole career a waste and that he was wasting time in WWE and then beat him with no payoff.
to:
* TheWorfEffect: What Shelton was largely used for on ''Raw''. He beat Triple H twice and pinned Ric Flair, but then lost a lot. Got to win some, then lost, and so on on, such as when he passed out in Chris Masters's full nelson or lost the Intercontinental Championship to a ''Raw''-debuting Carlito. On ECW he put over Yoshi Tatsu in a SquashMatch after being pinned with just one kick. Then he was used to put over Wrestling/KofiKingston, to the point people substitute "[[{{Leitmotif}} I hear them shouting]]" with "[[{{Mondegreen}} I beat Shelton!]]" but this finally cut out after he was allowed to beat Kofi...until it was time for Sheamus to debut on ''Raw''. Sheamus (whom Shelton was able to handle up until then) called Shelton's whole career a waste and said that he was wasting time in WWE and WWE, then beat him with no payoff.
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* FinishingMove: An exploder suplex lifted and dropped into a modified scoop powerslam called the T-Bone Suplex and a jumping reverse STO he calls Paydirt. He could also bust out the ankle lock in occasion.
to:
* FinishingMove: An exploder suplex lifted and dropped into a modified scoop powerslam called the T-Bone Suplex and a jumping reverse STO he calls Paydirt. He could also bust out the ankle lock in on occasion.
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None
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* BadassBoast: After Shelton had started picking up wins over Triple H, he cooly told "The Game" that he could call him [[TheyCallMeMisterTibbs "Mr. Benjamin."]]
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* BadassBoast: After Shelton had started picking up wins over Triple H, he cooly coolly told "The Game" that he could call him [[TheyCallMeMisterTibbs "Mr. Benjamin."]]
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* CanonDiscontinuity: Regarding Benjamin's relationship with Wrestling/BrockLesnar. Benjamin and Lesnar formed a tag team called the Minnesota Stretching Crew in OVW, so when Kurt Angle debuted Team Angle, he claimed he'd drafted Benjamin to make it personal. Only, since the casual fans didn't follow OVW, Angle claimed Benjamin was Lesnar's former roommate (which he was, at the University of Minnesota). After only a couple weeks the roommate thing was dropped, and even later acknowledged the Benjamin/Lesnar tag team.
to:
* CanonDiscontinuity: Regarding Benjamin's relationship with Wrestling/BrockLesnar. Aside from being Brock's roommate and wrestling coach at the University of Minnesota, Benjamin and Lesnar formed a tag team called the Minnesota Stretching Crew in OVW, so when Kurt Angle debuted Team Angle, he claimed he'd drafted Benjamin to make it personal. Only, since the casual fans didn't follow OVW, Angle claimed Benjamin was Lesnar's former only mentioned the roommate (which he was, at the University of Minnesota). thing. After only a couple weeks the roommate thing was dropped, and even in favor of later acknowledged acknowledging the Benjamin/Lesnar former tag team.
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[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shelton_benjamin.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:The Gold Standard]]
Shelton James Benjamin (born July 9, 1975) is an American {{professional wrestl|ing}}er who has wrestled for Wrestling/{{WWE}}, Wrestling/RingOfHonor (ROH) and Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling (NJPW); the latter under the name Shelton X Benjamin. Prior to becoming a professional wrestler, he was a two-sport athlete in college. Benjamin won an NJCAA championship in both track and field and collegiate wrestling.
Benjamin started his professional wrestling career in WWE's developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), where he held the Southern Tag Team Championship four times with Wrestling/BrockLesnar three times and Rodney Mack one time. WWE then moved him to the main roster in 2002 where he formed an alliance with Wrestling/KurtAngle and Charlie Haas, first known as Team Angle and later Wrestling/TheWorldsGreatestTagTeam with just Haas. During his tenure with the company, he won the Intercontinental Championship three times, the United States Championship once, and the WWE Tag Team Championship twice with Haas.
