Gary Mitchell Albright was an American professional wrestler best known for his work in Japan, first with UWF International, and later All Japan Pro Wrestling.
45 Facts About Gary Albright
2.
Gary Albright was known for his work with Stampede Wrestling in Canada, under his birth name as well as the ring name Vokhan Singh.
3.
An accomplished amateur wrestler, Gary Albright translated this into his professional wrestling style, utilising many suplexes and throws throughout his career, earning the nickname "Master of Suplex".
4.
On January 7,2000, Gary Albright collapsed in-ring upon receiving a cutter from his opponent.
5.
Only minutes after being removed from the ring, Gary Albright was pronounced dead.
6.
Gary Albright was born in Rhode Island and started amateur wrestling while in High School.
7.
In 1981 Gary Albright placed 2nd in the state championships in Helena, Montana.
8.
In 1988 Gary Albright got his first break in wrestling when he signed on with Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling out of Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
9.
Gary Albright was brought to the Hart family's attention by Brian Pillman who knew of Gary Albright through a mutual acquaintance.
10.
Gary Albright started out as a face but it wasn't long until the promoters decided he would work better as a heel.
11.
Gary Albright's gimmick was changed to that of "Vokhan Singh", and was billed from Karachi, Pakistan.
12.
Gary Albright was teamed up with Makhan Singh to form Karachi Vice.
13.
Stampede closed by the end of 1989 at which point Gary Albright began looking elsewhere for employment.
14.
Thanks to Bruce Hart, Gary Albright managed to sign up with the recently created Union of Wrestling Forces International, known as UWF International or UWFi.
15.
Gary Albright made his debut with UWFi on August 24,1991, knocking out Yoji Anjoh in 7:29.
16.
Takada was UWFi's biggest Japanese star, the loss to Gary Albright helped cement him as a serious competitor in the UWFi.
17.
Gary Albright continued his winning ways in singles and tag matches through the summer of 1992 defeating such notable competitors as "Bad News" Brown.
18.
Gary Albright submitted to Takada's cross arm breaker, thus making Takada the first UWFi World champion.
19.
Gary Albright teamed up with Dan Severn in a loss to Salman Hashimikov and Vladimir Berkovich.
20.
Gary Albright began to get pushed again in 1994 as part of UWFi's "Best of the World" tournament.
21.
Gary Albright then defeated Yoji Anjoh in the second round to advance to a semifinal match with Nobuhiko Takada.
22.
On June 10,1994, in front of a sellout crowd at Nippon Budokan, Gary Albright lost by submission in 16:00 in the main event.
23.
Gary Albright defeated Kiyoshi Tamura on August 18,1994 to finish third in the tournament, the same night that Vader defeated Takada for the UWFi title.
24.
On October 8,1994, Gary Albright forced Vader to submit to the cross arm breaker in a main event tag team match, then on November 30,1994, Gary Albright forced Takada to submit to a cross arm breaker in the main event to earn a match with Vader in January.
25.
On May 17,1995, Gary Albright lost to Masahito Kakihara in the semi main event to build up Kakihara for a match with Takada.
26.
On June 18,1995 Gary Albright was supposed to put over Kiyoshi Tamura to build him into a main eventer.
27.
Gary Albright returned two months later, on August 18,1995 and submitted to Tamura in the main event without incident.
28.
Six days later UWFi announced a working agreement with New Japan Pro-Wrestling and Gary Albright left the promotion, signing with All Japan Pro Wrestling.
29.
On October 25,1995 Gary Albright lost to Toshiaki Kawada at Budokan Hall in a semi-main event singles match.
30.
Gary Albright teamed with Stan Hansen on the following tour and the pair finished third in the World's Strongest Tag Determination League.
31.
Gary Albright challenged Mitsuharu Misawa for the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship on March 2,1996 but Misawa's high flying style was too great to overcome.
32.
Misawa won by pinfall after his rolling elbow to retain the title in Gary Albright's only shot at the main AJPW title.
33.
Gary Albright teamed with Sabu in the 1996 World's Strongest Tag Determination League, finishing last with 6 points scoring only 3 wins in the tournament.
34.
Gary Albright's AJPW run would reach its pinnacle when he teamed with "Dr Death" Steve Williams and Lacrosse in early 1997, forming a stable called the "Triangle of Power".
35.
On that show Williams and Gary Albright defeated Masahito Kakihara and Yoshihiro Takayama.
36.
Gary Albright became the leader of the Triangle of Power after Williams left the promotion to join the WWF in June 1998, and Lacrosse dropped the character; their replacements were Yoshihiro Takayama and Masahito Kakihara, two former UWFI mid-carders who Williams and Gary Albright defeated at the pay-per-view the month prior.
37.
Gary Albright teamed with Giant Kimala in the 1998 World's Strongest Tag Determination League, winning only one match on TV.
38.
In 1999, Gary Albright became an upper midcarder participating in feuds against Bart Gunn, Johnny Ace, Stan Hansen and Big Van Vader, scoring some TV wins against them in tag-team matches.
39.
However, during the fall of 1999 Gary Albright started losing more matches on AJPW TV, most of his TV wins by that point defeating jobbers and lower-midcarders.
40.
Gary Albright teamed with Wolf Hawkfield to finish last in the 1999 Tag League, including a defeat to former charge Takayama and Takao Omori.
41.
Gary Albright won his final match in All Japan on the December 3,1999 pay-per-view, beating Masao Inoue in 8:35.
42.
Gary Albright made a single appearance with the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based promotion Extreme Championship Wrestling in December 1996, squashing Rick Rage at Holiday Hell.
43.
On January 7,2000, Gary Albright wrestled at a World Xtreme Wrestling show in Hazleton, Pennsylvania against Lucifer Grimm.
44.
Gary Albright was pronounced dead shortly after being removed from the ring.
45.
The medical examiners found that Gary Albright suffered from diabetes, had an enlarged heart, and blockage of several coronary arteries.