Former WWE Intercontinental and Tag Team Champion Shelton Benjamin, who returned to Smackdown Live last month, sat down with WWE.com to give an exclusive on his life after WWE and his impending return to the company.
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On what he did when he left WWE:
“I’ve been a full-time professional wrestler. Immediately after I left the company, I took my first vacation ever, and went to Australia for a couple weeks. After that, I did a few indies here and there. I wrestled in Puerto Rico, a few matches in Canada, a few things in England. Then I finally landed for a while in Ring of Honor, where I reunited with Charlie Haas and it was The World’s Greatest Tag Team back again. I think I worked with them for two years. It was a great time. I got to wrestle with a lot of great talents, some that are WWE talent now, like Kevin Owens and Cesaro.”
On who he talked to when wanting to return to WWE:
“I had always been waiting for the call, instead of pursuing the call. And, this is going to be very out of left field for anyone that hears this, but me coming back actually started with a conversation during WrestleMania 32 weekend that I had with Lilian Garcia. I ran into her and we were just talking. Basically, she slapped some sense into me. She said, “Put yourself in a position to succeed. Don’t be afraid to initiate.” You’re never too old to learn something new. When someone is giving you wisdom, the source can come from anywhere.”
Benjamin also discusses working in Japan, his injury before he promoted return and more on WWE.com
