5 Things You Didn't Know About NXT Superstar Mia Yim 

#2. Shelton Benjamin was there for her during domestic abuse

Mia Yim

Mia Yim suffered through a terribly abusive relationship. Now free from the clutches of her abuser, Yim opened up about her past struggles. She was often beaten, cheated on, tied up, and even locked in a closet. Her significant other did everything in his power to limit Yim's contact with friends and family.

One such friend was WWE Superstar Shelton Benjamin, whom Yim refers to as her "big brother." Yim and Benjamin are friends to this day and often jokingly chide one another via social media, but their friendship has deep roots. Benjamin supported Yim during one of the most difficult times of her life,

"The minute he found out - immediately, he was like, 'I'll get you a plane ticket. You get out of there. I've got you.' At this point, I wasn't ready yet. I told him everything was fine, but he knew. My family didn't know - I hid it from a lot of people....I've known Shelton from the beginning of my career, both Shelton and my best friend Blake. They are both men, but I was not allowed to talk to them. I was not allowed to be friends with them. If they were to text me, I had to send them to my boyfriend at the time to make sure they were appropriate. Me and Shelton were having a regular conversation through text and my boyfriend flips out, 'I don't want you to be friends with him anymore. He's trying to get with you.'"

Yim then sent Benjamin a long text, letting him know that the two could no longer be friends. Benjamin respectfully backed off but knew something was up. Still, the WWE Superstar would randomly text Yim to let her know that he was still there for her. He not only offered Yim a plane ticket but even opened his home to her.

Eventually, something clicked with Yim and she came to the understanding that what she was enduring could in no way be love. One day, she broke out of the closet she was regularly locked in but found herself being choked on a bed with a towel. She fought back and finally left.

A tearful Yim opened up to Lilian Garcia about what was going through her mind during that final struggle,

"You're not going to be the reason why the police are going to call my parents telling them that their daughter passed away, so I finally left."