Title: Hard Knocks
Author: Siren Demented
Characters: Chris Benoit, Kristen, Various others.
Rating: R-ish
Contents: Violence, Language, Some Suggested Sexual Content.
Disclamier: I only own the fictional characters. WWE owns everyone else and they own themselves.
A/N: Like many of you, I have been heartbroken over the Chris Benoit situation. Chris was a major inspiration to me on a professional and personal level. And while I hate what he did to his family and himself, I will always respect what he did in that ring and I will always love him for who he was before this happened.
I wanted to write a fan fiction using him for the longest but I never could find a good storyline. I wrote a story a few years back called Poetry In Motion with Jeff Hardy that had a "Tough Enough" theme. I've decided to do the same with Chris.
This is my tribute to Chris Benoit. I hope those of you who remember him in a positive light will enjoy this. This is set in an AU, so Chris is the ECW champion and he hasn't been married and doesn't have kids. And Eddie is still with us as well.
Rest In Peace Chris, Nancy and Daniel Benoit.
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"What?...Another one?...Why?...Ok, ok, I'll be there first thing Monday morning." Chris Benoit shut his cell phone closed pretty hard. He was slightly annoyed at what WWE creative had told him. There was to be yet another season of Tough Enough and he was to be one of the trainers. Which meant he wouldn't be able to wrestle for a few months.
Some people would take that as a blessing and use the time to rest up. But Chris was ECW champion, so that meant he would be dropping the belt. He didn't have a problem putting over younger talent, matter of fact, he enjoyed helping the young guys be the best they could. But he was also a proud champion and barely had anytime to defend his title in any 5 star matches.
Chris got up from his hotel room bed and walked over to the balcony. It over looked Mexico City's skyline. A deep yellowish red sunset had set the horizon a blaze. It was a beautiful sight, but Chris couldn't really take in the wonder before him. His mind was too filled with worries. He was getting older, he had just turned 40. His body wasn't what it used to be, he had already gotten neck surgery. He wasn't flying as high as he used to, wasn't getting up as fast.
Was Tough Enough some sort of demotion? Was this the last stop before WWE kicked him out of the door?
"I need a beer." Chris moved over to the mini bar. He grabbed a Corona and got to guzzling.
Though, none of this was his REAL problem. His best friend, Eddie Guerrero was the only one who could really understand him. But even Eddie couldn't fix this problem. He needed a woman. He needed a spouse to share a certain level of his being with that he couldn't expose to anyone else. He wanted babies. It was bad enough that if he had one now he would be 60 when they were 20. Would he be able to do all those fatherly things like play catch? Go to ball games? The movies? Hell, pick them up and play Piggyback?
He shook his head, trying to knock out those thoughts. He hated being alone, it gave him time to think and that scared him. He decided he was going to have to vent before being shipped off to New York. He grabbed the hotel phone and dialed up Eddie's room. It sounded like a party was going on, on the other line.
"Hey ese! You've reached Eddie's Wild Party Service! How may I help you, homes!"
"Eddie? What are you doing, man?"
"Oh hey Chris, we're...uh...just having...uh...a little get together..." he obviously was lying. But hey, that's what he does best.
"Well, do you want to go out?"
"Why not come over here, man? There is plenty of beer and mamacitas!"
"Eh, I would but, I don't feel very social..."
Eddie knew this was one of those times where Chris needed to talk to him. He changed his demeanor.
"Ok ese, I will be up there in a half hour and we'll go get some food, ok?"
"Alright, thanks. I'm sorry to break up your party."
"Don't worry about it, anything thing for you...hey! Miguel, get your head out of the punch bowl!" Eddie hung up, Chris chuckled a bit.
A half hour came and went, and Eddie showed up to get Chris like he promised. They went to a local joint, nothing too fancy. They didn't want to be recognized, especially Chris.
"So what is troubling you, my friend?"
"Eh, the same as usual," Chris said, stabbing his steak."I'm depressed about THAT again. And the fact that I'm being sent over to handle the Tough Enough kids doesn't help. I mean, I WANT to help train some new blood, but...eh."
"Ahh. There is no need to be upset about that. I told you a long time ago that things would work out in your career right? And was I right or was I right?"
"Yeah..."
