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#3 Shelton (X) Benjamin
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How great is that theme song? Too bad he did not use this in New Japan. However, Shelton Benjamin made an impact in NJPW during his run with the company from 2012-2015. Benjamin was brought into the company and would even get an opportunity at the NEVER Openweight Championship at WrestleKingdom 7. However, his run did not find its footing until he joined the most villainous faction in all of New Japan Pro Wrestling- the Suzuki-gun.
Shelton Benjamin, then known as Shelton X Benjamin, would enter his first New Japan Cup in 2014. His first round matchup would be against Yujiro Takahashi. The man who would go on to become the Tokyo Pimp did not have enough for the former Gold Standard as Benjamin got the victory in just over 6 minutes.
The next round match would be quite a step up in competition as Shelton met Katsuyori Shibata. "The Wrestler" is one of New Japan's stiffest fighters and known for his hard-hitting contests, which seemed to overwhelm Benjamin in this match. However, just when it looked like Shibata was measuring him for a running strike, Shelton caught him with "Paydirt" to eliminate Shibata from the New Japan Cup.
Shelton's surprise run ended in the semifinals as he met the monster of this tournament, Bad Luck Fale. In a match which ended in under 5 minutes, Fale dominated Benjamin after a flurry to move on to the finals of the New Japan Cup 2014.
