The Midnight Express was the name used by several professional wrestling tag teams of changing members, usually under the management of Jim Cornette. The group started in 1980 with Dennis Condrey and Randy Rose in Southeast Championship Wrestling. In 1981 they were joined by Norvell Austin. This group disbanded in 1983, but later the same year a new version of the Midnight Express was formed in Mid-South Wrestling by teaming up Condrey and Bobby Eaton, with Cornette as their manager. After leaving Mid-South, the Midnight Express competed briefly in WCCW (Dallas) before moving on to Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). Condrey left in 1987, and was replaced by Stan Lane. Eaton and Lane (still managed by Cornette) competed in JCP and WCW, where they briefly feuded with "The Original Midnight Express" of Condrey and Rose (managed by Paul E. Dangerously). This version of the Midnight Express disbanded in October 1990 when Cornette and Lane left WCW. In 1998, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) teamed up Bob Holly and Bart Gunn as "The Midnight Express", who were also managed by Jim Cornette. From 2004 until 2011 various combinations of Condrey, Eaton, and Lane competed as The Midnight Express on the independent circuit.

History

Dennis Condrey, Randy Rose and Norvell Austin (1980–1983)

In 1980 a new team was formed in Southeast Championship Wrestling consisting of Dennis Condrey and Randy Rose. Norvell Austin adopted the masked persona of "The Shadow" and teamed with Brad Armstrong to defeat Condrey and Rose for the title on May 4, 1981. After losing the title back to Condrey and Rose on July 27, 1981, 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, or a cover version, 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 won the AWA Southern Tag Team title in the CWA and invoked the "Freebird Rule" to allow any two of the three men to defend the titles on a given night. The Midnight Express lost the AWA Southern tag team title to Bobby Eaton and Sweet Brown Sugar before returning to SECW in the spring of 1982. To complement "Loverboy" Dennis Condrey, Eaton was nicknamed "Beautiful Bobby", a nickname he continued using. The Express was first booked in a 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 T. A. in the middle of the ring. Condrey and Eaton won their first tag team championship when Mr. Wrestling II turned on Magnum T. A. and attacked him during a match, allowing The Midnight Express to walk away with the titles without much opposition. Collectively Dennis Condrey and Bobby Eaton held 53 tag team titles, setting the record in all of professional wrestling. During the Midnight's Express time in Mid-South, Wendi Richter was made an honorary member by Jim Cornette.

With Mr. Wrestling II and Magnum T. A. splitting up, the Midnight Express needed a new team to defend their newly won title against. This team was The Rock 'n' Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson), with whom they started a long-running series of matches that would last well into the 1990s and span several wrestling promotions. The two Expresses had a series of matches which differed from the way tag team wrestling was presented at the time and drew attention both locally and nationally. When opportunities in WCCW looked to go nowhere the Midnight Express signed with Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) in 1985, giving them national exposure through JCP's television shows that were broadcast on SuperStation TBS.

Reformation with Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane (1987–1988)

In March 1987, Dennis Condrey suddenly left JCP without giving any reason, leaving Eaton without a partner. Bubba Rogers worked a few dates to fulfill obligations, but Dusty Rhodes made the decision to pick Stan Lane who was a singles star in Florida at the time. Tom Prichard was thought about, but never officially suggested.

On October 29, 1990, the Express showed up to the World Wide Wrestling TV tapings in Anderson, South Carolina, only to discover they were not on the card for any of the shows. Since they were not told ahead of time, Eaton was unable to take the day off to spend time with his wife and children. Cornette, already frustrated over what he perceived as the burial of Lane and Eaton by WCW President Jim Herd, discovered the next day that the Express was booked for four matches at the October 30 World Championship Wrestling TV tapings in Atlanta, Georgia, and they were to lose all of them. After confronting Ole Anderson, the booker at the time, over the scheduling, Cornette was told to "go home" if he disagreed. Calling Anderson's bluff, Cornette walked out of the room and told Lane he was leaving for good. Lane decided that he was going to quit as well, and after they said goodbye to Eaton (who decided to stay due to his family obligations), both men left and began heading north toward Charlotte, North Carolina; it was not until Anderson came looking for Cornette and Lane later that he realized they had quit after questioning Eaton of their whereabouts. So, for the first time in almost a decade, there was no Midnight Express.—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 the name "Midnight Express" and having Cornette in their corner, in shoot interviews Cornette has indicated that he never considered the team as continuing the lineage of the Midnight Express. They feuded with the Rock N' Roll Express. In July 1998, they disbanded.

