The Midnight Express
Encyclopedia
The Midnight Express is a professional wrestling
tag team
that has had various members and achieved most of its success in the 1980s.
(SECW) when Dennis Condrey
’s previous partner Don Carson retired. Condrey teamed up with Randy Rose
and won the NWA Southeast Tag Team Championship
shortly after they started teaming up. The team started a storyline feud with Norvell Austin
who was one of the regulars in SECW. Austin recruited various partners such as Paul Orndorff
, who were successful in briefly capturing the Southeast tag team gold. In an attempt to throw Rose and Condrey off Austin would adopt the masked persona of “The Shadow” and together with Brad Armstrong defeat the team for the titles on May 4, 1981, holding them until July 27, 1981 before losing the belts back to Condry and Rose. After the title loss Austin turned on Armstrong and joined up with Condrey and Rose to form a stable (group) known as The Midnight Express. In the book The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Tag Teams Condrey explains that the name did not stem from the movie Midnight Express
(although later versions of the Midnight Express would use the film’s theme by Giorgio Moroder
as their theme music) but from the fact that they all dressed in black, drove black cars, and were out partying past midnight. Together the three men would win the AWA Southern Tag Team title in the CWA and invoke a rule that’d later be referred to as the Freebird Rule which allowed any two of the three men to defend the titles on a given night so that their opponents never knew what combination to expect. The Midnight Express would lose the AWA Southern tag team title to Bobby Eaton
and Sweet Brown Sugar
before returning to SECW in the spring of 1982.
Upon their return to Southeastern Championship Wrestling the Midnight Express would quickly regain the Southeastern Tag Team title from Robert Fuller and Jimmy Golden on September 27, 1982. The Express then became involved in a feud with the Mongolian Stomper
and his storyline son “Mongolian Stomper Jr.” whom they would lose the Southeastern title to but ultimately regain as they sent Stomper and Stomper Jr. packing. After having dealt with the Stompers the Midnight Express’ next challengers came in the form of the odd duo of ”Dizzy” Ed Hogan
and local workhorse Ken Lucas. Hogan and Lucas won the tag team title in June only to see the Midnight Express use their 3 on 2 advantage to regain the titles. Despite holding the titles once more in July 1983 it was not long until the Midnight Express finally got the better of their challengers by reclaiming the titles for good by the end of July, 1983. The Midnight Express’ final feud in the SECW was with the local heroes Jimmy Golden and Robert Fuller who managed to drive the group out of SECW, at least in storyline terms. After dropping the Southeastern Tag Team titles to Brad and Scott Armstrong, Austin, Condrey and Rose went their separate ways.
was sent to Mid-South Wrestling under promoter Bill Watts
as a part of a talent trade it was decided that he should be part of the new version of the Midnight Express. Eaton teamed with former rival Dennis Condrey under the management of Jim Cornette
to form a new version of the Midnight Express. The Express had up until this point been a group of wrestlers, but once Eaton and Condrey joined together the Midnight Express worked exclusively as a two man team. To compliment “Loverboy" Dennis, Eaton was nicknamed “Beautiful" Bobby, a nickname he still uses. The Express was first booked in an angle (storyline) with the Mid-South Tag Team champions Magnum T.A.
and Mr. Wrestling II
. The highlight of the angle saw Eaton and Condrey tarring and feathering Magnum TA in the middle of the ring. The Express won their first tag team championship when Mr. Wrestling II turned on Magnum TA and attacked him during a match, allowing Eaton and Condrey to walk away with the titles without much opposition.
With Mr. Wrestling II and Magnum TA splitting up, the Midnight Express needed new a new team to defend their newly won titles against. This team was The Rock 'n' Roll Express (Ricky Morton
and Robert Gibson
), whom they started a long-running series of matches that would run well into the 1990s and span several wrestling promotions. The two Expresses had a series of matches which differed so much from the way tag team wrestling was traditionally presented at the time, that it gathered a lot of attention both locally and nationally. The two teams feuded throughout 1984 in Mid-South Wrestling before the Midnight Express left the promotion to work elsewhere. The Midnight Express versus Rock 'n' Roll Express series of matches was so well received by the fans that independent promoters all over the United States still book that match today, 20 years after the rivalry started.
The Midnight Express had a short say in World Class Championship Wrestling
in Texas
where they feuded mainly with The Fantastics (Bobby Fulton
and Tommy Rogers
). When opportunities in WCCW looked to go nowhere the Midnight Express started to look elsewhere for employment and what they found would give the team national and international exposure.
In 1985 Eaton, Condrey and Cornette signed with Jim Crockett Promotions
(JCP) and thus were exposed on a national level through JCP’s television shows that were broadcast on SuperStation TBS.
Shortly after joining JCP the Midnight Express reignited their feud with the Rock 'n' Roll Express from whom they won the NWA World Tag team titles in February 1986. Eaton and Condrey lost the titles back to the Rock 'n' Roll Express six months later. Besides feuding with the Rock 'n' Roll Express, Eaton and Condrey also had long-running feuds with The New Breed
(Chris Champions
and Sean Royal
) as well as The Road Warriors
(Animal
and Hawk
). The feud with the Road Warriors included a high profile Scaffold Match at Starrcade 1986 which the Midnight Express lost.
