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Brent Albright

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Brent Albright
Born(1978-11-28)November 28, 1978(age 45)[1]
Tulsa, Oklahoma,U.S.[1]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Brent Albright
Gunner Scott
Slater Vain
Smoke
Vance Vain
Vinnie Valentino
Wayne Gator
Billed height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[2]
Billed weight230 lb (100 kg)
Billed fromTulsa, Oklahoma
Trained byOklahoma Pro Wrestling
Rocco Valentino
DebutOctober 10, 1998[1][2]
RetiredDecember 17, 2011

Brent Albright(born November 28, 1978) is an American retiredprofessional wrestler,perhaps best known for his time withWorld Wrestling Entertainment,during which he appeared onSmackDown!asGunner Scott.Aside from WWE, Albright is a one-timeNWA World Heavyweight Champion,having won the title while performing forRing of Honor.

Professional wrestling career[edit]

All Pro Wrestling (1998–2003)[edit]

Albright made his professional wrestling debut forAll Pro Wrestling(APW) on October 10, 1998, as Vinnie Valentino, in a losing effort against Vinny Massaro.[3]He would gain his first win came in his second match in January 1999 when he, Chris Ward, and Tony Jones defeated Jason C. Clay, Nathaniel Sweete, and Rick Turner.[3]Albright continued to wrestler for APW throughout his early years.

World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment (2001-2006)[edit]

Early appearances (2001–2004)[edit]

Albright wrestled several times for theWorld Wrestling Federationin 2001 and 2002, where he lost to cruiserweights such asEssa Rios.[3]Later in 2003, he wrestled under the name Slater Vain for some of WWE's (formerly WWF) tertiary shows. He also teamed withChris Cagein a tag match on the August 9, 2004 episode ofWWE Rawagainst the team ofRhynoandTajiri.[3]

Ohio Valley Wrestling (2004–2006)[edit]

Albright signed a development contract in early 2004 and was sent toOhio Valley Wrestling(OVW). During his time with OVW, Albright was bothOVW Heavyweight ChampionandOVW Television Champion,as well as co-holder of theOVW Southern Tag Team Championshipwith WWE wrestlerChris Masters.Albright was the first 'Triple Crown' winner in OVW, winning all 3 major titles.

Albright was the first OVW 'Beat the Champ' TV champion, which is now simply called the OVW TV title. He defeated Seth Skyfire on January 26, 2005, to win the title. He held that title until April 30, 2005, when he won his first OVW Heavyweight Championship by defeating Matt Morgan with the Crowbar. Albright vacated the TV title shortly after winning the OVW title. He was also the first person to hold two titles simultaneously in OVW. He held the OVW championship until August 3, when he lost toJohnny Jeter.

Shortly after losing the OVW title, Albright began a feud withKen Doaneover the OVW TV title in a feud that started over Doane accusing Albright of disrespecting the belt. In October 2005, in the midst of thefeudwith Doane, Albright also began feuding withCM Punkwhen Punk refused to shake Albright's hand after he had pinned him in a match. Punk would assault Albright prior to a TV title match against Doane and take his place, winning the belt when Albright accidentally hit the champion with a chair. He became a frequent challenger to Punk's TV gold, ultimately falling each week when Punk would find a way to weasel out the victory, be it a time-limit or an injury. In December 2005, Albright, Ken Doane and CM Punk competed in the first ever Triple Threat match in Ohio Valley Wrestling for the TV Title. Punk won the match when he made Albright submit to the Anaconda Vice while Albright also had Doane in a Sharpshooter. On January 4, 2006, Albright was in a rematch with Doane and Punk for the title. Doane was forced to leave the match early due to injury and was replaced byAaron Stevens.Albright seemingly gained his revenge on Punk, eliminating him from the match with the crowbar, only to have Punk return and attack him, leading to Stevens winning the championship.

On the January 11, 2006, OVW show, Albright won a chance for a match against Stevens for the TV Title at an upcoming WWEhouse showinLouisville, Kentuckyby actually teaming up with CM Punk in a match against Paul Burchill and Ken Doane. Punk and Albright won the match when Punk made Burchill submit to the Anaconda Vice, but Albright went on to lose the rematch against Stevens. The feud between Punk and Albright took a new turn when the two began teaming together weekly, competing with each other in a game of oneupmanship. Punk challenged Albright to see who could make their opponent submit the quickest in a match withThe Highlanders.Albright made Rory submit in less than a minute, only to be attacked by Punk and choked out with the Anaconda Vice. Afterwards, just like many times before, Punk would tell Albright that he had been 'Punk'd'. After saving Punk from a 5 on 1 attack by theSpirit Squad,Albright told Punk that they would never be able to settle their differences as long as the Spirit Squad was around. The next week, Punk and Albright teamed up to take on all 5 members of the Spirit Squad in a match that saw Albright set-up Punk. Albright turned on Punk, giving the impression that being 'Punk'd' for months had finally gotten into his head to the point to where he was obsessed with returning the favor on Punk. Albright introduced a new element to their feud upon his heel turn: his grandfather's thick leather strap, which Albright used to continually whip Punk.

