Disclaimer: Any characters, moves etc. that appear on WWE programming, remain the sole property of Vince McMahon and World Wrestling Entertainment.

Note: Thanks to everyone, who reviewed so far, been seriously stressed out with uni but I have finally updated, we'll see how far we get today. Just quickly, I will use "" for quotation marks from now on, thanks to Dana who pointed it out, I've gotten used to using the single marks for uni essays.

CHAPTER 3: Moving on

Benoit moved through the hallways in the direction of the locker room, really not wanting to talk to anyone. He was sore and quite frankly he was still very annoyed at himself for blowing his opportunity last night. He was only moments away from winning, but Jericho had taken it away from him, tipping him off the ladder. He wasn't angry with Jericho, hell he would have done exactly the same thing if the roles were reversed. He was mad at himself, he had allowed himself to relax for just a moment and it had cost him the match. As he was nearly at his locker room he looked at the board to check the matches that had been made for tonight. When he saw his opponent for the night he grimaced, he was hoping that Bischoff was going to give him the night off, no such luck. The Rabid Wolverine was going one on one with Edge, a man with a serious chip on his shoulder.

There was an air of excitement around the dressing room, there usually was when Triple H lost the title, as long as he wasn't around mind you. Batista had been pretty quiet, Benoit guessed he was trying not to flaunt the belt around, he had a similar mentality 12 months ago.

Benoit managed to make it to safety of the dressing room without having to go to the trouble of speaking to anyone. He sat there for a few moments in silence, going over things in his head. He was startled from his daydream when the door crashed open and Shelton Benjamin came storming in, throwing his bag at his locker from the other side of the room. "Can you believe that guy?" asked Shelton, not really directed at Benoit.

"Can I believe what guy?" replied Benoit, not even looking in the direction of Shelton.

"Jericho, he has the nerve to try and tell me that there should be no hard feelings over last night." Shelton then moved over towards Chris and almost stood over him, looking him directly in the eye, "he cost me a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship."

"He cost me a shot as well," replied Benoit, standing up as he did so, "you don't see me storming around the locker room like a spoilt three-year-old do you? So he won the match, so he cost us a shot at the world title, that was the aim of the match. If you don't develop a thicker skin, you're going to be holding a hell of a lot of grudges around here, you need to calm down."

Shelton then pushed Benoit firmly in the chest, "I should have known you would take his side, all you old guys stick together."

"Maybe the reason we stick together is because we've all paid our dues, we've got each others respect over the last ten years," Benoit then pushed Shelton back, "and if you touch me again, your going to have a serious problem on your hands."

Shelton glared at Benoit, nostrils flaring, eyes almost spinning in his head, then he slowly moved out of the room, deciding it was better to live to fight another day. Benoit considered following him out into the hall, but bowed to his better judgement, he was to sore to get into an unnecessary fight tonight, Edge was going to be enough of a challenge.

The battle with Edge was brutal, as Benoit was expecting. The two of them were already sore enough as it was, but neither of them were going to give the other one an inch, there was too much pride at stake. After about fifteen minutes of back and forth action, Benoit managed to string three back to back suplexes together, which nearly took as much out of himself than it did Edge. Again, Benoit's instinct took over, he looked at the crowd and signalled that the end was near, they all roared in approval.

Even though Benoit's body was aching, he managed to drag himself to the top rope and set himself up for the head butt. However, before he had a chance to launch himself off the turnbuckle, he was pushed off and sent flying to the ground, as he fell he caught a glimpse of Edge, still lying prone on the canvas. Benoit hit the floor with a huge thud, he rolled over and looked up to see Shelton Benjamin standing over him, "Who's causing the problems now Chris!" screamed Shelton, "I am the greatest athlete in this company and I'll take you anytime anywhere."

Shelton then disappeared from sight, heading in the direction of the Lillian and the timekeeper. Benoit knew what was coming, so he managed to make it to his hands and knees and tried to move in the direction of the ramp, but he felt the stinging blow of a chair across his back. The crowd was going nuts at Shelton, then the reaction turned into a huge cheer. Benoit heard the chair hit the ground and Shelton took off through the safety of the crowd. Just then Benoit saw Jericho standing over him, "You need a hand getting up man?" he asked, Benoit only grimaced.

Benoit had taken one hell of a beating over the last two nights and the medical staff was explaining that to Bischoff backstage. He wasn't happy, but after the doctor explained all the possible legal ramifications if he forced Benoit to wrestle next week, he had to give him the next week off.