Shelton Benjamin is a former amateur wrestler who was a two-time All-American at the University of Minnesota.
Daniel Puder, a former MMA fighter, famously came into WWE through Tough Enough and made headlines for putting Kurt Angle in a kimura during a live segment.
Speaking to Gabby LaSpisa on Gabby AF, Shelton recalled a time when he and Puder were went head-to-head before a show.
"Wrestling fans know Daniel Puder. He had the infamous armlock on Kurt. He got the armlock on Kurt and they had to pin him real quick. Shortly after that, me and Charlie Haas were shooting around in the ring. This is something I used to do all the time. At one point, Daniel Puder got in there, this is after the infamous Kurt situation. What happened with me and Charlie, Charlie faked that he took me down. To people that know amatuer wrestling, they know it was neutral. The guys who don’t know, it might have looked like he took me down. Smart people know. Charlie gets this fake takedown and jumps out the ring. He jumps out the ring and refuses to get back in. I’m steaming, ‘Get back here, Charlie.’ I’m mad. Charlie knows, and I know, it wasn’t a takedown, but everyone else thinks it is. Perception is reality in the pro wrestling business. ‘You better get back in here Charlie.’ He wouldn’t get back in.
"Puder gets in. When he gets in, my first thought was, a lot of people were intimidated by Puder because he almost tapped out Kurt. I’m fresh off Team Angle, ‘I want to know what you can do anyway.’ He gets in there, and I start ragdolling him. Boom, boom, boom. At one point, I threw him so hard, when he hit the mat, it sounded like a bomb went off. Vince turns out, ‘That’s enough of that. That’s enough of that shoot shit. Learn to work, damnit.’ That was the only time he yelled at us. I don’t know what their plans were with Puder, I just know because of the situation with Kurt, his reputation had ballooned, and I pretty much popped that balloon. When I say I was ragdolling him, I’m saying there was zero he could do with me. We were shoot wrestling. Zero. Complete shutdown."
Puder won Tough Enough in 2004, but did not last long in WWE. He was released in September 2005.
Elsewhere during the interview, Shelton commented on the potential of Bobby Lashley coming to AEW. Fans can read his full comments by clicking here.
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