----
!!"Gold Standard Tropes":
* BadassBoast: After Shelton had started picking up wins over Triple H, he cooly told "The Game" that he could call him [[TheyCallMeMisterTibbs "Mr. Benjamin."]]
* BaldOfEvil: Shelton as a {{heel}}, as he always had a close cut, at least until his move to ''Raw'' when he grew it out a bit.
* BashBrothers: With Charlie Haas, and with MVP in New Japan.
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Shelton was frankly in disbelief that Wrestling/{{Christian}}, ECW Champion, would challenge ''him'' to a title match. (It's usually supposed to go the other way.) Christian said that he wanted to "steal the show", tired of WWE always overlooking its ECW brand. Shelton agreed the show would be stolen, but that Christian wouldn't be ECW Champion afterwards. However, Christian retained.
* BoisterousBruiser: Shelton became quite the trash-talker after his face turn in ECW.
* BreakupBreakout: Subverted. Shelton managed to have a better WWE singles career than Haas, but Haas has had a little more individual success in the wider world of wrestling. Their team has more drawing power than either of them separately anyway, which is why they got back together for a second WWE run and later in ROH. However, Haas retired in 2013 while Shelton returned to WWE in 2017, so maybe Shelton got dealt the better hand after all.
* TheBully: When Haas developed a bully gimmick in ROH, Shelton soon followed him suit, and wasn't content to leave Cheeseburger (who Haas used to pick) alone even after Charlie was gone. Mike Bennett stood up to Shelton and sent him out of ROH with a loss at ''Supercard of Honor VII''.
* CanonDiscontinuity: Regarding Benjamin's relationship with Wrestling/BrockLesnar. Benjamin and Lesnar formed a tag team called the Minnesota Stretching Crew in OVW, so when Kurt Angle debuted Team Angle, he claimed he'd drafted Benjamin to make it personal. Only, since the casual fans didn't follow OVW, Angle claimed Benjamin was Lesnar's former roommate (which he was, at the University of Minnesota). After only a couple weeks the roommate thing was dropped, and even later acknowledged the Benjamin/Lesnar tag team.
* CoDragons: As Team Angle, he and Haas were this for Kurt Angle, mainly during his feud with Brock Lesnar. After Lesnar put Angle on the shelf they continued to act in his steed but then turned on Angle when he came back and made less use of them.
* CoolShades: Benjamin would occasionally don a pair after his heel turn on ''Raw'', which carried over when the World's Greatest Tag Team reunited.
* DarkSkinnedBlonde: The African-American Benjamin dyed his hair blond as "the Gold Standard."
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: Benjamin's main run as a singles performer in WWE began when he managed to pin Triple H ''twice'' in 2004, back in the middle of the "Reign of Terror" when Hunter was still ''Raw'''s nigh-unbeatable top {{Heel}}.
* DumbJock: He got called this by Wrestling/{{Sheamus}} in one promo, calling him "One of the most amazing athletes" he had ever seen but then asking "but what's he done with it?" Shelton responded that Sheamus had yet to do ''anything'' to impress ''anybody''.
* {{Expy}}: Shelton's "Gold Standard" gimmick brings to mind Derrick King, another African-American wrestler with dyed blond hair, whom he feuded with in Ohio Valley Wrestling.
* FinishingMove: An exploder suplex lifted and dropped into a modified scoop powerslam called the T-Bone Suplex and a jumping reverse STO he calls Paydirt. He could also bust out the ankle lock in occasion.
* InASingleBound: At ''Wrestle Kingdom VI'' Shelton not only bounded clear over the top rope but cleared the fan barricade and then did a flip to land on his feet!
* InTheHood: When wearing his jacket to the ring in New Japan.
* JackOfAllStats: Shelton does about everything except for not being particular deep in submission holds (he highly excels at the mat, high flying and striking), for which Charlie covered him as a tag team, as he is more known for submission holds and has a submission finisher. Shelton does sometimes used a grapevine ankle lock as a finishing move though.
