ESPN has published a new article featuring Shelton Benjamin discussing the art of improvisation in pro wrestling, calling matches vs planning them ahead of time, and more. The article contains quotes from Benjamin on his time working with stars such as Eddie and Chavo Guerrero, Chris Jericho and more. Below are some quotes from Benjamin.
On his first experience working with Los Guerreros:
“For the first eight months, we were working with Eddie and Chavo Guerrero, and they would hide from us during the live events,” Benjamin told ESPN. “They didn’t want to call matches because that was old school, and that was how they came up.”
“Eventually they got fed up with us and we had one of those coming to Jesus meetings,” Benjamin said. “We told them they didn’t need to tell us spot-for-spot, but we just don’t know the things you’re trying to do. Eddie, who was always the captain of the ship said, ‘You guys are right, and I need to be a better captain.’ He started teaching us the spots.”
On facing Chris Jericho for the WWE IC Title at Taboo Tuesday:
“For the most part, me being the new guy, I just listened to Chris,” Benjamin said. “What helped was that I was familiar with Jericho’s move set and his work. He was familiar with my stuff, just not my finish.”
“To get to the finish, we communicated throughout the match, and Jericho said, ‘Run to the top rope, I’m going to jump turn to you, you catch me, and do your finish,’” Benjamin said. “So when he jumped, I just prepared myself to catch him.”
On calling matches in the ring vs planning them out move-for-move ahead of time:
“Guys are so reliant on planning a match, to go out and do their plan, regardless of crowd response,” Benjamin said. “Sometimes you gotta go out and call audibles. You need to say ‘this ain’t working’ and change it up.”
ESPN