~Spotlight~
Albert
Real Name: Matthew Bloom
Birthdate: November 14, 1972
Height: 6' 7"
Weight: 380 pounds
From: Peabody, MA
Finishing move: The Baldo Bomb, The Worm
Current Character: "Hip Hop Hippo" Albert
Prior Characters: Prince Albert, Baldo
Career Highlights: Intercontinental Champion (WWF), World Heavyweight Chamption (Power Pro Wrestling)
Photo obtained from wwf.com
Matthew Bloom graduated from the WWF training camp and entered PPW as Baldo in 1997.  Two years later, Prince Albert debut in the WWF as Darren "Puke" Drozdov's personal tattoo artist and body piercist.  Albert followed Droz around for a couple weeks, piercing Droz's opponents after the match.  At one point he was going to pierce one of the Godfather's hoes, when Val Venis stepped in.  But Val paid for his valiant save and got a toungue stud for his troubles!  (Yes, Val Venis has been castrated twice, pierced, and brainwashed, but the WWF has forgotten all of this)  Prince Albert made his in ring debut fighting to a No Contest with Val Venis on Monday Night Raw on June 21, 1999.    Prince Albert and Droz teamed up for a while, until the unfortunate accident that left Droz paralyzed.

Prince Albert floundered in the singles division until April of 2000 when he got some Stratus-faction.  Trish Stratus debuted in the WWF and paired up Albert with Test to form T&A.  T&A really really sucked.  They were bad.  So instead of floundering in the singles division, Albert went back to floundering in the tag team division.  T&A had some good moments, such as creating the TATAAPA (Trish And Test And Albert Protection Agency), but overall, the duo had no chemistry.  Val Venis forgot about the toungue stud, I guess.  Val Venis joined T&A.  Val Venis left T&A.  There was little more than that.  Test left Albert and Trish and Trish managed Albert for a few weeks before they split as well.

For a while, Albert floundered again in singles competition, but hit gold when he teamed with X-Pac and Justin Credible to form X-Factor.  Albert was finally being pushed the way he should've been and won the WWF Intercontinental Championship and had a substantial reign over superstars like Edge, Big Show, and Test.  When the WCW/ECW Alliance invaded the WWF, Justin Credible joined the Alliance.  Shortly after, X-Pac suffered a neck injury and that left Albert by himself again.  In a bizarre matching, Albert was paired with (just returned) Scotty 2 Hotty.  Scotty got the big Albert to cut loose with dancing, partying and general partying.  And so, the Hip Hop Hippo was born.  And where as the old Albert was mean and grim and serious, the new Albert will pants Stacy Keibler for a laugh, even if it costs him the tag titles!  And you haven't lived until you've seen 400 pounds of Worm action.  Albert has come a long way, and with IICool sponsership, we might use the term "Triple H" to one day refer to the "Hip Hop Hippo."

submitted by Adam Simon
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