Shelton Benjamin returning to WWE, joining Smackdown

Shelton Benjamin will be returning to WWE and will be a part of the Smackdown brand

Whenever WWE first announced that they were moving full steam ahead into the brand split in the WWE Draft, all of the rumors around the business seemed to say that the company had been in contact with numerous former stars to return to help fill out the rosters. After the draft when there were no superstars that fit that bill selected, though, the question was what happened.

Apparently the arrival of at least one of those returning stars was being delayed, that person being Shelton Benjamin.

On the first episode of WWE Smackdown LIVE since the WWE Draft, they made the announcement via a vignette that the former Tag Team champion, former three-time Intercontinental Champion, and former United States Champion Shelton Benjamin was “coming soon” to Smackdown:

This is absolute fantastic news, even if it shouldn’t be wholly surprising. After all, Shelton Benjamin was one of the names more recently being talked about as a possible returning superstar alongside MVP, though there’s still no word on the latter as of right now.

However, Benjamin is absolutely perfect for this role in so many ways. He’s the type of performer that will bring excitement whenever he’s on Smackdown LIVE, but he’s also the unique superstar that can truly wrestle and look viable against anyone. He’s big enough to rumble with heavyweights and nimble enough for the more high-flying style.

If WWE has more returning superstars like Shelton Benjamin lined up, then Smackdown might be just fined moving forward—if they weren’t already.