Interview With: Brent Albright Interview By: Andy Steven
Date: July 16, 2007
Brent Albright is currently working for Ring of Honor. He is best known
for his appearances on WWE Friday Night SmackDown! as Gunner Scott. Brent
Albright recently took some time out to speak with www.PWMania.com.
He speaks on his career, the effect of drugs in wrestling, and much more.
It’s a great interview and can be read below:
Andy
Steven: Firstly I would like to thank you for taking time out of your
busy schedule to take part in this interview for www.PWMania.com.
Brent Albright: No problem, I’m always happy to speak to the media.
Thanks for inviting me to speak.
Andy Steven: Before you were released by World Wrestling
Entertainment, online reports suggested that WWE were planning to
‘repackage’ you and being you back to the main roster. What happened with
that situation and what was the reason behind your release from the
company?
Brent Albright: You know, I’m still not 100% sure what happened
there. Chris & I came up with the idea for the storyline together one
night after dinner – me, my wife, and a few friends had taken him out for
his birthday, I think. Anyway, he was really wanting to do something with
me and we brainstormed, came up with the idea, we both loved it, and he
told me to send it directly to Stephanie and to mark that it had his
approval. Obviously that gimmick was cut short when Benoit went home out
of the blue for a few months midstream. I think we were only about 3 or 4
weeks into the introduction of what was explained to me as a year long
storyline with the two of us that would culminate at Wrestlemania in 2007.
Once that storyline fell apart, I just don’t think they had any direction
or plans for me. They were focused on Khali’s push, Kennedy’s return, etc.
– they thought they had me in a long term storyline and just couldn’t have
anticipated that it would fall apart like it did. I wasn’t all that
shocked to get sent back to OVW, although it was obviously really
disappointing. I got mixed messages from the office over the next month or
so – at first it was “change your look, Gunner Scott is dead, come up with
something new” and then it was “why are you calling yourself Brent
Albright? Your name is Gunner Scott!” So, yeah it was pretty confusing
regarding what they actually wanted from me. The whole time though, they
told me I’d be back on the road by early Fall. The last show I worked at
OVW, they set up my “change.” When I returned (I think I was “MIA” for a
week for the storyline) I was going to debut the new gimmick. I’d cut my
hair, got new gear, shaved, etc. Unfortunately, I was cut right before the
planned debut. I heard through the grapevine that they thought I didn’t
change my gimmick fast enough and the usual “creative has nothing.” Of
course, I wasn’t in control of how fast I changed my gimmick. The bookers
at OVW obviously had to write it into the storyline in a way that made
sense – I’d worked in front of that crowd for almost 3 years with the
former gimmick. It really never crossed my mind that I wouldn’t get a
second run in WWE. I started getting bad vibes the week before my release
though, so it wasn’t quite as shocking. I knew Heyman had pitched several
ideas to bring me into ECW and all had either been turned down or given to
other workers. It was unfortunate, but I wouldn’t totally discount a
return to WWE at some date in the future. You just never know in this
business.
Andy
Steven: What is your opinion on the internet wrestling media?
Brent Albright: Internet wrestling media is no different than any
other type of media – some are good & responsible, others not so much. I
haven’t personally had a bad experience with any of them. I think it is
the Internet that has really shaped the changes in the business over the
past ten years – whether those changes are good or bad is another debate
though.
Andy Steven: You won the OVW Heavyweight Champion and OVW
Television Champion, as well as co-holder of the OVW Southern Tag-Team
Championship with current WWE SmackDown wrestler Chris Masters before you
joined the WWE roster. Tell us a bit about your time in OVW, did you enjoy
it and how different was it from WWE?
Brent Albright: Oh yeah, OVW was great. I still miss it. I looked
forward to work everyday. I learned so much while I was there. Cornette &
Heyman both really believed in me, so I was always in a good position &
was always pushed well. Those three years were really some of my best
memories. There are a lot of differences between OVW and WWE just by
definition, but the biggest change was obviously that at OVW I was the
“big fish” and in WWE I’m not sure I was even a guppy.
Andy Steven: You made your WWE SmackDown! debut on April 7, 2006
feuding with Booker T as Gunner Scott. How did you find your WWE debut and
were you happy with your gimmick or was something else suggested which
wasn’t used?
Brent Albright: Well, as I mentioned, Chris & I came up with the
storyline, so I was definitely excited about the direction we were moving.
I’d really looked up to Chris for a number of years & figured it was an
honor to be introduced as his protégé. It was basically going to be the
Tommy “the machine” Gunn/Rocky storyline, so I’d be working both alongside
and eventually in a feud against one of the greatest wrestlers in the
business. Doesn’t get much better than that. Obviously getting to not only
debut against, but score a victory against someone like Booker T was just
awesome. Booker is a great guy, can’t say enough good things about him.
Really went out of his way to help me out. He even invited me down to
Houston to work out with him on our days off. I wasn’t thrilled with my
name. I’d hoped for Brent Albright, but that was denied right off the bat.
