The story of when Shelton Benjamin snapped on The Great Khali.
As Shelton Benjamin’s appearance on Huge Pop Radio was ongoing, he spoke about past memories and moments from his 25 years as a wrestler.
He recounted a time when he ‘snapped’ on Kenny Dykstra. Benjamin thought he was going to be fired by WWE for that. He then went on to tell the story of when he went off on The Great Khali. He said he liked Khali personally, but hated wrestling him.
Benjamin recalled him and Khali verbally going back and forth and in the background, Carlito and Primo Colón were cracking jokes and it was hard for Benjamin to be serious with Khali while that was happening. Shelton shared another story about Khali that had to do with Khali giving him a head chop. It legitimately dazed Benjamin, but Khali thought he was selling the move.
After the match, Khali suggested that Benjamin get up quicker for his double-handed chokeslam finisher. Benjamin closed by saying he does not want to be too harsh because he loves Khali.
If you remember, I was happy-go-lucky. I got along with everyone. There were only a few occasions where I had to snap on someone. I don’t know if you were there when I snapped on Kenny Dykstra. That was pretty bad. Me and Kenny are great now but that was — I snapped. That was one day I was like, okay, I’m gonna get fired today… I snapped on The Great Khali, big time (he laughed). I love Khali. I think he’s a great guy but I hated wrestling him. I don’t think I am the only person who felt that way. Man, that chop to the head… it felt like a cinder block. I remember the first time he gave it to me, I felt my spine go (*cartoon shrink sound effect*). I snapped on him but, the funny thing about when I went off on him, because I’d done some spots and he didn’t like ‘em so he complained and when he complained, I just lost it and then he tried to ask other guys to confirm what he thought was wrong, which only made me even more mad. But, the funny part about that, I don’t know if you remember, Carlito and Primo (Colón) were there tagging. They’re watching this whole thing and Carlito, those are like my brothers. You ever seen that video where the two cats are on the roof and they’re meowing back at each other and there’s a crow hopping around and poking at the cat and basically makes them go at each other and then kind of follows ‘em around? Have you ever seen this video? This is the real thing. A crow basically kept poking the cats until the cats fought each other. Well, that’s what Carlito and Primo kept doing. So the whole time, I’m trying to be furious at Khali, but Carli and Primo keep sneaking in, making little comments, and basically, they knew it was pissing me off that Khali kept trying to get confirmation for what he thought was right… and every time Khali would say, ‘Yeah,’ I would go off again. But, I knew what they were doing. So it’s like, on one hand, I am furious at this guy! But these two. ‘Will you guys knock it off!?’ They were killing my anger because I wanted to be mad but I kept laughing because I knew what they were doing. But every time Khali would speak, I would get mad all over again. ‘Will you guys get out of here?’ And they would just back off and wait a couple seconds and they would come right back in. I was like, ‘Come on, Heckle and Jeckle, get the hell out of here!’
He gave me that chop one night and like I said, it was legit bells. I would see stars. I went down but, his finish was — I think he was doing the double-handed, I don’t know — the two-handed chokeslam thing. So, he gave me the chop and I’m just… all I’m seeing is birds and I’m trying to get up because I know I have to take this finish and he says to me, ‘Uh, brother –’ after the match — he goes, ‘Brother, uh, maybe after chop, up faster.’ I was like, ‘Khali, I am really trying to recover. I can’t get up any faster because I am really dazed. That’s not me working. That is really me trying to get my bearings before you grab me. I can’t get up any faster…’ But that being said, any time I tell these stories, I don’t wanna come off as harsh. I love Khali. I have so much fun with him. But, like you said, some guys, despite how much you love ‘em, I don’t always like working with people that I like. Unfortunately, he was at the top of that list.
Benjamin is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling. He’s a member of The Hurt Syndicate with MVP and Bobby Lashley. Him and Lashley are the reigning AEW World Tag Team Champions. They’ve been in possession of the titles since January.
If the quotes in this article are used, please credit Huge Pop Radio with an H/T to POST Wrestling for the transcriptions.
