Back in July last year, WWE announced that Shelton Benjamin would be returning to the company after six years away to be a part of the SmackDown Live roster following the WWE Draft.

That return though never came to fruition, as, in August, Benjamin announced that his return was on hiatus due to a torn rotator cuff, which required surgery. In March earlier this year, he announced that he was cleared to compete once more.

However, the former Intercontinental Champion also mentioned that he never actually signed a contract with the WWE before the announcement of his return was made by the company and was actually a free agent.

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According to reports, however, that has now changed.

According to a report by PWInsider, Benjamin has signed and is finally returning to WWE. At the moment, there is no indication as to when he will return to TV or what brand he will be assigned to, but one WWE source stated it would be "soon."

If we take into account what we think will happen in the WWE over the next couple of weeks, the most likely situation is that The Gold Standard will return to the company to be a part of the SmackDown Live roster, just like he was originally advertised to do.

With John Cena rumored to be using his free agent status to move from SmackDown to Monday Night RAW, this will leave WWE's blue brand at a disadvantage roster wise when compared to the red brand. Benjamin wouldn't be a direct replacement, but it would help to solve that problem.

During his first WWE stint, he held the Intercontinental Championship on three occasions, the United States Championship once and the WWE Tag Team Championship twice, so the WWE knows he is a good worker, which is why he might be better suited for SmackDown as they'll lack the star power later this year.

On SmackDown, the former Intercontinental Champion could bring his versatility to have great feuds against the likes of Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Dolph Ziggler, AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, Baron Corbin, and Jinder Mahal, and help boost the show's ratings following the predicted departure of Cena to RAW.

Which WWE brand would you like to see Shelton Benjamin on? Have YOUR say in the comments section below and the fourth episode of GiveMeSport’s WWE podcast is here!

Check it out via this link: https://soundcloud.com/user-818579649/gms-wwe-podcast-money-in-the-bank-fallout