In the early parts of 1987 Dennis Condrey left JCP from one day to the next, and no reason has ever been given by Dennis Condrey with only speculations from those who were not directly involved. Regardless of the explanation, the problem was still that Bobby Eaton was without a partner. Enter a man from Eaton’s past, another former opponent turned tag team partner: “Sweet" Stan Lane. Lane and Eaton knew each other well from working against each other in the past and this showed as the new version of the Midnight Express gelled from the beginning. Tim Horner was having problems with his tag team partner, Brad Armstrong, and was actually considered to replace Dennis Condrey, but according to Horner, Stan Lane just happened to call the office at the right time. The facts are that J.J. Dillon approached Stan Lane in Florida telling him that Dusty wanted to talk to him. He was told to give Dusty a call so when Stan called Dusty he was given the details. At the time business was down in Florida so Stan Lane made the jump to Jim Crockett Promotions after meeting with Dusty and Bobby Eaton in Charlotte. In reality Steve Keirn, Lane's longtime partner in The Fabulous Ones had already quit wrestling since business was so dead in Florida.
for the first time, a title they would win three times during their time together. A year later the team was cheered on despite being heels as the Midnight Express won the NWA World Tag Team Titles from Arn Anderson
and Tully Blanchard
(See also: Brain Busters
) on September 10, 1988. The Midnight Express’ run with the titles only last a little over a month-and-a-half before the Road Warriors took the gold from them in a brutal match up that saw the Warriors turn heel and the Express turn face.
Now the fan favorites, the Midnight Express had to contend with a team thought to be disbanded forever: The Midnight Express, or “The Original Midnight Express” to be more correct as it consisted of Dennis Condrey and Randy Rose who had been teaming up before Condrey and Eaton became a team. The duo was led by longtime Jim Cornette nemesis Paul E. Dangerously
in a storyline that saw them trying to prove the originals were better than the new version. The surprise appearance of the Original Midnight Express gave Dangerously’s team the initial momentum in the feud, but soon after Dennis Condrey left the promotion once more before a "loser leaves town" match that would see the wrestler that took the losing fall getting fired. This forced the bookers to bring in Jack Victory
as a replacement as Condrey’s disappearance cut the promising feud short. Cornette contends in a "shoot" interview that backstage politics and animosity between the Original Midnights, promotion head Jim Crockett
, and head booker George Scott
is what led to the feud being cooled off and Condrey once again leaving the promotion. Rose ended up taking the pin in the resultant match and was legitimately fired from the promotion afterwards.
Due to various differences over the direction of the Midnight Express, Cornette, Lane and Eaton left JCP for a short while, around the time that Ted Turner
bought out Jim Crockett and began promoting the federation under the name World Championship Wrestling
(WCW). When the issues were resolved Cornette and the Midnight Express returned to the federation and a very strong tag team division. When they returned they took part in the tournament to determine the vacated world tag team titles where they advanced to the finals before losing to the Freebirds with some assistance from the Samoan Swat Team. They would engage in a feud with the Freebirds and Samoans until the 1989 Great American Bash where they teamed up with the Road Warriors and Dr. Death Steve Williams to defeat the Freebirds and Samoans in a War Games match. They would soon turn heel as a result of a feud with the Dynamic Dudes who they duped into thinking that Jim Cornette wanted to be the Dudes manager when in reality he was all along on the side of the Midnight Express during a match between the teams at Clash of the Champions IX show in New York. The Dynamic Dudes would gain a measure of revenge when the Midnight Express laid out an open challenge for any team for $10,000 and after dispatching of a couple of no name teams. The next team was announced from Gotham City and were the Dynamic Duo who of course were the Dynamic Dudes under masks who eventually pinned the Express and won the money. The feud would soon lose steam and was forgotten soon after.
After returning to their cheating ways, the Midnight Express started a storyline with the up and coming team of Flyin’ Brian
and "Z-Man" Tom Zenk
over the United States Tag team titles. The Express won the titles from the young team in early 1990, but lost them to The Steiner Brothers
(Rick
and Scott
) three months later. After a loss at the WCW pay-per-view Halloween Havoc 1990 the Midnight Express split up when Jim Cornette and Stan Lane left the federation. For the first time in almost a decade there was no Midnight Express, it was the end of an era in tag team wrestling.
, and were managed by Paul E. Dangerously
. In 1988, Condrey, Rose, and Dangerously came to the NWA to feud with Eaton, Lane, and Cornette; however, the feud ended abruptly when Condrey left the NWA, just days before Chi-Town Rumble. After defeating Rose and Jack Victory, Dangerously went on to manage the Samoan Swat Team to feud with Eaton, Lane, and Cornette.
(as "Bombastic Bob") and Bart Gunn
(as "Bodacious Bart") together as "The New Midnight Express" with Cornette as their manager—all as part of the "NWA invasion"
angle. On March 30, 1998, they won the NWA World Tag Team Championship from the Headbangers
but did not achieve much more success in the WWF. Despite having Cornette in their corner and the name "Midnight Express", wrestling fans consider this incarnation of the team as nothing more than a rib by Vince McMahon
on Cornette, and in shoot interviews Cornette has indeed indicated that he never considered the team as continuing the lineage of the Midnight Express, since it was not his idea nor his intention to have "glorified jobbers" like Gunn and Holly take on the moniker (although Gunn and Holly were both former tag team champions prior to being teamed).
