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This week's episode of Monday Night Raw kicked off with an emotional farewell to The Shield, who last night at Fastlane, competed in their final match in WWE.
With both Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose announcing that they will go their separate paths and start focusing on their singles careers on the Road To WrestleMania 35, the third member of The Shield, Seth Rollins is all left but to focus on his upcoming Universal Title match against 'The Beast' Brock Lesnar.
With Rollins aiming to take down Lesnar at The Grandest Stage of Them All and bring back the Universal Title to Raw, 'The Architect' was once again interrupted by Lesnar's advocate Paul Heyman tonight and much to everyone's surprise, Heyman's distraction allowed the returning Shelton Benjamin attack Rollins from behind and suplex him around like a ragdoll.
This eventually led to a singles match between Rollins and Benjamin, who hasn't been competing over on SmackDown Live and definitely did make a statement on Raw tonight with his attack on the former WWE Champion.
Fans have now been wondering what the possible reason could be for Benjamin's attack. What are his actual intentions? What are the true motives that made him switch brands to Raw?
#5 To give Shelton Benjamin a new direction on Raw
Let's just admit it, Shelton Benjamin has been nowhere to be found over on SmackDown Live and hasn't even competed in a match for the past several months. Other than a few backstage segments, Benjamin hasn't really done anything over on the blue brand and switching to Raw could very well help him find a new direction, allowing the creative team to provide him with a fresh set of storylines in the coming months.
With Benjamin attacking Seth Rollins on Raw, maybe he can feud with Dean Ambrose in the build-up to Wrestlemania 35? After all, Ambrose himself needs a fresh opponent and Shelton Benjamin could be the man.
#4 Raw is in a desperate need of upper mid carders
The upper mid-card scene on Raw is a mess right now, considering the red brand doesn't really have too many men competing or stepping up their game to challenge for the brand's mid-card title, the Intercontinental Championship.
Other than the likes of Finn Balor, whose reign just ended on Raw, Dean Ambrose, who himself is coming off a lackluster reign, and Bobby Lashley, who is now a two-time champion. WWE doesn't really have too many men who are made of IC Title caliber and are capable enough of holding such a prestigious title.
As a former champion, Shelton Benjamin is the perfect IC Champion material and could very well be pushed as an upper mid-carder on Raw, alongside the likes of the latest NXT recruits in the form of EC3, Aleister Black, and even Ricochet as well.
#3 To fill in the void for Brock Lesnar
In the build-up to WrestleMania 35, Brock Lesnar hasn't been seen around much lately on Raw in order to promote his upcoming Universal Title match against Seth Rollins at The Grandest Stage Of Them All. Lesnar's advocate Paul Heyman instead has to do all the talking and has been doing all the work in order to properly create all the hype surrounding Lesnar's upcoming match against Rollins.
One of the prime reasons' why WWE might have decided to bring in Shelton Benjamin is to have him fill in the gap for Lesnar and keep Seth Rollins busy up until the point 'The Beast' actually decides to make his return to TV, which by the way is happening next week, as Lesnar is confirmed to appear on next week's Raw.
Nevertheless, we are still a few weeks away from Raw and we still don't know for the fact if Lesnar will appear on every single edition starting from next week till WrestleMania 35. So why not have his good friend Shelton Benjamin make things a bit more interesting with Rollins instead?
#2. Minnesota Stretching Crew Reunion
You're going to need soldiers if you're willing to go to war and that's something you should be aware of even if you're 'The Beast' Brock Lesnar. Despite the farewell of The Shield, both Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns continue to be a part of the Raw roster and if needed Rollins could easily turn to both men for backup in his feud against Lesnar.
Considering Lesnar doesn't have too many friends on the current day roster, I'll have to give credit to 'The Beast' for playing his cards right in this one and possibly recruiting Shelton Benjamin as his backup plan.
Lesnar and Benjamin have been friends since their college days and have trained together as well. The two men previously used to team up during their days under WWE developmental as part of Ohio Valley Wrestling and it looks like it is about time for a reunion for the Minnesota Stretching Crew.
#1 Brock Lesnar and Shelton Benjamin have a long history with each other
Brock Lesnar and Shelton Benjamin's relationship is a lot longer than you actually think it is. The two men have been friends for a very, very long time and have bonded over a friendship which dates back to their college days in Minnesota and so much so, that Benjamin, at one point of his career, also went on to coach Lesnar at Amateur Wrestling. The two men are former roommates as well as former tag team partners as well.
Both Benjamin and Lesnar were also a part of the OVW roster which had the likes of John Cena and Randy Orton and much like Paul Heyman chose Lesnar as the Godfather of his children, Benjamin, similarly, is the Godfather of Lesnar's two oldest kids, whereas, Heyman is the Godfather to the two younger ones.
Regardless of that, Lesnar and Benjamin till date tend to be very close friends and if Lesnar is to get into a battle with The Shield then he is going to have to play smart here and use all the back-up possible.
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