Shelton Benjamin discloses interesting fact about his WWE IC title win
Shelton Benjamin recently recalled how he only learned about his first WWE Intercontinental Championship victory when Chris Jericho did not kick out during their match.
In 2004, WWE fans voted online to choose certain opponents and stipulations for the matches at the inaugural Taboo Tuesday pay-per-view. WWE’s decision-makers expected Batista to be selected as Jericho’s opponent, but Benjamin won the 15-person poll with 37.48 percent of the vote.
Speaking on WWE Network show Ruthless Aggression, Benjamin said he hardly knew anything on the day of the show:
“Going into that match, I knew nothing, absolutely nothing. I didn’t know if I was wrestling because they didn’t know if I was wrestling. Jericho didn’t know if I was wrestling. We went out and had that match on the fly. I didn’t know I was winning until Jericho didn’t kick out,” Benjamin said.
Walking into OVW was like 😳😳😳😳😳
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The finish to the match saw Shelton Benjamin hit Chris Jericho with a T-Bone Suplex before quickly pinning him to pick up the win. The former Team Angle member immediately jumped to his feet and looked genuinely surprised to have won the match.
Confirmation that Shelton Benjamin’s fan vote win was legitimate
At Taboo Tuesday from Milwaukee, Shelton Benjamin def. Chris Jericho for Intercontinental Championship https://t.co/9bMBxsfmOT
Former WWE writer Brian Gewirtz also appeared in the episode to discuss the legitimacy of the Taboo Tuesday concept.
Gewirtz confirmed that WWE Chairman Vince McMahon wanted storyline decisions to be decided by fans’ votes:
“Vince was very adamant, ‘If you don’t have it be legitimate, then the whole thing collapses upon itself.’ It was nerve-racking backstage because all the voting was legit. I want to just point that out,” Gewirtz said.
Taboo Tuesday was rebranded as Cyber Sunday in 2006. The pay-per-view was axed from WWE’s calendar in 2009 and replaced by Bragging Rights.
Please credit Ruthless Aggression and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.