On June 7, 2008, they lost to The Rock 'n' Roll Express (Robert Gibson and Ricky Morton) at the NWA 60th Anniversary Show in Atlanta, Georgia
.
1The titles were promoted briefly on Monday Night Raw as part of a deal between the NWA and the WWF. Gunn and Holly were actually the second team to win the titles on a WWF program.
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
tag team
Tag team
Tag team professional wrestling is a variation in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. A tag team may comprise two wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of established teams who wrestle regularly as a unit and have a team name...
that has had various members and achieved most of its success in the 1980s.
Dennis Condrey, Randy Rose and Norvell Austin
In 1980 a new team was formed in Southeast Championship WrestlingContinental Championship Wrestling
Continental Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion based out of Knoxville, Tennessee from 1974 until 1988 and Dothan, Alabama from 1978 to 1990, managed by Ron Fuller. When Fuller sold the promotion to David Woods, it changed name to the Continental Wrestling Federation...
(SECW) when Dennis Condrey
Dennis Condrey
Dennis Condrey is an American professional wrestler, best known as being one half of the tag team Midnight Express....
’s previous partner Don Carson retired. Condrey teamed up with Randy Rose
Randy Rose
"Ravishing" Randy Rose is a professional wrestler.-Career:Randy Rose competed in 1981 in Alabama's Southeast Championship Wrestling and formed The Midnight Express with Dennis Condrey and Norvell Austin. They dominated the tag team scene there until Condrey signed with Mid-South Wrestling in 1984...
and won the NWA Southeast Tag Team Championship
NWA Southeast Tag Team Championship
The NWA Southeastern Tag Team Championship was the major tag team title in the National Wrestling Alliance's Alabama territory known as Southeast Championship Wrestling. It existed from 1974 until 1986, when it became the NWA Southeast Continental Tag Team Championship...
shortly after they started teaming up. The team started a storyline feud with Norvell Austin
Norvell Austin
Norvell Austin is a retired American professional wrestler who made his debut in the late 1960s. Austin worked for most of his career in the Southern United States, most often in tag team competition. Norvell Austin is most famous for teaming with Sputnik Monroe in one of the first "mixed races"...
who was one of the regulars in SECW. Austin recruited various partners such as Paul Orndorff
Paul Orndorff
Paul Parlette Orndorff, Jr. is a retired American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling as "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff...
, who were successful in briefly capturing the Southeast tag team gold. In an attempt to throw Rose and Condrey off Austin would adopt the masked persona of “The Shadow” and together with Brad Armstrong defeat the team for the titles on May 4, 1981, holding them until July 27, 1981 before losing the belts back to Condry and Rose. After the title loss Austin turned on Armstrong and joined up with Condrey and Rose to form a stable (group) known as The Midnight Express. In the book The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Tag Teams Condrey explains that the name did not stem from the movie Midnight Express
Midnight Express (film)
Released on October 6, 1978, the soundtrack to Midnight Express was composed by Italian synth-pioneer Giorgio Moroder. The score won the Academy Award for Best Original Score of 1978.Side A:#Chase – Giorgio Moroder...
(although later versions of the Midnight Express would use the film’s theme by Giorgio Moroder
Giorgio Moroder
Hansjörg "Giorgio" Moroder is an Italian record producer, songwriter and performer based in Los Angeles. When in Munich in the 1970s, he started his own record label called Oasis Records, which several years later became a subdivision of Casablanca Records...
as their theme music) but from the fact that they all dressed in black, drove black cars, and were out partying past midnight. Together the three men would win the AWA Southern Tag Team title in the CWA and invoke a rule that’d later be referred to as the Freebird Rule which allowed any two of the three men to defend the titles on a given night so that their opponents never knew what combination to expect. The Midnight Express would lose the AWA Southern tag team title to Bobby Eaton
Bobby Eaton
Robert Lee "Bobby" Eaton is an American semi-retired professional wrestler, who made his debut in 1976. Eaton is most famous for his work in tag teams, especially his days as one-half of the team the Midnight Express. Under the management of Jim Cornette, Eaton originally teamed with Dennis...
and Sweet Brown Sugar
James Ware (wrestler)
James Ware , better known by his ring name Koko B. Ware, is a retired American professional wrestler who made his professional wrestling debut in 1978. He gained most of his popularity in the World Wrestling Federation when he was known as the Birdman...
before returning to SECW in the spring of 1982.
Upon their return to Southeastern Championship Wrestling the Midnight Express would quickly regain the Southeastern Tag Team title from Robert Fuller and Jimmy Golden on September 27, 1982. The Express then became involved in a feud with the Mongolian Stomper
Mongolian Stomper
Archie Gouldie is a Canadian professional wrestler better known by his ring name The Mongolian Stomper.-Stampede Wrestling:Gouldie held the North American heavyweight title a record ten times between 1968 and 1984, quite a streak of longevity for that time frame...
and his storyline son “Mongolian Stomper Jr.” whom they would lose the Southeastern title to but ultimately regain as they sent Stomper and Stomper Jr. packing. After having dealt with the Stompers the Midnight Express’ next challengers came in the form of the odd duo of ”Dizzy” Ed Hogan
Edward Leslie
Edward Harrison "Ed" Leslie is an American professional wrestler, best known for his work in the World Wrestling Federation under the ring name Brutus The Barber Beefcake. He later worked for World Championship Wrestling under a variety of names, mainly as "The Disciple" of real-life best friend...