* LetsGetDangerous: When Benjamin was drafted to ''Raw'', he found himself on the bad side of VillainSue Wrestling/TripleH. Most expected Shelton to become CListFodder for the Game. As it turns out, Shelton ''beats'' his ass! TWICE!
* MommasBoy: Initially, Shelton's mother was shown to be about as nice a parent as you could ask for in the video vintages that played on ''Raw'' during Shelton's face turn. But then Shelton's winning streak ended, then his losing streak began, and then he turned on the fans and did all sorts of cocky and {{totally radical}} things [[{{Tweener}} that failed to get fans to truly turn on him]]. Rather than give up, the WWE decided to reintroduce Shelton's mother, [[ThreeMonthRule who seemed to have let herself go]] and was anything but a kind parent and made Shelton totally incapable of arguing with her.
-->'''Shelton's mother:''' [[NotNowKiddo Quiet Shelton!]] Grown people are talking!
* PowerStable: Besides the original Team Angle (he and Haas plus Kurt Angle), Shelton was part of the Nightmares in OVW under "Nightmare" Danny Davis and Suzuki-gun in New Japan under Wrestling/MinoruSuzuki.
* RedBaron: Shelton is known as "Rodan" (since he teams with "Black Godzilla" MVP) and "Invader X" in Japan.
* RickyMorton: Shelton's role in the Minnesota Stretching Crew was to do the real work, which included the bumps. Brock Lesnar would then come in for the flashy finish.
* SpiritedCompetitor: Shelton, after his face turn on WWE's ECW brand.
* TagTeam: Besides the World's Greatest Tag Team with Charlie Haas, Shelton was one half of the Dogg Pound with Rodney Mack, the Minnesota Stretching Crew with Brock Lesnar and Black Dynamite (AKA [[{{Engrish}} World Greatest Tag]]) with MVP.
* TookALevelInBadass: The Paydirt was delivered in a much more violent fashion after Shelton's face turn, as opposed to the way MVP, [[Wrestling/RonKillings R-Truth]] or Shelton himself used to execute the move.
* UnderwearOfPower: Shelton shed his singlet after a few weeks on ''Raw'', though he later settled on shorts.
* UnknownRival: After some tabloid referred to Michael Phelps as the "Gold Standard" during the 2008 Olympics, Shelton was not pleased.
* UnnecessaryRoughness: Charlie Haas temporarily had to find a new partner in ROH after Benjamin was suspended for attacking people in a melee with foreign objects.
* TheWorfEffect: What Shelton was largely used for on ''Raw''. He beat Triple H twice and pinned Ric Flair, but then lost a lot. Got to win some, then lost, and so on such as when he passed out in Chris Masters's full nelson or lost the Intercontinental Championship to a ''Raw''-debuting Carlito. On ECW he put over Yoshi Tatsu in a SquashMatch after being pinned with just one kick. Then he was used to put over Wrestling/KofiKingston, to the point people substitute "[[{{Leitmotif}} I hear them shouting]]" with "[[{{Mondegreen}} I beat Shelton!]]" but this finally cut out after he was allowed to beat Kofi...until it was time for Sheamus to debut on ''Raw''. Sheamus (whom Shelton was able to handle up until then) called Shelton's whole career a waste and that he was wasting time in WWE and then beat him with no payoff.
* WrestlingPsychology: For his noted lack of charisma on the mic, Shelton could tell you a whole lot just from a look and some raised shoulders while wrestling in the ring.
----
[[caption-width-right:300:The Gold Standard]]
Shelton James Benjamin (born July 9, 1975) is an American {{professional wrestl|ing}}er who has wrestled for Wrestling/{{WWE}}, Wrestling/RingOfHonor (ROH) and Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling (NJPW); the latter under the name Shelton X Benjamin. Prior to becoming a professional wrestler, he was a two-sport athlete in college. Benjamin won an NJCAA championship in both track and field and collegiate wrestling.
