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Albright Determined To Bring Prestige Back To Oklahoma Title

Posted: Jun 25th 2008 By: CMBurnham

With all his Ring of Honor committments as well as his pursuit of the NWA World Title, Brent Albright can be forgiven for not making appearances in Oklahoma as much as many fans might like. So it was a welcome chance to see him times over the past month and he walked away with a new title for his accomplishments and a win over a TNA star which only adds to the status of "The Shooter".

On May 31 in Enid, Brent received a shot at the NWA World Title against former Hangmen 3 stablemate Adam Pearce. While Oklafan did not have a representative there, reports are that the match did not last long and Pearce took the quick and easy way out, having his manager, C. Edward Van Der Pyle, interfere and cost Brent the match by DQ. Albright and Pearce are slated to meet up in Ring of Honor again sometime soon and hopefully, another World Title shot is in order.

That NWA World Title shot is now even more deserved as Brent (as NWA-OK Universal Champion) defeated NWA-OK Oklahoma Champion Slam Shady in a Title unification match. Shady's title reign had produced quite a bit of controversy back in the closing days of NWA-U when it appeared that he had lost the title to Chaz Taylor at a show in Texas, but after Oklafan broke that news, NWA-U authourities completely investigated the matter and overturned the match because NWA-U had not been contacted about the title defence. The title had been inactive since that point, but Slam felt he was prepared when the title vs. title match was announced. It was hardhitting as expected as both men specialise in power moves, but the addition of Albright's technical prowess gave him the added edge. And perhaps the mind games of Charming Charles prior to the match got Shady off his game a little. What's certain is that Albright left Tahlequah on June 13 as the new NWA-OK Oklahoma Champion.

And living up to his reputation as a fighting champion, he put the title on the line the next night in Tahlequah against Justin Lee. Justin held the TPW Oklahoma Title and was a 2-time NWA-U X Division Champion, so his qualification to meet Albright was inarguable. Interestingly, Justin had been trained by Albright in 2000, but had not been across the ring from The Shooter for over 5 years. That match was January 11, 2003 in OCW and it was a Fatal 4-Way also involving The Outcast and Butch Dalton. No winner was declared in the match, but Justin lost part of his toungue due to a kick from Brent. So Justin was understandably nervous about his opportunity. And when the bell rang, Brent was all business, using his size and experience advantage to negate the speed and high-flying tactics of the Broken Arrow Bad Boy. Knowing that Justin had suffered some severe head injuries in 2003, Brent targeted the head and neck and during the match, viciously ramming Justin into the steel step, then finshing the match with a series of repeated knees to the head until the referee stopped things before Justin could be put out of action. While these actions might seem over the top against someone that Brent calls a friend, his title and reputation were at stake in the match and he was willing to do whatever was necessary to come out victorious.

One week later, at Cain's Ballroom in Tulsa, Brent returned to face his stiffest challenge as champion: TNA superstar Lance Hoyt. What he wasn't expecting was to once again have to deal with family issues. But at the same event, Brent's cousin Rocco Valentino came out of retirement for one night only to face Slam Shady. And, since Brent was the one to retire him, Rocco felt obligated to stick his nose where it didn't belong.

Rocco came out as soon as the 10-bell salute for the victims of the Picher disaster was done to confront Albright. It appeared that everything was going to be fine between the pair, but Valentino kept Albright's attention while Lance Hoyt snuck up behind and kayoed him. The pair put a beat down on Albright much to the chagrin of the hometown crowd. And this only added fuel to the main event later that evening.

Albright got the chance to return some of the favour after Hoyt made his way to the ring and was addressing the crowd prior to his match. Albright came running down the ramp and the battle was on. Both men used power moves, strength moves and took the action inside and outside the ring. While the title was important, both men also had a lot of pride on the line. And while Albright controlled the action at the beginning, Hoyt found his spot after executing a back body drop that propelled the champion almost 9 feet in the air before landing him in the middle of the ring with a resounding thud. It took Albright quite a while to recover from that and then a mistake in timing knocked referee Mike Two unconscious and Rocco Valentino again made his presence known. Earlier, prior to his match against Slam Shady, Valentino had been preceded to the ring by a group of friends who he christened the "Hawaiian Shirt Mafia". These same wrestlers were now sent to the ring one by one to attack Albright while the referee was down and ensure that he lost that Oklahoma title. But Albright sent every one of them over the top rope and to the floor while Valentino could only look on in anger. His plan had completely failed and Albright was not weakened, but seemed stronger after the interference. A short rally by Hoyt after the recovery of Mike Two gained a two count from the challenger, but his ego may have cost him as he pulled Albright up to deliver one more punishing blow. And that was all Brent needed to roll Hoyt up and collect a 3-count, retaining his NWA-OK Oklahoma Title.

With that red, blue and silver belt now in his possession, Albright seems determined to bring prestige and honour back to the NWA-OK Oklahoma Title. And hopefully, he can bring some more fresh challengers into the company. Brent's national reputation certainly gives a boost to the belt and it seems likely that he will be willing to put it up whenever and whereever an appropriate challenge is found.