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http://www.wwe.com/news/headlines/1253773

Benoit goes the distance 

by Anthony Cali

PHILADELPHIA -- Jan.25, 2004 -- Because Chris Benoit entered the Royal
Rumble Match as the first competitor, odds were against him winning
the 30-man over-the-top-rope contest. Through hard work, perseverance
and the right mindset, the Rabid Wolverine did the seemingly
impossible.

"It was very hard. Probably one of the hardest challenges I've ever
had in my career," Benoit said. "There were a lot of the SmackDown!
Superstars who I was familiar with. I knew their game and I knew what
to expect from them, but with many of the RAW Superstars, I've never
been in the ring with before, guys like Randy Orton and so forth. It
was very challenging."

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Competing against one Superstar for 60 minutes is tough enough, but
when there are nearly 30 top-caliber athletes trying to eliminate you,
it's a challenge unlike any other Benoit's ever endured.

"Every time I thought I was getting a second wind, I had someone else
on my back," Benoit said. "To be in there with 29 other Superstars
certainly isn't a walk in the park. I mean, I've been training for a
long time, and I always try to keep myself in tip-top condition. But
once I learned what I would have to do to win this, I've been focusing
and training really hard. There really is no way you can prepare for
this kind of a match because there are way too many intangibles. The
match is so unpredictable that the best you can do really is the best
you can do."

One of the things Benoit did to prepare himself for the grueling
encounter was to watch Shawn Michaels' stellar performance in the 1995
Royal Rumble. That year, the Heartbreak Kid became the first Superstar
to enter the Rumble first and come out victorious.

"Winning the Rumble tonight doesn't really give me a new perspective
(on Shawn Michaels '95 victory), because when he did that, I was
awestruck," Benoit said. "For someone to accomplish that feat is just
amazing. I did a lot of soul-searching this past week. I watched that
match over and over again, and I was just totally in awe of what he
accomplished. I realized that I had quite a mountain to climb, and
that I had a lot of odds against me. But like I said, I just had to
work as hard as I could to get there and stay positive and optimistic,
so that I would be able to fulfill my dream tonight."

By winning the Royal Rumble, Benoit now knows that he will be
headlining WrestleMania XX on March 14 at Madison Square Garden, on
what could shape up to be the biggest and best WrestleMania so far.

"I couldn't describe the feeling in words," admits Benoit. "It's
beyond description. I don't believe that anyone could ever accurately
tell you how they feel when something like this happens. It just
doesn't happen every day. This is once-in-a-lifetime event and a dream
come true. I could go on and on and on. I could even pull out a
thesaurus to come up with all kinds of words, but nothing could
accurately describe it. I wish that everyone out there could jump
inside of me for a second to feel what I'm feeling. There really are
no words to describe it."

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Winning the Royal Rumble is only the first step in Benoit's journey.
Despite his guaranteed title shot, he still has a long and winding
road ahead of him. His path to WrestleMania XX will surely be a trying
one, but if anyone knows about perseverance and hardship, it's Chris
Benoit.

"I've been wrestling 18 years now and this has been one of my dreams
since I was a kid, and now I've finally arrived at the opportunity,"
Benoit said. "Now the only thing that stands between me and the
fulfillment of my dream is myself. I've got to keep a positive
attitude and my drive to be the best until I get there."


--- Internet Rex 2.29