Shelton Benjamin Says His Favorite Match Was Against Fellow Ex-WWE, Current AEW Star

With a pro career spanning nearly 25 years, Shelton Benjamin is one of AEW's most experienced wrestlers, alongside the likes of Adam "Edge" Copeland, Christian Cage, and Chris Jericho. During a recent appearance on "AEW Unrestricted," Benjamin reflected on his notable Intercontinental Championship victory over Jericho, back when he was a rising star in WWE. As revealed by Benjamin, the match, which took place at the 2004 WWE Taboo Tuesday pay-per-view, is also his favorite in-ring performance of all-time. 

"Number one, I 100% was not expecting to be in that match," Benjamin said. "I know that leading up to it, they gave me a little push and rub and I actually had a little thing I did with Mr. McMahon just to help bring in the votes. But when we got to the building, and I've said this over and over, I expected Batista to be working Jericho that night. So I really didn't put much thought into it."

According to Benjamin, other than being pleasantly surprised by fans later voting him into the Intercontinental Championship match, he also appreciated the leadership that Jericho exhibited in it, especially when no pre-match preparations could be made. Furthermore, Benjamin felt he had exceeded his goals by winning the Intercontinental Championship.

"Because of what I'd watched in wrestling before, I hadn't seen a lot of Black Intercontinental champions. I'd seen Black tag team champions. So in my head, that's all I was thinking about. By that time, I'd already won the tag team championship twice. So for me, when I won the IC title, I'm officially overachieving my original goals in getting into the business, but it was also a culmination of all the guys who had taught me how to just go in the ring and listen."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "AEW Unrestricted" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.