On tonight’s Raw, we saw Paul Heyman return and assure to Seth Rollins that Brock would be walking out of WrestleMania 35 as the WWE Universal Champion. During the exchange, Rollins was attacked by none other than Shelton Benjamin. Someone who we have not seen since the 2019 Royal Rumble. Many fans were surprised as to why Shelton Benjamin would attack Seth Rollins, however, Paul Heyman, while on commentary, alluded to the relationship of Shelton Benjamin and Brock Lesnar. Here is a more in-depth look at the relationship between the two.
Shelton Benjamin, who attended the University Of Minnesota, was a two-time All-American. Lesnar was recruited after Benjamin, whose last year was in 1998 while Lesnar came into the University in 1999. Shelton, who became a graduate assistant coach for the schools wrestling team, helped coach Brock Lesnar during those days and trained together for two and a half years. Shelton Benjamin, on a recent episode of Talk Is Jericho would elaborate a bit more that he would train Brock Lesnar 2-4 hours every day. The two became college roommates and their friendship continued from there. Lesnar would wind up becoming a two-time NCAA All-American as well.
In 2000 after winning the NCAA Division 1 Wrestling Championships, Brock Lesnar would be recruited by Gerald Brisco and Jim Ross, who was the Vice President of Talent Relations at the time, but so would Shelton Benjamin. The two would soon work as a tag team for Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) and be known as The Minnesota Stretching Crew. They eventually earned their way to the OVW Tag Team Championships on three occasions.
In 2002 as history would have it, both eventually debuted on the main roster with Brock Lesnar debuting on Monday Night Raw and Shelton Benjamin while making his debut on Sunday Night Heat as a babyface, would eventually join the Smackdown brand as a heel and join Charlie Haas and become the worlds greatest tag team under the guidance of Kurt Angle.
The Minnesota Stretching Crew is back! #Raw pic.twitter.com/bnkLVQ9o5C
— WrestlingINC.com (@WrestlingInc) March 12, 2019
Fast forward 17 years later to 2019, and the two remain close friends. While their career trajectories had led them towards a much different path, it seems apropos that the two would still be on the same team, that is, the team of Heyman.
