What is Shelton Benjamin thinking?: SmackDown LIVE, July 2, 2019

Here's a little segment from WWE Smackdown Live from July 2, 2019. It features Shelton Benjamin, one of the company's performers, being asked about the chances of the championship changing hands at the upcoming pay-per-view event "Extreme Views".

Shelton doesn't give a traditional answer. Instead of providing a verbal reply, he does a little staring routine, rolling his eyes in different directions, intensely thinking while the camera zooms in on his face. He figures out something, makes a vicious smile, glances into the camera for a bit and walks off without saying a word. The whole thing takes about 30 seconds.

It is short and sweet vignette designed to highlight some sort of a plot development and character involvement. Except, it is not. It is a non-sequitir.

The thing is - WWE has a habit of doing throwaway things with no intention of ever really committing to something. Shelton Benjamin is a good example of this phenomenon. He's employed, but not really featured in a meaningful way. The last time he was spotlighted was prior to Wrestlemania when he fought championship contender Seth Rollins in a losing effort. It came out of nowhere and it went nowhere. This vignette is the same. It turned up for sole reason of padding an episode, added nothing to the narrative and was promptly forgotten afterwards.

But it is so different from WWE's usual throwaway stuff it sticks on memory.

As it is, it is rather curious performance piece. There can be a statement about non-verbal communication hidden deep inside. After all, a skilled actor can express a lot of things with his eyes and their movement. But since, the vignette is devoid of context and lacks any substance, it depicts a literal dead end void. It doesn't make sense and yet it persists. The thing is so pointless, it fascinates.