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LENS: A Look Back At Brent Albright

Posted: Sep 27th 2011 By: CMBurnham

This Lens is dedicated to the professional wrestler known in WWE as Gunner Scott. In Oklahoma, he wrestled as Vinnie Valentino for Oklahoma Championship Wrestling, Oklahoma Pro Wrestling and several other independents throughout the region. His real name is Brent Albright and pound-for-pound this guy was/is unreal.

In 2004, Brent Albright got the call to join WWE's developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling. Upon his arrival, he was paired up in a tag-team with Chris Masters and quickly won the OVW Southern Tag Team Titles on two occasions.

As a singles competitor, he is the first OVW Triple Crown winner, having won the OVW Heavyweight Title, OVW Television Title.

He had epic feuds with C.M. Punk and Kenny Doane before being called up to WWE as Gunner Scott.

Fantastic Wrestler Elevated At The Wrong Time

The original plan was for Gunner Scott to be the protege of Chris Benoit. There had been talks of a year long storyline, culminating at Wrestlemania 27. After debuting with a win over King Booker on Smackdown, everything was set into motion. Unfortunately, Chris Benoit got injured and went off the road, which left Gunner in limbo.

Little did anyone know that Chris was not mentally well and did what he did. Trained in a wide variety of wrestling skills, "The Shooter" Brent Albright was the top guy in OVW. Because of the circumstances and lack of creative vision, after just a few weeks, Gunner Scott was cut and faded away. Ring Of Honor gave Brent the call and he began to work several shows for them and having more than a few memorable matches.

It's a sobering reminder to all independent wrestlers that even if you have the total package, you have the tan, you have the look, you have a great gimmick and tell a great story.............you still have to be in the right place, at the right time and know the right people. How many other guys are in the independent territories like Brent Albright, that never get a shot or an opportunity to shine on a large stage?

Independent wrestling is a mixed bag and the quality depends on which part of the country you live in. The East Coast has a ton of really innovative wrestlers that are honing their craft and is considered to be the best place to get noticed and land new opportunities.