On the March 1, 2006 OVW show, CM Punk and Albright met in the finals of a tournament to crown a new OVW Heavyweight Champion (vacated byMatt Cappotelli). Punk suffered a knee injury in the match, and consequently had to be carried out on a stretcher, only to be attacked and whipped by Albright with the strap. Albright dragged Punk back to the ring, and after surviving a comeback by Punk, managed to lock in the STF. Though Punk did not submit, Albright managed to hold the lock in so that Punk would pass out, giving Brent the victory and making him a two-time OVW Heavyweight Champion. The next week, Albright vowed that Punk would never get a title shot at the OVW title unless he shook Albright's hand. A defeated Punk came out, but instead of shaking Albright's hand he hand-cuffed him to the top rope and viciously strapped him with Albright's own leather strap. This led to astrap matchbetween the two on the May 3, 2006 OVW show, where Albright lost the title to Punk.

SmackDown! (2006)[edit]

Albright made his WWE debut on the April 7, 2006, episode ofSmackDown!,under the ring name Gunner Scott. In his first match, he managed to defeatBooker T(due toThe Boogeyman's music being played and distracting Booker T). Later during the show,Chris Benoitmet him backstage and praised him on his winning debut. On the May 19 episode ofSmackDown!,Scott teamed up with Benoit for the first time to take on Booker T andFinlay.Scott won the match, pinning Booker T once again with another distraction in the form ofBobby Lashley.On the June 16 episode ofSmackDown!,Scott teamed up withMatt Hardyto take on Finlay andWilliam Regalin a losing effort.

On June 28, 2006, Albright was sent back down to OVW. His last appearance on the main roster was on the June 30 episode ofSmackDown!,in which he faced off againstMr. Kennedyin a losing effort. After the match he was destroyed byThe Great Khaliand thrown into a body bag. He continued to compete mostly onOVWhouse shows until he was eventually released from his WWE contract on October 12, 2006.

Pro Wrestling Noah (2003)[edit]

Albright touredPro Wrestling Noahin 2003, where his first win came when he teamed with2 Cold Scorpioto defeat Bull Schmitt andDonovan Morgan.[3]He participated in a junior heavyweight tag team tournament along with Donovan Morgan andMichael Modestwith the trio making the finals before losing toMakoto Hashi,Takashi Sugiura,andYoshinobu Kanemaru.[3]

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2003)[edit]

When he returned to the US, he lost toShark Boyat thirty fourthTotal Nonstop Action WrestlingXplosion.[3]

Ring of Honor (2006–2009)[edit]

Albright made his debut forRing of Honoron October 27, 2006, inDayton, Ohiowith a loss toChristopher Daniels.In his second outing he participated in a gauntlet match where he defeated both Trik Davis and Jason Blade, after which the crowd chanted "Please Come Back" and "Welcome Home". After competing in Ring of Honor for over a month to earn a roster spot, he finally did on November 26, 2006.

Shortly after earning a roster spot, he turned heel after attackingColt Cabanaon the orders ofLacey.He became known as "The Gun for Hire" Brent Albright, willing to take payments to inflict injury on an opponent. At theInternational Challenge,he received a payment fromBryan Danielsonto injureHomicide'sshouldershortly before theirROH World Championshipmatch atFinal Battle 2006.

He was, alongsideB. J. WhitmerandAdam Pearce,a member of ROH's Hangmen 3 stable. In April 2008 "Sweet N'Sour" Larry Sweeney bought all three men's contracts and merged them into Sweet N'Sour Inc. Whitmer balked and was booted from the group. On May 10, 2008, Albright quit the group himself following a Tag Team Scramble match where he and Chris Hero lost to Delirious and Pelle Primeau. He suplexed every member of the group minus Sweeney who escaped.

After not appearing in ROH for nearly six months, Albright returned to the company at the March 5 tapings ofRing of Honor Wrestling.[4]

National Wrestling Alliance (2007–2011)[edit]

Brent made the finals of theNWAReclaiming the Glory tournament to crown a newNWA World Heavyweight Champion.On September 1, 2007, he lost to "Scrap Iron" Adam Pearce in the tournament finale inBayamon, Puerto Ricoand began chasing Pearce for the title. On August 2, 2008, in New York City Albright defeated Adam Pearce to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, however Pearce quickly regained the belt on September 20 at theNew Alhambra Arenain Philadelphia.

Brent Albright also wrestled for NWA Showcase prior to retiring in 2011.

He also wrestled for Impact Zone Wrestling in Oklahoma from September 2011 to December 2011.

Championships and accomplishments[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^abcdefgh"Brent Albright".Online World of Wrestling.RetrievedNovember 30,2009.
  2. ^ab"Statistics for Professional wrestlers".PWI Presents: 2007 Wrestling Almanak and book of facts.Kappa Publications. p. 38. 2007 Edition.
  3. ^abcdefg"Matches « Brent Albright « Wrestlers Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database".Archived fromthe originalon February 27, 2014.
  4. ^Higham, Joshua (March 6, 2010)."Ring of Honor on HDNet spoilers from Philadelphia, PA: First TV champ crowned, ROH return and more".PWInsider.RetrievedMarch 6,2010.
  5. ^"OVW Title Histories – OVW Heavyweight Championship".Ohio Valley Wrestling.Archived fromthe originalon January 17, 2010.RetrievedJuly 5,2009.
  6. ^"OVW Title Histories – OVW Television Championship".Ohio Valley Wrestling.Archived fromthe originalon January 17, 2010.RetrievedJuly 5,2009.
  7. ^"OVW Title Histories – OVW Southern Tag Team Championship".Ohio Valley Wrestling.Archived fromthe originalon January 17, 2010.RetrievedJuly 5,2009.
  8. ^"PWI 500".Pro Wrestling Illustrated.August 2010.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Brent_Albright&oldid=1234296986"