Shelton Benjamin nearly became Paige’s bodyguard in WWE. The former Intercontinental Champion returned to WWE in 2016 after a six-year hiatus but suffered a serious injury that kept him out of action for a year. Upon his return in the summer of 2017, he teamed up with Chad Gable and contended for the SmackDown Tag Team Titles.
During this period, WWE pitched the idea of Benjamin being Paige’s bodyguard while she was the General Manager of SmackDown. Shelton Benjamin shared in an interview with The Metro’s Alistair McGeorge:
“A pitch I had, I wanted to be – this is when I came back the second time. I think Paige was the General Manager for SmackDown. The idea was, I will start off as kind of her bodyguard, but I think it was going to turn romantic and that was all – they were all set to do that, and then it just didn’t happen.”
Benjamin also revealed that Vince McMahon wanted him to be Mr. Entertainment:
“At one point, I was going to be Mr. Entertainment where, you know, I’ll be singing. I think we kind of teased it once with The Bellas where I was kind of singing Louis Armstrong to them. I remember Vince wanted me to be Mr. Entertainment. That never happened.”
Shelton also shed light on the canceled Hurt Business reunion plans:
“There was definitely conversation and planning for The Hurt Business to make a return. And then things just changed. They set dates, the dates changed and things changed. And then suddenly it was like, ‘Nope, we’re just not doing it’. And that was… that was a kick in the balls (laughs).”
Former WWF/WCW writer Vince Russo discussed this canceled romance angle between Shelton and Paige on The Wrestling Outlaws podcast and said the following:
“Well, bro, that doesn’t sound like a bad idea to me at all. It’s The Bodyguard. I mean, straight outta Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston. That’s what it is. That’s not a bad idea. I think it’s a miscast. I don’t see that picture with those two, but I think that’s an excellent idea.
When I was the head writer, if I wanted to do something, we were doing it. There was no committee to kibosh anything. We were doing it. And I think that’s part of the problem now, is there are so many chefs in the kitchen that there are probably good ideas that are getting left on the table because you probably gotta pass it through 10 different people.”
Shelton Benjamin was released from WWE in 2023.
Also Read: Shelton Benjamin Says He’s The Anti-John Cena
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