Summary: The race for the World Heavyweight Championship is heating up and Chris Benoit is determined to put himself at the front of that race. Also featuring Chris Jericho, Shelton Benjamin, Triple H and a few more.
Disclaimer: Any characters, moves etc. that appear on WWE programming, remain the sole property of Vince McMahon and World Wrestling Entertainment.
Note: What was it I said before chapter five, "I'll try and update this story a little more regularly…" Yeah right! Things are different now I promise, I have now graduated from university, (small break while author does strange dance around the room) and I have all my weekends and weeknights to myself. Hopefully this will translate into more writing.
Also, I never expected to fall this far behind in my writing in relation to WWE shows. I have had the basic storyline planned out from the start so characters and PPVs may not be in line with what is or has happened.
Chapter 7"OK, we have a serious problem on our hands," said Jericho bursting through the dressing room door.
"Hey Chris, nice to see you, I'm fine how about you," Benoit stated, his reply laced with sarcasm.
"That's funny, but I'm begging you to not pick this moment to finally develop a sense of humour."
Benoit noticed the seriousness in Jericho's voice and decided he better listen, "What's going on?"
"Triple H has managed to get Benjamin and Haas a shot at the tag titles; this is like Déjà vu all over again. I mean, Benjamin already has the I-C title and if they win the tag belts then they hold all the gold. I know from experience that we can't get anywhere near Triple H as long as he has his goons holding all the gold."
"Well we need to stop them, I saw what happened last time and we can't afford to be chasing around Triple H and the belt for the next two years. We need to speak to Regal and Tajiri, they have the tag belts and hopefully they will listen to us."
"Regal, we need to talk," stated Jericho nearly running up the hall. Regal turned around and saw that is was Jericho and turned around and headed in the opposite direction. "I'm serious…"
"So am I you miserable little toerag," started up Regal, "you and I have no business with each other. Now get lost before I am forced to take matters into my own hands." With that, William Regal disappeared into his locker room.
"Well, if you relieved yourself in my cup of tea, I don't think I'd ever forgive you."
"What did I say about developing a sense of humour Chris? Besides, we're heading out there for that match, whether Regal wants us there or not."
Benoit and Jericho were standing in the hall watching the semi final between Christian and Rob Van Dam, when they saw Bischoff heading in their direction. "I just thought I'd let you two know that if anyone interferes in the tag title match tonight, then there will be severe repercussions."
"Are you serious? You're going to let Evolution walk all over you?" squealed Jericho.
"I mean everyone that goes for Triple H and Ric Flair as well. I won't have my show being turned into a free for all," Bischoff finished, before turning and walking away.
"That man cannot possibly be that stupid. Does he seriously think that banning everyone from ringside will stop evolution?" roared Jericho.
"Regardless of the level of intelligence of our GM, we can't afford to get suspended. You can't stop Evolution from your couch at home," replied Benoit, trying to calm Jericho down.
"Well, one thing is for sure and that is, I will be at ringside for your match tonight, we can't take any more chances."
"Agreed."
As they turned to walk away, Benoit and Jericho saw Christian grab to ropes to assist in a roll up for a three count. The winner of the Benoit versus Kane match-up would be facing Christian next week.
"The following contest is scheduled for one fall, making his way to the ring, being accompanied by Chris Jericho, from Atlanta, Georgia… Chris Benoit!" Benoit dived into the ring and Jericho took his position near the bottom of the ramp.
As Chris Benoit expected the battle was fierce. Kane came out all guns blazing and Benoit spent the first few minutes of the match on the defensive, taking everything that Kane could throw at him. Eventually the seven-foot monster started to tire a little and Benoit saw this as his chance. He scored with a couple of shots to Kane's knee and knocked the big man down. Once he had him on the canvas Benoit went straight to work on Kane's shoulder.
At the back of his mind, Benoit was half expecting to hear or see one of the members of Evolution come out at any moment. He had to shut that out of his mind though, he needed to have his full concentration on Kane.
At that moment, Kane went for a big boot but Benoit was able to duck underneath and as Kane turned back towards the wolverine, Benoit grabbed his arm and dragged him down to lock in the crossface. Kane was screaming in agony but couldn't shrug Benoit off. Kane tried to reach for the ropes but they were just out of reach. Slowly, Kane managed to drag Benoit and he got one hand on the bottom rope. The referee forced Benoit to break the hold and eventually Benoit let go. He slammed the mat in frustration; it was going to take more than just one submission move to beat Kane.
Benoit got to his feet, but Kane wasn't even halfway up. He was grabbing his right shoulder, which Benoit had been working on for most of the match. As Kane was in the process of getting up, he switched his focus from Benoit to the referee. He was complaining about the referee taking too long to get Benoit to break the hold. Benoit pounced; he knocked Kane back to the mat and went for the quick roll up. The referee was right on the scene and before Kane had time to react, Benoit had the three count. Benoit dived straight out of the ring and Jericho was still there waiting for him. Both men got out of the arena before any Evolution member appeared.
"Where the hell were they?" asked Jericho, as soon as the two men reached their locker room?
"I don't know, but I don't like it," replied Benoit.
"Surely they're going to try and stop you winning this tournament. They don't want to risk you getting one on one in the ring with Triple H."
"You don't think that Christian is with them do you? You know, they let him win the tournament next week and then he lies down for Hunter."
"If that's the case then we are in even more trouble than I first thought," was Jericho only reply before turning the television on and sitting down to watch the tag title match.
As much as both Benoit and Jericho hated to admit it, Haas and Benjamin were an excellent tag team. While they took some punishment from Regal early, they were eventually able to isolate Tajiri and their mat experience took over. After several minutes and even more tags, Tajiri was on the brink of being on the end of a three count. Regal had interrupted two counts, but he needed a tag.
Eventually out of sheer desperation, Tajiri connected with a roundhouse and sent Benjamin to the mat. The crowd roared as Tajiri slowly made his way to the corner. Then Haas jumped in the ring, but before he was able to cut Tajiri off, the referee grabbed him and ordered him out of the ring. Haas argued and the referee started counting to five.
As he did so, Tajiri made it to the corner and got the tag, much to the delight of the crowd. Regal raced in and dropped an elbow straight into the back of Benjamin. Benjamin staggered up and Regal hit him with the double arm suplex. Regal was straight back on Benjamin and applied the reverse chin lock.
Benjamin was screaming in pain and ready to tap out. Then the referee pulled Regal off and ordered him out of the ring. Regal pointed out that the tag had been made, but the referee hadn't seen it! Haas had the referee distracted. Just then, Haas jumped back in and speared Regal to the outside. Haas jumped back on Regal and continued to lay a fury of lefts and rights to a fallen Regal.
Back in the ring, Benjamin was back up and whipped Tajiri into the corner. He scored with the stinger splash and then the t-bone suplex. Benjamin hooked the leg and the referee counted, 1…2…3!
"Here are your winners…and NEW World Tag Team Champions, Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin… EVOLUTION!"