and local workhorse Ken Lucas. Hogan and Lucas won the tag team title in June only to see the Midnight Express use their 3 on 2 advantage to regain the titles. Despite holding the titles once more in July 1983 it was not long until the Midnight Express finally got the better of their challengers by reclaiming the titles for good by the end of July, 1983. The Midnight Express’ final feud in the SECW was with the local heroes Jimmy Golden and Robert Fuller who managed to drive the group out of SECW, at least in storyline terms. After dropping the Southeastern Tag Team titles to Brad and Scott Armstrong, Austin, Condrey and Rose went their separate ways.
Dennis Condrey and Bobby Eaton
When Bobby EatonBobby Eaton
Robert Lee "Bobby" Eaton is an American semi-retired professional wrestler, who made his debut in 1976. Eaton is most famous for his work in tag teams, especially his days as one-half of the team the Midnight Express. Under the management of Jim Cornette, Eaton originally teamed with Dennis...
was sent to Mid-South Wrestling under promoter Bill Watts
Bill Watts
William F. "Bill" Watts is a former American professional wrestler and promoter. Watts was famous under his "Cowboy" gimmick in his wrestling career, and then as a tough, no-nonsense promoter in the Mid-South area of the United States, which grew to become the UWF.In 1992, he was the Executive...
as a part of a talent trade it was decided that he should be part of the new version of the Midnight Express. Eaton teamed with former rival Dennis Condrey under the management of Jim Cornette
Jim Cornette
James Mark "Jim" Cornette is an American professional wrestling manager, commentator, promoter, and booker. As a manager, he has worked for Jim Crockett Promotions, World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Federation and from 1991 to 1995, was the owner of Smoky Mountain Wrestling...
to form a new version of the Midnight Express. The Express had up until this point been a group of wrestlers, but once Eaton and Condrey joined together the Midnight Express worked exclusively as a two man team. To compliment “Loverboy" Dennis, Eaton was nicknamed “Beautiful" Bobby, a nickname he still uses. The Express was first booked in an angle (storyline) with the Mid-South Tag Team champions Magnum T.A.
Magnum T.A.
Terry Wayne Allen is a retired American professional wrestler, best known under the ring name Magnum T.A..-Early years:...
and Mr. Wrestling II
Mr. Wrestling II
John "Johnny" Walker , better known as Mr. Wrestling II, is a retired American professional wrestler. As Mr...
. The highlight of the angle saw Eaton and Condrey tarring and feathering Magnum TA in the middle of the ring. The Express won their first tag team championship when Mr. Wrestling II turned on Magnum TA and attacked him during a match, allowing Eaton and Condrey to walk away with the titles without much opposition.
With Mr. Wrestling II and Magnum TA splitting up, the Midnight Express needed new a new team to defend their newly won titles against. This team was The Rock 'n' Roll Express (Ricky Morton
Ricky Morton
Richard Wendell "Ricky" Morton is an American professional wrestler who has worked for such wrestling organizations as Jim Crockett Promotions, the American Wrestling Association, Extreme Championship Wrestling, World Championship Wrestling, the World Wrestling Federation and Total Nonstop Action...
and Robert Gibson
Reuben Kane
Robert Gibson is a professional wrestler. He is famous as half of the tag team known as Rock 'N Roll Express, with Ricky Morton.-Early career:Cain started wrestling as Robert Gibson in 1977...
), whom they started a long-running series of matches that would run well into the 1990s and span several wrestling promotions. The two Expresses had a series of matches which differed so much from the way tag team wrestling was traditionally presented at the time, that it gathered a lot of attention both locally and nationally. The two teams feuded throughout 1984 in Mid-South Wrestling before the Midnight Express left the promotion to work elsewhere. The Midnight Express versus Rock 'n' Roll Express series of matches was so well received by the fans that independent promoters all over the United States still book that match today, 20 years after the rivalry started.
The Midnight Express had a short say in World Class Championship Wrestling
World Class Championship Wrestling
World Class Championship Wrestling ' was a regional professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. Originally owned by promoter Ed McLemore, by 1966 it was run by Southwest Sports, Inc., whose president, Jack Adkisson, was better known as wrestler Fritz Von Erich...
in Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
where they feuded mainly with The Fantastics (Bobby Fulton
James Hines
James Hines is a professional wrestler better known as Bobby Fulton of The Fantastics.-Career:James Hines started wrestling as a 16 year old in 1977 as Jimmy Hines....
and Tommy Rogers
Thomas Couch
Thomas R. Couch is a professional wrestler better known as Tommy Rogers of The Fantastics.-Career:Couch started wrestling in 1980 as Tommy Rogers in North Carolina...
). When opportunities in WCCW looked to go nowhere the Midnight Express started to look elsewhere for employment and what they found would give the team national and international exposure.
In 1985 Eaton, Condrey and Cornette signed with Jim Crockett Promotions
Jim Crockett Promotions
Jim Crockett Promotions was a professional wrestling promotion owned by Jim Crockett, Jr. until the late 1980s. It was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance and was the forerunner to World Championship Wrestling .-Early history:...