Midnight Express reunited (2004–2011)

In 2003, Eaton worked for NWA Mid-Atlantic forming a new version of the Midnight Express with Rikki Nelson. This version was short-lived as Eaton soon started working independent wrestling cards with Dennis Condrey, sometimes with Lane and Cornette as well. Often they would be booked in matches against old rivals the Rock 'n' Roll Express, including the NWA 60th Anniversary Show in Atlanta, Georgia on June 7, 2008, and their final match at JCW's "Legends & Icons" show in August 2011.

Members

Wrestlers

  • Dennis Condrey (1980–1989, 2004–2011)
  • Randy Rose (1980–1983, 1987–1989, 2004–2006)
  • Norvell Austin (1981–1983, 2004)
  • Ron Starr (1983)
  • Honky Tonk Man (1983)
  • Bobby Eaton (1983–1990, 2002–2011)
  • Stan Lane (1987–1990, 2005–2010)
  • Bart Gunn (1998)
  • Bob Holly (1998)
  • Rikki Nelson (2002–2005)
  • Jeff Collett (Early 90's, VWA)

Managers

  • Jim Cornette (1983–1990, 1998, 2004–2010)
  • Paul E. Dangerously (1987–1989)

Championships and accomplishments

  • National Wrestling Alliance
  • NWA Hall of Fame (class of 2007)

Austin and Condrey

  • Continental Wrestling Association
  • CWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time)

Austin and Rose

  • NWA Southeastern Championship Wrestling
  • NWA Southeastern Tag Team Championship(Southern Division) (1 time)

Condrey and Eaton

  • All-Star Wrestling (Virginia)
  • ASW Tag Team Championship (7 time)
  • International Wrestling Cartel
  • IWC Tag Team Championship (10 time)
  • Jim Crockett Promotions
  • NWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time)
  • Mid-South Wrestling
  • Mid-South Tag Team Championship (2 times)
  • NWA Bluegrass
  • NWA Bluegrass Tag Team Championship (10 times)
  • NWA Rocky Top
  • NWA Rocky Top Tag Team Championship (19 times)
  • NWA East Tennessee
  • NWA East Tennessee Tag Team Championship (1 time)
  • Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI ranked them #21 of the 100 best tag teams during the "PWI Years" in 2003
  • Universal Championship Wrestling
  • UCW Tag Team Championship (2 times)
  • Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
  • Class of 2019 - Inducted with "Ravishing" Randy Rose
  • World Class Championship Wrestling
  • NWA American Tag Team Championship (1 time)
  • Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
  • Tag Team of the Year (1986)

Condrey and Rose

  • American Wrestling Association
  • AWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time)
  • Continental Wrestling Association
  • AWA Southern Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with Norvell Austin
  • Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
  • Class of 2019 - Inducted with "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton
  • Southeastern Championship Wrestling
  • NWA Southeastern Tag Team Championship (13 times)
  • NWA Southeastern Tag Team Championship Tournament (1983)
  • Windy City Pro Wrestling
  • WCPW Tag Team Championship (1 time)
  • All-South Wrestling Alliance
  • ASWA Georgia Tag Team Championship (1 time)

Eaton and Lane

  • Jim Crockett Promotions / World Championship Wrestling
  • NWA United States Tag Team Championship (3 times)
  • NWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time)
  • Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI Tag Team of the Year (1987)
  • Ranked them No. 32 of the 100 best tag teams during the PWI Years in 2003
  • Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
  • Feud of the Year (1988) <small>vs. The Fantastics (Bobby Fulton and Tommy Rogers)</small>
  • Tag Team of the Year (1987, 1988)

Eaton and Nelson

  • NWA Mid-Atlantic
  • NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship (1 time)

Collett and Lane

  • Virginia Wrestling Association
  • VWA Tag Team Championship

Holly and Gunn

  • World Wrestling Federation
  • NWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time)

References

  • Memphis Wrestling History
  • Cagematch profile