Benjamin started his professional wrestling career in WWE's developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), where he held the Southern Tag Team Championship four times with Wrestling/BrockLesnar three times and Rodney Mack one time. WWE then moved him to the main roster in 2002 where he formed an alliance with Wrestling/KurtAngle and Charlie Haas, first known as Team Angle and later Wrestling/TheWorldsGreatestTagTeam with just Haas. During his tenure with the company, he won the Intercontinental Championship three times, the United States Championship once, and the WWE Tag Team Championship twice with Haas.
----
!!"Gold Standard Tropes":
* BadassBoast: After Shelton had started picking up wins over Triple H, he cooly told "The Game" that he could call him [[TheyCallMeMisterTibbs "Mr. Benjamin."]]
* BaldOfEvil: Shelton as a {{heel}}, as he always had a close cut, at least until his move to ''Raw'' when he grew it out a bit.
* BashBrothers: With Charlie Haas, and with MVP in New Japan.
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Shelton was frankly in disbelief that Wrestling/{{Christian}}, ECW Champion, would challenge ''him'' to a title match. (It's usually supposed to go the other way.) Christian said that he wanted to "steal the show", tired of WWE always overlooking its ECW brand. Shelton agreed the show would be stolen, but that Christian wouldn't be ECW Champion afterwards. However, Christian retained.
* BoisterousBruiser: Shelton became quite the trash-talker after his face turn in ECW.
* BreakupBreakout: Subverted. Shelton managed to have a better WWE singles career than Haas, but Haas has had a little more individual success in the wider world of wrestling. Their team has more drawing power than either of them separately anyway, which is why they got back together for a second WWE run and later in ROH. However, Haas retired in 2013 while Shelton returned to WWE in 2017, so maybe Shelton got dealt the better hand after all.
* TheBully: When Haas developed a bully gimmick in ROH, Shelton soon followed him suit, and wasn't content to leave Cheeseburger (who Haas used to pick) alone even after Charlie was gone. Mike Bennett stood up to Shelton and sent him out of ROH with a loss at ''Supercard of Honor VII''.
* CanonDiscontinuity: Regarding Benjamin's relationship with Wrestling/BrockLesnar. Benjamin and Lesnar formed a tag team called the Minnesota Stretching Crew in OVW, so when Kurt Angle debuted Team Angle, he claimed he'd drafted Benjamin to make it personal. Only, since the casual fans didn't follow OVW, Angle claimed Benjamin was Lesnar's former roommate (which he was, at the University of Minnesota). After only a couple weeks the roommate thing was dropped, and even later acknowledged the Benjamin/Lesnar tag team.
* CoDragons: As Team Angle, he and Haas were this for Kurt Angle, mainly during his feud with Brock Lesnar. After Lesnar put Angle on the shelf they continued to act in his steed but then turned on Angle when he came back and made less use of them.
* CoolShades: Benjamin would occasionally don a pair after his heel turn on ''Raw'', which carried over when the World's Greatest Tag Team reunited.
* DarkSkinnedBlonde: The African-American Benjamin dyed his hair blond as "the Gold Standard."
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: Benjamin's main run as a singles performer in WWE began when he managed to pin Triple H ''twice'' in 2004, back in the middle of the "Reign of Terror" when Hunter was still ''Raw'''s nigh-unbeatable top {{Heel}}.
* DumbJock: He got called this by Wrestling/{{Sheamus}} in one promo, calling him "One of the most amazing athletes" he had ever seen but then asking "but what's he done with it?" Shelton responded that Sheamus had yet to do ''anything'' to impress ''anybody''.
* {{Expy}}: Shelton's "Gold Standard" gimmick brings to mind Derrick King, another African-American wrestler with dyed blond hair, whom he feuded with in Ohio Valley Wrestling.
* FinishingMove: An exploder suplex lifted and dropped into a modified scoop powerslam called the T-Bone Suplex and a jumping reverse STO he calls Paydirt. He could also bust out the ankle lock in occasion.
