Matt Hardy says forgotten WWE Superstar would've been "huge" if he started his wrestling career now
WWE's roster might have been downsized between 2020 and 2021, but even today, many names get lost in the shuffle. Matt Hardy recently looked back on the career of Shelton Benjamin and noted that he could've garnered more fame if he started out today.
Benjamin initially broke into WWE as a member of Kurt Angle's Team Angle faction. Eventually, he'd rebrand himself as "The Gold Standard" before leaving the promotion in 2010 and only making his return in 2017.
During a recent episode of the Extreme Life of Matt Hardy podcast, the veteran proposed how Shelton Benjamin would've thrived in WWE as a rookie today.
“I mean yeah, he had a good run but if he would have came later, if he would have came now where you aren’t necessarily pegged into being a guy that might not the best promo or the best character or the best personality, just nowadays people can be just based purely on their athletic skill and what they can do in the ring and I think Shelton, he’d be a huge star right now, especially if he was just starting out," he said. (H/T Fightful)
Drama recently broke out in AEW again when reports began to claim that multiple stars were being barred from competing at Collision. According to Wrestling Observer, Matt Hardy was one of the stars barred from the show.
Missed out on last week's AEW Dynamite? Catch up with the results right here.
According to Matt Hardy, WWE entrusted him and Jeff Hardy to elevate Brock Lesnar
While he's known as The Beast Incarnate today, Lesnar broke into the promotion freshly from a lengthy run in FCW. Despite being intimidating even during his early years, the future WWE Champion would have to learn the ropes along the way.
During the same episode of The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy, the veteran speculated that the promotion believed The Hardys would make Brock look good.
"I think they felt like Jeff and I were guys who would bust our a** for Brock to make him look good and we could take whatever kind of bump, which was going to make him like a dominant special athlete." [39:21 onward]
Additionally, Matt pointed out that WWE likely trusted that he and Jeff wouldn't have taken liberties with Brock Lesnar and potentially put him in danger. Luckily for the promotion, the pairing paid off, and The Beast Incarnate is now considered one of the biggest names in pro wrestling.