Philadelphia ring announcer Stephan T. Benson vying for job with WWE
There was nothing all that different about the opening match of the WWE live event that took place in Philadelphia back on June 22.
WWE superstar Dolph Ziggler was the first man from behind the curtain and was greeted by throngs of supporters at the Wells Fargo Center.
Alberto Del Rio's theme music then blared across the speakers, which was greeted by chorus of boos. Del Rio then made his way from behind the curtain and the boos grew even louder. Nothing seems out of the ordinary yet.
While Del Rio sauntered the ring, he greeted a man sitting in the front row at ringside. Del Rio and the man, who was dressed in a suit that Del Rio would appreciate, seemed to exchange some pleasantries before Del Rio eventually hopped into the ring. Hmm, maybe Del Rio knows the man personally. Moving along, nothing to see here.
Before the match got started, Del Rio grabbed the microphone and said that he was not going to start the match until he had a proper introduction. Justin Roberts, WWE's main ring announcer, didn't do a satisfactory job, according to Del Rio.
Del Rio wanted to rectify the problem by having someone else give him the introduction he felt he deserved. He called upon the man he talked to at ringside, who Del Rio said was his cousin.
The man wasted little time hopping over the guardrail, jumped into the ring and grabbed the microphone. What came next was definitely out of the ordinary.
The man ran through Del Rio's numerous accomplishments, mostly in Spanish no less, and then belted out Del Rio's name.
"Albertooooooo Del Rioooooooo!"
Okay, that wasn't at all ordinary.
The man sounded like he had done this before. He sounded like someone that's done this for a living at some point. That's because he has.
That man is not Del Rio's cousin, which isn't really all that shocking. That man is Philadelphia native Stephan T. Benson, and while this was just an ordinary late-June day for everyone else in the arena, for Benson, this was the latest chapter in his relentless pursuit of his childhood dream: To become a ring announcer for the WWE.
Benson, 26, feels he's very close to his dream coming true. He auditioned for the WWE in May of 2013 and has established with a number of wrestlers and personnel within the company.
His connections have afforded him the opportunity to introduce many big names in the wrestling business, including Ric Flair, Chris Jericho, Ted DiBiase, The Miz, Howard Finkel and Jimmy Hart.
Despite seemingly being on the cusp of living out his childhood dream, Benson has been playing the waiting game for quite some time now. According to Benson, being patient and letting the process run its course is part of being in the wrestling business.
"It's just a very long process in terms of hiring and them screening the auditions and everything, he said during an interview with philly.com "I'm just being patient. I call them every so often, check in once or twice a month, but I'm told by people that work there that you have to be pushy sometimes. Not ignorant, but pushy enough to where it's like, 'Alright, let's see what's going on with this guy.'"
"They were very impressed," he added about his audition last year.
Benson has been impressing people with his voice since he was child growing up near the Germantown section of Philadelphia.
When Benson was a child, his father took him to wrestling events in the area, including the WWE. While most kids went to meet-and-greet sessions to simply get an autograph and a picture, the cunning five-year-old Benson saw the meet-and-greet sessions as opportunities to introduce the wrestlers as if they were walking to the ring.
Not even the biggest, most macho wrestler could turn down the smile of a five-year-old and would let little Benson show them what he had.
Eventually, Benson realized he had a gift of gab and combined his love of wrestling with his natural talent to formulate his ultimate dream of becoming a wrestling ring announcer.
There was no other real goal Benson wanted to attain. Upon graduating from Northeast Preparatory School in early 2007, Benson attended the Community College of Philadelphia. For a short time, he thought about becoming a paleontologist. He also thought about becoming a meteorologist.
But those occupations weren't going to cut it. After only a couple of weeks at community college, Benson realized that nothing he was going to be taught in school was really going to help him achieve his real dream, so he left.
"I don't need college to do what I want," Benson said. "It's not that I'm knocking it. It works for some people, other people just have a natural knack for it."
Without the funds to attend a wrestling school, Benson did the only thing he knew that would get him noticed: Go to wrestling shows.
"It's the only way I knew at the time to get noticed because I didn't have the money to go to wrestling school," Benson said. "I didn't go to school for broadcasting. It's all self-taught. Nobody ever taught me. Literally every ounce of what I've learned I've studied, watched and I remembered all of the weights and names of the wrestlers pretty much by heart. If there's something I don't know I strive to make sure I do memorize it."
Between attending numerous wrestling shows and working hard, Benson has carved out some nice ground to stand on in the local wrestling scene. Among the promotions he's announced for are The Monster Factory, Combat Zone Wrestling, FTW Pro Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Syndicate, First State Championship Wrestling (1CW), Keystone Championship Wrestling, World Wide Wrestling Alliance.
"I literally practice every single day," Benson said. "When I get home from work or before I leave to work, whether it's for five minutes or for five hours. I try to increase the longevity of announcing in my voice, so that way I don't lose my voice quickly."
All of the practice and preparation pays off when he kicks off a show and gets the fans immediately engaged, something which Benson believes is integral to a quality show and promotion.
"I love ring announcing because you set the standard of what the show is supposed to be," Benson said. "It's your job to hype the crowd up and keep them entertained. The main job is the wrestlers. They're putting their bodies on the line, but you set that first expectation."
"I've created a lot of ways to try to better a show if I see that it's not as good as it should be," he added. "Announcing can do that. You're the host of the show essentially. You're the first person that they see and the last person that they see."
While Benson enjoys working for local wrestling promotions, especially The Monster Factory, he has not lost sight of his dream of working for the WWE. The only problem is that he has been waiting to see that Stamford, Conn. area code of 203 pop up on his phone for quite some time now.
"It could be a little maddening, but it took me having to sit down and think about it and being told by people that have been in the wrestling business – Larry Sharpe, Danny Cage, Blue Meanie — that's it's nothing that happens overnight. It takes a while," Benson said. "Some people get hired overnight and are there the next day. Announcers are not exactly at the top of their list as a priority. Wrestlers are what the WWE and wrestling is all about."
"It can be frustrating because I don't get it," he added. "I'm talented, I'm dedicated, what more do they need? I just keep working hard. I don't know what else they want me to do, but whatever it is I'll do it. It's frustrating waiting, but I've learned to be patient and just pray it'll happen when it's meant to happen. I'd rather it not happen any sooner than it's supposed and then something goes wrong."
But when that phone call happens, Benson is more than ready to accept the offer and would take in the emotional moment with a cold orange soda.
"I wouldn't call anybody," Benson said. "I would just sit there and let it seep in. At that point will probably be the last time I ever truly marked out and yelled in my own house and started jumping up and down."
"I'd cry," he added. "I think I would honestly cry because when you work so hard for something and it finally happens, you'll cry. If your dream were to become a reality … yeah that's probably what I would do."
Benson made sure to mention that he would wait until he got off the phone with the WWE to begin crying.
Until that happens, Benson will continue working hard on his craft and dabble in a number of other things. He's currently enrolled at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh where he is taking online classes in video game design. He also does some voice-overs, acting and modeling on the side.
For the time being, those who attend a local wrestling event may here some more of this: "I'm the man with a plan to make you all stand, the voice of a new generation. Too blessed to be stressed, too sweet to be sour, the man of the hour, the golden voice of pro wrestling, Stephan Theodore Benson."
There isn't a whole lot ordinary about that.