Former champion finally cleared after injury, sets up potential WWE return

After nine months of recovery, he's finally back.

This timing is perfect... almost too perfect.

Back in July, WWE released a video package on SmackDown Live announcing the return of former Intercontinental Champion Shelton Benjamin. However, Benjamin was soon revealed to have a torn rotator cuff, putting his entire return to WWE in doubt.

After a surgery and nine months of recovery, Benjamin revealed on Thursday that he is finally cleared to return to the world of pro wrestling.

It's unclear if Benjamin is still scheduled to return to WWE, as it is unknown if he signed a contract before the injury was discovered. However, this seems to be perfect timing for him to finally return, as WrestleMania is on Sunday and the post-Mania Monday Night RAW and SmackDown Live are prime territory for a return in front of a big crowd.

Benjamin originally broke into wrestling with Brock Lesnar, as the two were originally part of the University of Minnesota amateur wrestling team. After debuting on WWE television in 2002, Benjamin quickly gained acclaim for his outstanding athleticism, and he was paired with Charlie Haas under Kurt Angle as part of the "World's Greatest Tag Team".

In his original run in WWE, Benjamin won the Intercontinental Championship three times, the tag team titles twice with Haas, and the U.S. Championship once. Benjamin was released from the company in 2010 as part of the company's mass-releases after that year's WrestleMania.