(JCP) and thus were exposed on a national level through JCP’s television shows that were broadcast on SuperStation TBS.
Shortly after joining JCP the Midnight Express reignited their feud with the Rock 'n' Roll Express from whom they won the NWA World Tag team titles in February 1986. Eaton and Condrey lost the titles back to the Rock 'n' Roll Express six months later. Besides feuding with the Rock 'n' Roll Express, Eaton and Condrey also had long-running feuds with The New Breed
New Breed (tag team)
The New Breed was a professional wrestling tag team, formed in 1986, consisting of Chris Champion and Sean Royal.-History:In 1986, Chris Champion and Sean Royal were put together as a tag team in Florida Championship Wrestling. Their gimmick had them claiming to be from the future, specifically the...
(Chris Champions
Christopher Ashford-Smith
Christopher Ashford-Smith is an American professional wrestler better known under the ring names Chris Champion or Yoshi Kwan...
and Sean Royal
Sean Royal
Sean Royal was a professional wrestler from Tampa, Florida, in the United States.-Career:Sean Royal started wrestling in 1986 in Florida Championship Wrestling in a tag team with Chris Champion called The New Breed They claimed to be from the year 2002 and came to the ring to the tune of the...
) as well as The Road Warriors
Road Warriors
The Road Warriors were a professional wrestling tag team composed of Michael "Hawk" Hegstrand and Joseph "Animal" Laurinaitis. They performed under the name "Road Warriors" in the American Wrestling Association, the National Wrestling Alliance, and World Championship Wrestling, and the name Legion...
(Animal
Road Warrior Animal
Joseph Aaron "Joe" Laurinaitis is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring names, Road Warrior Animal and Road Warrior...
and Hawk
Road Warrior Hawk
Michael James Hegstrand was an American professional wrestler. He is best remembered as Road Warrior Hawk, one half of the tag team known as the Road Warriors or The Legion of Doom , with Road Warrior Animal.-Early life:While living in Chicago, Hegstrand met Joe Lauranaitis, who would be later...
). The feud with the Road Warriors included a high profile Scaffold Match at Starrcade 1986 which the Midnight Express lost.
In the early parts of 1987 Dennis Condrey left JCP from one day to the next, and no reason has ever been given by Dennis Condrey with only speculations from those who were not directly involved. Regardless of the explanation, the problem was still that Bobby Eaton was without a partner. Enter a man from Eaton’s past, another former opponent turned tag team partner: “Sweet" Stan Lane. Lane and Eaton knew each other well from working against each other in the past and this showed as the new version of the Midnight Express gelled from the beginning. Tim Horner was having problems with his tag team partner, Brad Armstrong, and was actually considered to replace Dennis Condrey, but according to Horner, Stan Lane just happened to call the office at the right time. The facts are that J.J. Dillon approached Stan Lane in Florida telling him that Dusty wanted to talk to him. He was told to give Dusty a call so when Stan called Dusty he was given the details. At the time business was down in Florida so Stan Lane made the jump to Jim Crockett Promotions after meeting with Dusty and Bobby Eaton in Charlotte. In reality Steve Keirn, Lane's longtime partner in The Fabulous Ones had already quit wrestling since business was so dead in Florida.
Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane
In May 1987 the combination of Eaton and Lane quickly became champions as they won the NWA United States Tag team titlesWCW United States Tag Team Championship
The WCW United States Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team championship contested for in the United States-based National Wrestling Alliance , Jim Crockett Promotions , and World Championship Wrestling promotions. The title was only contestable by male tag teams and in tag...
for the first time, a title they would win three times during their time together. A year later the team was cheered on despite being heels as the Midnight Express won the NWA World Tag Team Titles from Arn Anderson
Arn Anderson
Martin Anthony Lunde better known by his ring name Arn Anderson, is a former American professional wrestler and author. His career has been highlighted by his alliances with Ric Flair and various members of the wrestling stable, The Four Horsemen, in the NWA/WCW...
and Tully Blanchard
Tully Blanchard
Tully Arthur Blanchard is a semi-retired second generation American professional wrestler. He is best known as an original member of the Four Horsemen....
(See also: Brain Busters
Brain Busters
The Brain Busters was the World Wrestling Federation name for the professional wrestling tag team of Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard. Anderson and Blanchard adopted this name after joining the WWF in 1988 from Jim Crockett Promotions, where the two men had wrestled as part of the Four Horsemen...
) on September 10, 1988. The Midnight Express’ run with the titles only last a little over a month-and-a-half before the Road Warriors took the gold from them in a brutal match up that saw the Warriors turn heel and the Express turn face.
