Will Shelton Benjamin Return To WWE After He Recovers From Surgery?

Shelton Benjamin’s return to WWE — which was announced via a vignette on the July 26 episode of SmackDown — was delayed when it was determined that he was suffering from a torn rotator cuff, but now, there’s an estimated timetable for his arrival on the blue brand.

According to this week’s issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Benjamin underwent surgery on September 7 and is expected to take six months to recover.

There was talk at this week’s television events that there is still interest on WWE’s part in Benjamin when he recovers from his torn rotator cuff. Vince McMahon and Triple H are both fans of his work and feel the roster needs more depth.

Benjamin, who worked on the main roster from 2002 to 2010, initially came up on SmackDown with Charlie Haas as Team Angle, underlings for Kurt Angle. The pair eventually split from Angle, rechristening themselves The World’s Greatest Tag Team. During their run, they held the WWE Tag Team Championship twice.

In the 2004 WWE Draft, Benjamin was sent to Raw. He quickly got a singles push, scoring a win over Triple H, but would not capitalize on the momentum. Benjamin would go on to win the Intercontinental Champonship on three occasions and the United States Championship once before being released in April 2010. He was also named Most Underrated Wrestler by readers of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter in 2005, 2006, and 2007.