10 Things You Might Have Missed On The WWE SmackDown Live! Superstar Shake-Up (April 17)
5. Hacked Off
Pity poor Shelton Benjamin for having to suffer the unfortunate fate that often befalls forgotten midcarders in these times of great change - the draft turn.
Benjamin wasn't a babyface before the Superstar Shake-up (though his ultra-tech tag team with Chad Gable didn't exactly chase the heat), but he was at least a soldier and supporter for his NXT graduate partner still reeling from the loss of his own former friend Jason Jordan last year. The pair developed a tight enough chemistry to imply that bigger things were expected of them in the aftermath of this recent switch-around. This may still be so, but it won't be in the spirit of their forced togetherness.
With Gable off to Raw, Benjamin was forced to turn on him (and his own tweet from 24 hours earlier) as the writers quickly reframed him as a lone heel ahead of a routine job to blue brand newbie Jeff Hardy. It spoke to how little WWE speak to their own talent about these potentially major creative calls, and the work the beleaguered writing team have to do to navigate around all the chaos.
To his credit though, Shelton wore it well...