Now the fan favorites, the Midnight Express had to contend with a team thought to be disbanded forever: The Midnight Express, or “The Original Midnight Express” to be more correct as it consisted of Dennis Condrey and Randy Rose who had been teaming up before Condrey and Eaton became a team. The duo was led by longtime Jim Cornette nemesis Paul E. Dangerously
Paul Heyman
Paul Heyman is an American entertainment producer, best known for his career in professional wrestling as a promoter, manager, commentator and journalist. He is also an occasional actor in film....
in a storyline that saw them trying to prove the originals were better than the new version. The surprise appearance of the Original Midnight Express gave Dangerously’s team the initial momentum in the feud, but soon after Dennis Condrey left the promotion once more before a "loser leaves town" match that would see the wrestler that took the losing fall getting fired. This forced the bookers to bring in Jack Victory
Jack Victory
Kenneth "Ken" Rinehurst is an American professional wrestler and manager, better known by his ring name, Jack Victory. He is perhaps best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling between 1998 and 2001.-Career:Rinehurst debuted in 1985 in the Universal Wrestling Federation...
as a replacement as Condrey’s disappearance cut the promising feud short. Cornette contends in a "shoot" interview that backstage politics and animosity between the Original Midnights, promotion head Jim Crockett
Jim Crockett
James Allen Crockett was a professional wrestling promoter sometimes known as Jim Crockett, Sr. or to people within the business simply as "Big Jim".-Early life:...
, and head booker George Scott
George Scott (wrestler)
George Scott was a Canadian professional wrestler, booker and promoter. From the 1950s until the 1970s, he and his younger brother Sandy competed as The Flying Scotts in North American regional promotions including the National Wrestling Alliance, particularly the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic...
is what led to the feud being cooled off and Condrey once again leaving the promotion. Rose ended up taking the pin in the resultant match and was legitimately fired from the promotion afterwards.
Due to various differences over the direction of the Midnight Express, Cornette, Lane and Eaton left JCP for a short while, around the time that Ted Turner
Ted Turner
Robert Edward "Ted" Turner III is an American media mogul and philanthropist. As a businessman, he is known as founder of the cable news network CNN, the first dedicated 24-hour cable news channel. In addition, he founded WTBS, which pioneered the superstation concept in cable television...
bought out Jim Crockett and began promoting the federation under the name World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
(WCW). When the issues were resolved Cornette and the Midnight Express returned to the federation and a very strong tag team division. When they returned they took part in the tournament to determine the vacated world tag team titles where they advanced to the finals before losing to the Freebirds with some assistance from the Samoan Swat Team. They would engage in a feud with the Freebirds and Samoans until the 1989 Great American Bash where they teamed up with the Road Warriors and Dr. Death Steve Williams to defeat the Freebirds and Samoans in a War Games match. They would soon turn heel as a result of a feud with the Dynamic Dudes who they duped into thinking that Jim Cornette wanted to be the Dudes manager when in reality he was all along on the side of the Midnight Express during a match between the teams at Clash of the Champions IX show in New York. The Dynamic Dudes would gain a measure of revenge when the Midnight Express laid out an open challenge for any team for $10,000 and after dispatching of a couple of no name teams. The next team was announced from Gotham City and were the Dynamic Duo who of course were the Dynamic Dudes under masks who eventually pinned the Express and won the money. The feud would soon lose steam and was forgotten soon after.
After returning to their cheating ways, the Midnight Express started a storyline with the up and coming team of Flyin’ Brian
Brian Pillman
Brian William Pillman was an American football player and professional wrestler best known for his appearances in the World Wrestling Federation, Extreme Championship Wrestling, and World Championship Wrestling....
and "Z-Man" Tom Zenk
Tom Zenk
Thomas Erwin "Tom" Zenk is a former Mr. Minnesota Bodybuilder, and most notably a American professional wrestler, also known by his nickname Z-Man.-Early career:...
over the United States Tag team titles. The Express won the titles from the young team in early 1990, but lost them to The Steiner Brothers
The Steiner Brothers
The Steiner Brothers are the professional wrestling tag team of American brothers Robert "Rick Steiner" Rechsteiner and Scott "Scott Steiner" Rechsteiner...
(Rick
Rick Steiner
Robert Rechsteiner is an American professional wrestler, better known under his ring name Rick Steiner.Steiner is best known for his tenure with World Championship Wrestling, where he was an eight time World Tag Team Champion...
and Scott
Scott Steiner
Scott Carl Rechsteiner is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Scott Steiner. Steiner is perhaps best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling alongside his older brother Rick as the Steiner Brothers and as a member of the New World Order...
) three months later. After a loss at the WCW pay-per-view Halloween Havoc 1990 the Midnight Express split up when Jim Cornette and Stan Lane left the federation. For the first time in almost a decade there was no Midnight Express, it was the end of an era in tag team wrestling.
Randy Rose and Dennis Condrey
Dennis Condrey and Randy Rose first teamed up in 1981, thus are the Original Midnight Express. After Condrey left the NWA in 1987, he reunited with Rose in the AWA, where they won the AWA World Tag Team ChampionshipAWA World Tag Team Championship
The American Wrestling Association World Tag Team Championship was professional wrestling world tag team championship in the American Wrestling Association from 1960 until the promotion folded in 1991.-History :...
, and were managed by Paul E. Dangerously
Paul Heyman
Paul Heyman is an American entertainment producer, best known for his career in professional wrestling as a promoter, manager, commentator and journalist. He is also an occasional actor in film....
. In 1988, Condrey, Rose, and Dangerously came to the NWA to feud with Eaton, Lane, and Cornette; however, the feud ended abruptly when Condrey left the NWA, just days before Chi-Town Rumble. After defeating Rose and Jack Victory, Dangerously went on to manage the Samoan Swat Team to feud with Eaton, Lane, and Cornette.
