10 Characters WWE Gave Up On Way Too Soon

7. Shelton Benjamin's Gold Standard

Shelton Benjamin's one major flaw has always been his personality. At first glance, his body is impressive, and his in-ring work speaks for itself. On the mic though, Benjamin could never talk fans into the building or show any sort of charisma. His 'Gold Standard' gimmick masked some of those deficiencies.

The character's very nature gave Shelton something to hide behind. He was portraying himself as superior to everyone else on the roster. They'd be judged against his performances, so he didn't exactly need to thrill people with rambling promos; the Gold Standard was all about wrestling, something Benjamin was adept at.

Shelton even got new gold gear and dyed his hair for the role, but instead of going all the way with it, WWE just had him fill the same spots he had before. Key to the character's demise was creative's failure to paint Benjamin as anything special.

Wasn't that the whole point? Three year run or not, WWE didn't capitalise.