The Midnight Express
The Midnight Express was a wrestling tag team from the 1980s and set new standards in the tag team genre with its well-coordinatedness. It consisted of Bobby Eaton and Dennis Condrey in its prime, and later of Eaton and Stan Lane. They were managed by Jim Cornette .
According to Dennis Condrey, the name did not come from the film of the same name (although some of the soundtrack was played when the team moved into the hall), but from the fact that they always wore black, drove black cars and partied until after midnight.
History of the Midnight Express
The beginning time
In the fall of 1980, Dennis Condrey and Randy Rose formed a tag team in Alabama. Shortly afterwards, they were allowed to take the Southeast Tag Team titles from Bob Armstrong and Jos LeDuc. On July 27, 1981, Norvell Austin joined them. From then on, they started as Midnight Express. In the following years they were mainly active in Southeast Championship Wrestling and in the AWA . At times Ron Starr and the Mongolian Stomper were also part of the team.
Condrey and Eaton
In 1984 Condrey moved to Memphis, where he revived the Midnight Express with Bobby Eaton. Unlike the previous occupations, the more Stablecharakter had, they formed a "real" tag team with Jim Cornette at her side, of the right to the excellent ring skills Micworkkünste contributed. Together they quickly made a name for themselves as Superheels by tarring and bouncing the crowd favorite Magnum TA to underpin their challenge for the Mid-South Tag Team title . After winning the titles, they were put in a feud with the Rock 'n' Roll Express that would drag on for years and would become a high point in tag team wrestling of the 1980s. There were also feuds against the Fantastics (in the Mid South Region and the WCCW ) and the Road Warriors (in Jim Crockett's promotion, which later became WCW). In January 1987, Condrey left the Express and JCP and moved to the AWA, where he later revived the original Midnight Express with Randy Rose. They were managed by the later ECW owner Paul E. Dangerously . On October 26, 1987, they were allowed to take the AWA World Tag Team title from Jerry Lawler and Bill Dundee , which they had to give back to the Midnight Rockers Marty Jannetty and Shawn Michaels on December 27 of the same year .
Eaton and Lane
As a replacement for Condrey, Stan Lane was brought into the team, who had already wrestled against Eaton many times in the previous years and therefore also harmonized perfectly with him. Initially, the feud continued with the Fantastics, with the United States Tag Team title at stake. In 1988 it was finally decided to equip the Express with the NWA World Tag Team titles . The victims here were the no less well-known horsemen Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard . A few weeks later, however, there was again the title loss to the Road Warriors. In this match, the Midnight Express also became crowd favorites.
The next feud was then against the "Original Midnight Express" from Condrey and Rose, who had switched to the NWA. Due to an early departure from Condrey, who was replaced by Jack Victory for the decisive match on February 20, 1989 , the feud did not go on for too long. After Jim Crockett had sold the promotion to Ted Turner, who made WCW out of it, the Midnight Express left the league due to problems with booker George Scott. Upon their return, there was initially a feud with the Dynamic Dudes ( Johnny Ace and Shane Douglas ), who were also managed by Cornette. In the decisive match Cornette Douglas hit with his tennis racket, which turned the Midnight Express back into heels . In the course of 1990 there were again the US Tag Team titles, as well as feuds against Brian Pillman and Tom Zenk , the Southern Boys ( Steve Armstrong and Tracey Smothers ), the Steiner Brothers and again the Rock 'n' Roll Express. In late 1990, Lane and Cornette decided to leave WCW due to management issues while Eaton stayed. That was the end of the Midnight Express.
New Midnight Express
In 1997 the WWF (now WWE) decided to reactivate the Midnight Express gimmick and put “Bodacious” Bart Gunn & “Bombastic” Bob Holly at the side of Cornette . Of course, they feuded the Rock 'n' Roll Express. Since neither wrestler had the charisma and technical ability of the old Midnight Express members, the whole thing flopped. The New Midnight Express once again won the NWA World Tag Team title (the relevance of which has since sagged).
today
In 2003, the Midnight Express was revived at the Mid-Atlantic section of the NWA with Eaton and the local booker and former WWF jobber Rikki Nelson. After a short time, the latter was replaced by Condrey. Since then, the Midnight Express can be seen regularly in American rings. Partly with Stan Lane or - as on September 25, 2004 at Continental Wrestling - as the Original Midnight Express with Austin and Rose.
The members
Norvell Austin
Austin began his career in Florida or Alabama in the late 1960s. He was - in the tag team with Sputnik Monroe - one of the first black wrestlers to celebrate successes as heels in the southern states . Otherwise he was mainly on the road in tag teams. a. alongside Koko B. Ware (as Pretty Young Things) and Paul Orndorff to title successes. He ended his career in the late 1980s, but continued to perform in legendary battles afterwards.
"Ravishing" Randy Rose
Rose, whose real name was Randy Als, was Central States Heavyweight and Tag Team Champion by his real name in 1979 (the latter alongside Bryan St. John). After the separation of the first express line-up, he performed at International Championship Wrestling for some time and was allowed to become Southeast Tag Team Champion again in 1985 alongside Pat Rose . After the end of the original Midnight Express in the NWA, he worked for Georgia All-Star Wrestling and the Global Wrestling Federation in the early 1990s.
"Loverboy" Dennis Condrey
Dennis Condrey was born on February 1, 1955 in Florence, Alabama. He began his wrestling career in 1973 in Tennessee. In the 1970s, he acted tag team champions in many Southern promotions, especially alongside Phil Hickerson. After his Midnight Express stint ended in 1986, he went to AWA overnight. During the feud between Midnight Express and Original Midnight Express, he also disappeared overnight and went back to Alabama, where he was allowed to take the CWF Heavyweight Title from Tom Prichard on July 22, 1989 in the league now renamed the Continental Wrestling Federation . He ended his career in the early 1990s and has only performed sporadically since then.
"Beautiful" Bobby Eaton
Robert Lee Eaton was born on August 14, 1958 in Huntsville, Alabama. After he was trained by Tojo Yamamoto as a wrestler, he made his debut in May 1976 against Bearcat Wright . In the following years he came to some successes in the Mid-America climes of the NWA , especially in the tag team area. Even after the end of the Midnight Express, he remained a tag team wrestler, for example in Paul Heyman's Dangerous Alliance or as an arrogant Earl in the Bluebloods at the side of "Lord" Steven Regal . At the same time, he trained young wrestlers for WCW and, after its end, for WWE.
"Sweet" Stan Lane
Breck Stansfield Lane was born on August 5, 1953 in Greensboro, North Carolina. He got his training as a wrestler from none other than Ric Flair . Lane made his debut in 1974, but he only became successful in 1982 when he was tagged with Steve Keirn . Under the name Fabolous Ones , they were a very popular babyface team in the southern states, especially in Memphis, where they won the Southern Tag Team Title 14 times . After the end of the Express, he went to Jim Cornette's Smoky Mountain Wrestling in 1990 , where he feuded alongside Tom Prichard as Heavenly Bodies with the Rock 'n' Roll Express and ended his active career in 1993. Afterwards he worked as a commentator for the WWF.