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Valentino Declares War to Prove that Albright Isn't Better

Posted: Mar 7th 2007 By: CMBurnham

March 3, 2007 may come to be known as the Night the Line was Crossed in NWA-U. On this night, Oklahoma Triple Crown Champion Rocco Valentino turned his back completely on his cousin Brent Albright and took 3 years of frustration and jealousy out on the former WWE Superstar all because Rocco felt like he had been overshadowed.

Hate, Inc. had promised that Albright would sign a contract joining them and when Christopher Fox and Slam Shady joined Rocco in the ring with the papework, they were all smiles. Confidence overflowed from the threesome as they called Brent Albright out to make his decision. In FACT, Fox was so confident in Albright's choice, that he said Rocco could go back to the locker room with Slam Shady and let Brent & Fox iron out the details themselves. For a brief moment, it looked like Brent would sign in the dotted line and join Hate, but just as he had Chris Fox excited about a new acquisition, he grabbed the NWA-U CEO's arm put him in the Fujiwara armbar, forcing Fox to tap out just like he had made Valentino tap out twice in November and December. Albright then announced that he was his own man and only worked for himself and that he was coming for what Rocco loved most, the NWA Universal Title.

Needless to say, Valentino was outraged by his cousin's action and he demanded a tag team match, telling Valentino to find a partner. When Hate returned to the ring, Chris Fox had his arm in a sling and Valentino was seeing red as he waited for Albright to come out and reveal his partner. That partner turned out to be NWA Universal X Division Champion Justin Lee, who had teamed with Albright in December, losing to Hate, Inc. members Slam Shady & Mason Hunter. Justin was looking for a little retaliation and Albright wanted to see if he could make Rocco tap out in a sanctioned match, so fans settled in to see a major battle.

Things seemed to continue to soar out of control for Rocco as the match went on. Slam Shady was rather distracted by the response of the crowd, which has been turning more and more in his favour when he's in the ring. Shady was bounced pillar to post by both Albright and Lee during the match. At one, point, Valentino tagged in and Albright was legal for his side, so it looked like the fans might finally see these 2 lock up for the first time since 1999. But Rocco refused to go man-to-man with Brent and tagged right back out to an exhausted Shady. This lack of cooperation on the part of Valentino, combined with the injury to Chris Fox and the distraction of Slam Shady resulted in Justin & Brent scoring the win when Shady got pinned. But that was only the beginning of the story.

Prior to the end of the match, Chris Fox had distracted the referee and Rocco handcuffed Albright to the top rope in his corner. Now, with Albright unable to fight back, Rocco was completely unafraid to step in and face him. Rocco unleashed the pent-up fury that had been seething under the surface ever since Brent had left Oklahoma in 2003, repeatedly saying that Brent was not better than him, as he laid kick after kick into Albright's stomach. Rocco said Albright wasn't worthy of the Valentino name, should never have left him to go to the WWE and would never beat him for the NWA Universal title. After leaving Brent a pummeled mass and putting in a few kicks on Justin for emphasis, he grabbed his belt, told the fans who were screaming "You Suck!" that the belt makes him better than them and they are the ones who suck, and left the ringside area as additional referees finally arrived with a key to unlock Brent and tend to his injuries.

Albright suffered no permanent injuries, but sources close to him reveal that he is irate at the treatment he received. He's demanded a one-on-one encounter with Rocco for the NWA Universal Title and is willing to do whatever it takes to get that match signed. Rocco seems confident that he has dealt his cousin the most severe blow in his career since defeating him in a Loser-Leaves-OPW match in 1999, but neither he nor Hate, Inc. have made any official response to Albright's challenge. Is Brent prepared to gain a victory over the Oklahoma Legend, something he's never accomplished before? Or will "The Shooter" become another mark on the Valentino legacy?