New Midnight Express
The Midnight Express name was resurrected by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in the late 1990s when they put a combination of Bob HollyBob Holly
Robert "Bob" Howard better known by his ring name Bob "Hardcore" Holly, is a American professional wrestler. He is best known for his 15-year stint with World Wrestling Entertainment ....
(as "Bombastic Bob") and Bart Gunn
Mike Plotcheck
Michal Burton "Mike" Polchlopek, Jr. is an American professional wrestler and mixed martial artist, also known by the ring names Bart Gunn and Mike Barton...
(as "Bodacious Bart") together as "The New Midnight Express" with Cornette as their manager—all as part of the "NWA invasion"
NWA (wrestling stable)
The NWA was a professional wrestling stable that competed in the World Wrestling Federation in 1998 and was led by Jim Cornette.-History:On December 30, 1997 , Jim Cornette brought NWA promoters/officials Howard Brody and Dennis Coralluzzo to RAW Is WAR and made a match between Jeff Jarrett and...
angle. On March 30, 1998, they won the NWA World Tag Team Championship from the Headbangers
The Headbangers
The Headbangers is a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Mosh and Thrasher, best known for their work in the World Wrestling Federation...
but did not achieve much more success in the WWF. Despite having Cornette in their corner and the name "Midnight Express", wrestling fans consider this incarnation of the team as nothing more than a rib by Vince McMahon
Vince McMahon
Vincent Kennedy "Vince" McMahon is an American professional wrestling promoter, announcer, commentator, film producer, actor and former occasional professional wrestler. McMahon is the current Chairman, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Committee of professional wrestling promotion WWE...
on Cornette, and in shoot interviews Cornette has indeed indicated that he never considered the team as continuing the lineage of the Midnight Express, since it was not his idea nor his intention to have "glorified jobbers" like Gunn and Holly take on the moniker (although Gunn and Holly were both former tag team champions prior to being teamed).
Midnight Express Reunited
In 2003, Eaton worked for NWA Mid-Atlantic forming a new version of the Midnight Express with Rikki Nelson. This Midnight Express version was very short lived as Eaton soon started touring with Dennis Condrey (and sometimes Lane and Cornette) as the Midnight Express instead. This version of the Midnight Express still performs together on select independent wrestling cards in the United States.On June 7, 2008, they lost to The Rock 'n' Roll Express (Robert Gibson and Ricky Morton) at the NWA 60th Anniversary Show in Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
.
In wrestling
- Finishing and signature moves
- Rocket Launcher
- Veg-O-Matic (Bear hug / diving leg drop combination)
- Signature moves
- Clothesline / School boy combination
- Double flapjack
- ManagersManager (professional wrestling)In professional wrestling, a manager is a secondary character paired with a wrestler for a variety of reasons. The manager is often either a non-wrestler, an occasional wrestler, an older wrestler who has retired or is nearing retirement or, in some cases, a new wrestler who is breaking into the...
- Jim CornetteJim CornetteJames Mark "Jim" Cornette is an American professional wrestling manager, commentator, promoter, and booker. As a manager, he has worked for Jim Crockett Promotions, World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Federation and from 1991 to 1995, was the owner of Smoky Mountain Wrestling...
- Paul E. DangerouslyPaul HeymanPaul Heyman is an American entertainment producer, best known for his career in professional wrestling as a promoter, manager, commentator and journalist. He is also an occasional actor in film....
Championships and accomplishments
- Austin and Condrey
- Continental Wrestling AssociationContinental Wrestling AssociationThe Continental Wrestling Association was a wrestling promotion managed by Jerry Jarrett. The CWA was the name of the "governing body" for the Championship Wrestling, Inc. promotion which was usually referred to as Mid-Southern Wrestling...
- CWA World Tag Team ChampionshipCWA World Tag Team ChampionshipThe CWA World Tag Team Championship was a major professional wrestling tag team title defended in the Continental Wrestling Association. It lasted from 1980 through 1983.-Title history:-References:*...
(1 time)
- CWA World Tag Team Championship
- Continental Wrestling Association
- Condrey and Eaton
- All-Star Wrestling (Virginia)
- ASW Tag Team Championship (7 time)
- International Wrestling Cartel
- IWC Tag Team Championship (10 time)
- Jim Crockett PromotionsJim Crockett PromotionsJim Crockett Promotions was a professional wrestling promotion owned by Jim Crockett, Jr. until the late 1980s. It was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance and was the forerunner to World Championship Wrestling .-Early history:...
- NWA World Tag Team Championship (Mid-Atlantic version) (1 time)
- Mid-South Wrestling
- Mid-South Tag Team Championship (2 times)
- NWA BluegrassNational Wrestling AllianceThe National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
- NWA Bluegrass Tag Team Championship (10 times)
- NWA Rocky TopNational Wrestling AllianceThe National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
- NWA Rocky Top Tag Team Championship (19 time)
- Pro Wrestling IllustratedPro Wrestling IllustratedPro Wrestling Illustrated is a professional wrestling magazine. PWI is currently based in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania and published by Kappa Publishing Group.-History:The first issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated was released in 1979...
