Former WWE Star Has Had Talks With AEW

This multi-time WWE title holder has held talks about joining AEW.

by Andrew Pollard
Shelton Benjamin
AEW/WWE

Having been released by WWE last September, Shelton Benjamin has been in talks with AEW.

Initially, the two parties didn't have any talks in the immediate aftermath of Shelton's WWE departure, but Fightful Select now notes that Benjamin and AEW have had recent discussions about him potentially working for the promotion. This report states that it's not known whether these talks were in regards to the former Intercontinental Champion joining AEW on a full-time basis, but contact has been made about Shelton Benjamin possibly doing something with Tony Khan's company.

Many within AEW were pushing for Shelton last year when there were rumours his WWE deal was soon to expire. In reality, those rumours weren't true, but Benjamin ended up being a part of the market leader's mass releases of September, either way.

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While Shelton Benjamin obviously hasn't ever worked for AEW before, he does have plenty of history with the ROH brand, where he was a two-time Tag Team Champion with Charlie Haas.

 
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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.