Shelton Benjamin has explained why his partnership with Chad Gable did not go anywhere.
The Gold Standard was paired with the former American Alpha member in SmackDown upon his WWE return in 2017. This came after Gable’s former partner Jason Jordan was moved to the Raw brand to start his infamous storyline with Kurt Angle, quietly disbanding their team.
Benjamin opened up about working with the former Olympic Athlete during his appearance on Talk Is Jericho. He first offered big praise to the 38-year-old and proclaimed that Gable still hasn’t gotten his due:
“When I first arrived, they put me with Chad Gable and well, like, phenomenal worker. No, he has not [gotten his due]. He hasn’t. And to me, it sucks, because everyone has an excuse.
I said for every excuse, I can point out an example why that excuse makes no sense. That guy is special, whether fans realize it or not, he is. He’s got a blue-collar mentality. He’s Uber-talented. He’s dedicated. He’ll do whatever you need him to.”
We Just Didn’t Click: Shelton Benjamin
Though despite being compatible on paper, the team of Shelton Benjamin and Chad Gable did not find a lot of success. Their run lasted 8 months before they were split up during the 2018 Superstar Shakeup without ever holding any titles together.
Speaking about why the pairing did not work despite having similar backgrounds, Shelton Benjamin said that he never really clicked with Gable. He remembered his chemistry with Team Angle partner Charlie Haas and said that he never felt the same teaming with the current WWE star:
“When they put us together. Obviously, he’s actually from Minneapolis too. So it seemed right, especially, with Jason not being able to work anymore. But I don’t really think that tag team worked. We had some good matches. They threw us in some really zany matches. We had a great matchup with the Usos, but it, for me, it really wasn’t working. Through no fault of anyone.
The chemistry, it wasn’t like me and Charlie. Me and Charlie were like, Charlie’s the best partner I’ve ever had. So for whatever reason, me and [Gable] while we got along great, we just didn’t click the same way. It wasn’t the same but again, that being said, all due respect, that kid is phenomenal. Everything he’s done, he’s made work.”