- PWI ranked them #21 of the 100 best tag teamTag teamTag team professional wrestling is a variation in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. A tag team may comprise two wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of established teams who wrestle regularly as a unit and have a team name...
s during the "PWI Years" in 2003
- PWI ranked them #21 of the 100 best tag team
- World Class Championship WrestlingWorld Class Championship WrestlingWorld Class Championship Wrestling ' was a regional professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. Originally owned by promoter Ed McLemore, by 1966 it was run by Southwest Sports, Inc., whose president, Jack Adkisson, was better known as wrestler Fritz Von Erich...
- NWA American Tag Team Championship (1 time)
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
- Tag Team of the Year (1986)
- All-Star Wrestling (Virginia)
- Condrey and Rose
- American Wrestling AssociationAmerican Wrestling AssociationThe American Wrestling Association was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 to 1991. It was owned and founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo...
- AWA World Tag Team ChampionshipAWA World Tag Team ChampionshipThe American Wrestling Association World Tag Team Championship was professional wrestling world tag team championship in the American Wrestling Association from 1960 until the promotion folded in 1991.-History :...
(1 time)
- AWA World Tag Team Championship
- Continental Wrestling AssociationContinental Wrestling AssociationThe Continental Wrestling Association was a wrestling promotion managed by Jerry Jarrett. The CWA was the name of the "governing body" for the Championship Wrestling, Inc. promotion which was usually referred to as Mid-Southern Wrestling...
- AWA Southern Tag Team ChampionshipAWA Southern Tag Team ChampionshipThe AWA Southern Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team title in the Tennessee area from the 1940s through the late 1980s. It was originally named the NWA Southern Tag Team Championship from its inception through 1977, when it was renamed the AWA Southern...
(1 time) - with Norvell AustinNorvell AustinNorvell Austin is a retired American professional wrestler who made his debut in the late 1960s. Austin worked for most of his career in the Southern United States, most often in tag team competition. Norvell Austin is most famous for teaming with Sputnik Monroe in one of the first "mixed races"...
- AWA Southern Tag Team Championship
- Southeastern Championship WrestlingContinental Championship WrestlingContinental Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion based out of Knoxville, Tennessee from 1974 until 1988 and Dothan, Alabama from 1978 to 1990, managed by Ron Fuller. When Fuller sold the promotion to David Woods, it changed name to the Continental Wrestling Federation...
- NWA Southeastern Tag Team Championship (10 times)
- Windy City Wrestling
- WCW Tag Team Championship (1 time)
- American Wrestling Association
- Eaton and Lane
- Jim Crockett PromotionsJim Crockett PromotionsJim Crockett Promotions was a professional wrestling promotion owned by Jim Crockett, Jr. until the late 1980s. It was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance and was the forerunner to World Championship Wrestling .-Early history:...
/ World Championship WrestlingWorld Championship WrestlingWorld Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
- NWA United States Tag Team ChampionshipNWA United States Tag Team ChampionshipThe NWA United States Tag Team Championship is a name used by several championships that were or currently are under the National Wrestling Alliance 's supervision:...
(3 times) - NWA World Tag Team Championship (Mid-Atlantic version)WCW World Tag Team ChampionshipThe World Championship Wrestling Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling world tag team championship in World Championship Wrestling...
(1 time)
- NWA United States Tag Team Championship
- Pro Wrestling IllustratedPro Wrestling IllustratedPro Wrestling Illustrated is a professional wrestling magazine. PWI is currently based in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania and published by Kappa Publishing Group.-History:The first issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated was released in 1979...
- PWI Tag Team of the Year (1987)
- PWI ranked them #32 of the 100 best tag teams during the "PWI Years" in 2003
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
- Feud of the Year (1988) vs. the FantasticsFantasticsThe Fantastics are a professional wrestling tag team composed of Bobby Fulton and Tommy Rogers.-History:While in the Mid-Southern area, Terry taylor was teamed with a budding young wrestler named Bobby Fulton, who at the time was a jobber on TV but showed promise...
(Bobby FultonJames HinesJames Hines is a professional wrestler better known as Bobby Fulton of The Fantastics.-Career:James Hines started wrestling as a 16 year old in 1977 as Jimmy Hines....
and Tommy RogersThomas CouchThomas R. Couch is a professional wrestler better known as Tommy Rogers of The Fantastics.-Career:Couch started wrestling in 1980 as Tommy Rogers in North Carolina...
) - Tag Team of the Year (1987, 1988)
- Feud of the Year (1988) vs. the Fantastics
- Jim Crockett Promotions
- Eaton and Nelson
- NWA Mid-AtlanticNational Wrestling AllianceThe National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
- NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team ChampionshipNWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team ChampionshipThe NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship is the tag team title currently defended in the National Wrestling Alliance's NWA Mid-Atlantic territory. The championship was originally created in the summer of 1968 and was originally named the NWA Atlantic Coast Tag Team Championship...
(1 time)
- NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship
- NWA Mid-Atlantic
- Gunn and Holly
- World Wrestling Federation
- NWA World Tag Team ChampionshipNWA World Tag Team ChampionshipThe National Wrestling Alliance World Tag Team Championship is the professional wrestling world tag team championship within the NWA framework.-History:...
(1 time)1
- NWA World Tag Team Championship
- World Wrestling Federation
1The titles were promoted briefly on Monday Night Raw as part of a deal between the NWA and the WWF. Gunn and Holly were actually the second team to win the titles on a WWF program.