* InASingleBound: At ''Wrestle Kingdom VI'' Shelton not only bounded clear over the top rope but cleared the fan barricade and then did a flip to land on his feet!
* InTheHood: When wearing his jacket to the ring in New Japan.
* JackOfAllStats: Shelton does about everything except for not being particular deep in submission holds (he highly excels at the mat, high flying and striking), for which Charlie covered him as a tag team, as he is more known for submission holds and has a submission finisher. Shelton does sometimes used a grapevine ankle lock as a finishing move though.
* LetsGetDangerous: When Benjamin was drafted to ''Raw'', he found himself on the bad side of VillainSue Wrestling/TripleH. Most expected Shelton to become CListFodder for the Game. As it turns out, Shelton ''beats'' his ass! TWICE!
* MommasBoy: Initially, Shelton's mother was shown to be about as nice a parent as you could ask for in the video vintages that played on ''Raw'' during Shelton's face turn. But then Shelton's winning streak ended, then his losing streak began, and then he turned on the fans and did all sorts of cocky and {{totally radical}} things [[{{Tweener}} that failed to get fans to truly turn on him]]. Rather than give up, the WWE decided to reintroduce Shelton's mother, [[ThreeMonthRule who seemed to have let herself go]] and was anything but a kind parent and made Shelton totally incapable of arguing with her.
-->'''Shelton's mother:''' [[NotNowKiddo Quiet Shelton!]] Grown people are talking!
* PowerStable: Besides the original Team Angle (he and Haas plus Kurt Angle), Shelton was part of the Nightmares in OVW under "Nightmare" Danny Davis and Suzuki-gun in New Japan under Wrestling/MinoruSuzuki.
* RedBaron: Shelton is known as "Rodan" (since he teams with "Black Godzilla" MVP) and "Invader X" in Japan.
* RickyMorton: Shelton's role in the Minnesota Stretching Crew was to do the real work, which included the bumps. Brock Lesnar would then come in for the flashy finish.
* SpiritedCompetitor: Shelton, after his face turn on WWE's ECW brand.
* TagTeam: Besides the World's Greatest Tag Team with Charlie Haas, Shelton was one half of the Dogg Pound with Rodney Mack, the Minnesota Stretching Crew with Brock Lesnar and Black Dynamite (AKA [[{{Engrish}} World Greatest Tag]]) with MVP.
* TookALevelInBadass: The Paydirt was delivered in a much more violent fashion after Shelton's face turn, as opposed to the way MVP, [[Wrestling/RonKillings R-Truth]] or Shelton himself used to execute the move.
* UnderwearOfPower: Shelton shed his singlet after a few weeks on ''Raw'', though he later settled on shorts.
* UnknownRival: After some tabloid referred to Michael Phelps as the "Gold Standard" during the 2008 Olympics, Shelton was not pleased.
* UnnecessaryRoughness: Charlie Haas temporarily had to find a new partner in ROH after Benjamin was suspended for attacking people in a melee with foreign objects.
* TheWorfEffect: What Shelton was largely used for on ''Raw''. He beat Triple H twice and pinned Ric Flair, but then lost a lot. Got to win some, then lost, and so on such as when he passed out in Chris Masters's full nelson or lost the Intercontinental Championship to a ''Raw''-debuting Carlito. On ECW he put over Yoshi Tatsu in a SquashMatch after being pinned with just one kick. Then he was used to put over Wrestling/KofiKingston, to the point people substitute "[[{{Leitmotif}} I hear them shouting]]" with "[[{{Mondegreen}} I beat Shelton!]]" but this finally cut out after he was allowed to beat Kofi...until it was time for Sheamus to debut on ''Raw''. Sheamus (whom Shelton was able to handle up until then) called Shelton's whole career a waste and that he was wasting time in WWE and then beat him with no payoff.
* WrestlingPsychology: For his noted lack of charisma on the mic, Shelton could tell you a whole lot just from a look and some raised shoulders while wrestling in the ring.
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