I turned in about 10 or 15 names and one was Scott Gunner. I’d been known
as the Shooter in OVW (given to me by Cornette), so I thought it would be
nice to kind of reference that in my WWE name. WWE flipped it around to
Gunner Scott. I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it as much as a lot of
people apparently did.
Andy Steven: You worked with several great talents such as Mr.
Kennedy, Bobby Lashley, William Regal, Finlay, King Booker, The Great
Khali and others during your time in WWE. Who did you most enjoy working
with and was anyone difficult to work with for whatever reason?
Brent Albright: I was definitely lucky to be put with so many
talented people during my short lived run. I don’t know that I really had
a favorite match during that time though. Ken was great to work with
because we’d been friends outside the ring for a while & knew each other
well. Regal & Finley have been around the business for quite a while &
have such an incredible knowledge of ring psychology. Booker is obviously
hugely talented and the crowd is always so into his stuff that it makes
for a lot of energy.
Andy Steven: What is your opinion on drugs in wrestling?
Brent Albright: The business today is very different from the “rock
and roll” lifestyle that surrounded the business several years back. Do
people use or abuse drugs in wrestling? Sure there are some. But that is
no different than in any profession. I believe that WWE is doing
everything it can to police the situation, even though legally they don’t
have to. I think I was tested about four times (one baseline & three or so
random) over the course of about a year & passed with flying colors every
time. They test for everything under the sun – steroids, pain pills,
cocaine, whatever. Their tests are so sensitive actually that one guy I
knew failed a test due to an over the counter supplement he bought at GNC
– it elevated his testosterone count too high. Nevertheless, he was
suspended without pay – period. They use a third party company to do the
tests – the same one used by the NFL. I really don’t know what else could
be expected of them. Besides I think it is a little crazy to blame WWE for
poor decisions made by individuals. But that is just my opinion.
Andy Steven: You worked with Jim Cornette and Paul Heyman during
your time at Ohio Valley Wrestling. How was it working with these two
great minded wrestling individuals?
Brent Albright: Cornette & Heyman are obviously very different when
it comes to their booking. That doesn’t mean either one is “right” or
“wrong” of course. I learned so much from both these men and have so many
great memories from working with them. I still speak to them from time to
time. I certainly hope to work with them again – I actually got to work
with Cornette again briefly at Ring of Honor. I owe them a lot for the
faith they had in me and for really helping me advance and shine during my
time at OVW.
Andy
Steven: Since your release from WWE, you have been making several
appearances for several Indy promotions as well as Ring of Honor. How are
you finding your time in Ring of Honor and would you consider TNA?
Brent Albright: Ring of Honor is just awesome. I love everything
about it. The style, the fans, the talent – just unbelievable. I was
actually on the phone with Gabe before the reports of my release started
hitting the internet and was booked within about an hour of being let go
by WWE. That certainly took the sting off. I’d never worked with ROH
before my time at WWE (not for lack of trying on my part!). I knew a few
of the guys from other places I’d worked and through Punk, so from day one
it felt right. I signed with ROH a couple months ago – didn’t think twice.
With the recent expansion to PPV, things are just really exciting right
now. We’re on TVN (Insight, Verizon, Mediacom, AT&T, etc), DISH network,
and InDemand. TVN & DISH are already running the PPV and InDemand starts
July 20th. Naturally, I live in an area with InDemand, so I still haven’t
gotten to see it. I promised my wife I’d wait to watch it with her – I am
really anxious to see how my promo came together in post production. I
also have a shot at the ROH belt versus Morishima in August which should
be awesome. Fans can go to ROHwrestling.com for more details on
everything. I’ve spoken briefly to TNA, both before my time in WWE &
after. I’m just not sure if that is a good fit for me, plus they’ve got
too many talented guys who aren’t being used already for me to get excited
about joining the mix. Maybe once they get a two hour show. Honestly,
right now I’m quite happy in Ring of Honor and am not interested in moving
to TNA in the least.
Andy Steven: I would like to thank you very much once again for
taking this time to take part in this interview for www.PWMania.com,
I wish you the best of luck in the future, do you have any messages to say
to your fans and what is next for Brent Albright?
Brent Albright: Thanks so much for allowing me to continue to live
my dream. Without the support of the fans, I’d still be delivering water
for a living back in Oklahoma. Also, feel free to shoot me a message
anytime – I’ve got a myspace account where I try to keep in touch with
everyone & I also negotiate indy bookings through it --
http://myspace.com/brentalbright. I’ve got several shows coming up
soon & I always keep my calendar on there up to date – I’ll be in
Pittsburgh with IWC July 21st, and in Deer Park NY the 27th with ROH, then
in Edison NJ the 28th with ROH. I’m also moving right along in the NWA
Heavyweight Championship tournament and hope to be added to the long &
distinguished line of champs very soon. Thanks again, of course, to
PWMania.com for giving me chance to speak.
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Andy
Steven: Firstly I would like to thank you for taking time out of your
busy schedule to take part in this interview for
Andy
Steven: What is your opinion on the internet wrestling media? 
Andy
Steven: Since your release from WWE, you have been making several
appearances for several Indy promotions as well as Ring of Honor. How are
you finding your time in Ring of Honor and would you consider TNA? 