"Ok then, so when I tell you, your love life will catch up, it will. You just have to be patient."
"I have been Eddie, I have. I just envy you, Rey, Booker, all the guys who have families so much. That's all I want and I want it before I get all old and decrepit."
"I understand, ese. I understand. I was that way too before I met my wife."
Chris looked down at his steak and poked at it some more. Eddie could see this wasn't helping. He sat back and tried to think of what he could say to make Chris feel better. Then, while popping a potato skin in his mouth, he came up with a little scheme.
"Hey, check this homes. I come from a long line of fortune tellers. The GEE-erreros are INSANELY talented, ese."
Chris gave him a look, Eddie grabbed a spoon and got back to what he was saying. He rubbed it like it was a crystal ball.
"Ummmmmmmmm...Ummmmmmm," he hummed like he was meditating. "I see in your future, a woman so smart, so special, so FINE, it'll blow your mind, homes!"
Chris just looked at him with a blank stare, "Now I know you've lost your ever loving mind."
"Eh, come on, man. I'm serious. Look, I will bet you anything, that come this week, you WILL find the chick your heart desires."
Chris looked at him, Eddie seemed pretty serious.
"Alright, bet." the two men shook hands.
"Alright, good. Now, eh, can I go back to my party before Miguel ruins the new batch of punch?"
"Ha, yea, you can go. I'm gonna just stay here for a bit longer."
"Are you sure, you're ok now?"
"Yes, go ahead."
"Alright, just keep your head up." Eddie patted Chris on the shoulder and then exited the restaurant.
Chris sat, looking out the window as rain began to fall. Just the thing he needed for his mood.
NOT.
After a while, he dragged himself back up to his room. He changed into his PJs and crawled into bed. He flipped on the tv expecting America's Most Wanted to be on, but was first met with a Tough Enough commercial.
"This Monday, we will be holding the New York TE5 auditions. Make sure to have all of your paper work filled out and ready to hand in. This year's trainers will be Al Snow, Bill Demott, Molly and special guest trainer, Chris Benoit!"
"Bah!" Chris flicked the tv off and covered his head with the blanket. All those worries started to creep in again and Chris shut his eyes tight. Eventually he fell asleep.
The Next Morning
Chris had woken up fairly early after a restless night of sleep. He packed up all of his things and got ready to head to his last PPV before he had to go to NYC.
"Hey! Wake up ese! We gotta go! I need to get my title back from Edge!"
"Shut up Eddie, it's mine!" Edge playfully yelled from his room.
"I'm coming!" Chris grabbed him bags and walked out into the hallway.
"So, feel any better?" Eddie asked.
"A little."
"Well one step at a time, right?"
"Right."
The two men went on their way.
Later That Night
"Bawh God, Kang! CM Punk has just beat Chris Benoit for the ECW title in one of the most amazing matches I have ever seen!"
"Puppies!"
"You know, I really don't understand you."
The crowd roared with boos as CM Punk held the ECW title high above his head. He had turned on Chris mid-match and became a heel. He walked to the back with a evil smile on his face, laughing uncontrollably.
Chris staggered to his feet, with a look of defeat on his face. As he left the ring, the crowd erupted in cheers. He looked around, all eyes on him. All cheers of respect and love for what he gave. Chris stepped back in the ring and raised his arms. The crowd ate it up. After about a minute or so, he went backstage.
"Oh my God! Thank you so much Mr. Benoit! I can't believe this! This is what I dreamed of my whole life!"
"I'm happy to have dropped the title to you, Punk."
"No, not that. The match, I've wanted to wrestle you since I was a little kid. This is a dream come true."
"Thank you." Chris shook his hand and Punk ran off to celebrate with his friends. This is what Chris lived for, helping the younger talent achieve their dreams. He was there once, he understood what it was like. Maybe Tough Enough wouldn't be as bad as he thought. He headed to the locker room to change real fast and headed to the airport.
At The Airport
"Jetblue New York City/JFK flight from Mexico City will be departing in 5 minutes."
Chris settled down into his set and looked out of the window. He had a looonnngggg flight ahead of him and a lot of thinking to do. The plane started to taxi the runway. After a minute they were up and away. And Chris was on his way to a new start or the beginning of the end.
