WWE: 10 Most Underrated Wrestlers in Company History
3. Shelton Benjamin
Shelton Benjamin started out his career with big shoes to fill quickly. Alongside Charlie Haas, Benjamin debuted on Smackdown in 2002 as a member of “Team Angle.” Less than a month after arriving, Hass and Benjamin defeated Eddie Guerrero and Tajiri for their first of two WWE Tag Team Championship reigns.
In the 2004 Draft Lottery, Shelton Benjamin was shockingly drafted to Raw, thus splitting up Haas and Benjamin for the first time. On Raw, Benjamin was pushed as a babyface after an upset victory over Triple H. He would then start feuding with Triple H and Evolution picking up three victories in total over “The Game.” However, only one victory came by pinfall with the other two being a count-out and a disqualification.
After his feud with Evolution, Benjamin was on his way to becoming one of the top stars on Raw. At the inaugural Taboo Tuesday, Shelton was voted in as the challenger for Chris Jericho’s Intercontinental Championship. He would go on to win the match and his first singles championship in the company. Unfortunately, things start going downhill from here.
Despite being a standout athlete and providing memorable moments, Shelton was never treated as the top star he truly was. He won the Intercontinental Championship three times and the United States Championship once during his first run with WWE. He was released from the WWE in April 2010. He would shine in the independents and in Japan before returning to WWE in 2017. Since returning, Benjamin has continued to shine, but still never as fully as he can.
2. Rusev
After years of ups and downs in his run in WWE, Rusev, now known as Miro in AEW, was released from his contract. His release was possibly the most shocking announced release among those released this past April. Now that his time has come to an end, Rusev was crucially underused during his run in the WWE. He started out his time in the company unstoppable and once he was stopped, they never let him start again.
Rusev was a dominant United States Champion and brought needed prestige back to the historic championship. He even came out on a massive tank during his WrestleMania 31 match against John Cena. Unfortunately, as many have done in the past, Rusev fell victim to Cena. His undefeated streak and championship reign was over. Despite winning the United States Championship two more times afterward, it was never quite the same.
After Rusev’s loss, it seemed that nobody knew what to do with Rusev and his wife, Lana. Then after a distasteful love affair angle involving Dolph Ziggler and Summer Rae, his name was almost completely tarnished. It would take Rusev years to get back to the level take he was pre-WrestleMania 31. It wasn’t Rusev was aligned with Aiden English that things turned around. During his run with English, Rusev was arguably the most “over” competitor on the entire roster.
The crowd was insanely behind him during the “Rusev Day” run, which just had to be ruined for some reason. In the end, having Aiden English turn on Rusev was the worst decision for both men’s careers. Despite only being with AEW a short time, Miro has found a happy home in his own words, the best wrestling company; and I am more than happy for him.