The Midnight Express is a professional wrestling tag team that has had various members and achieved most of its success in the 1980's. Professional wrestling is generally any form of performance art in which pro-wrestlers receive payment for participating. ... A professional wrestling tag-team consists of two or occasionally three wrestlers who are working together as a team. ...

History

Origins

The Midnight Express was originally formed in 1981 as a six-man tag team with Dennis Condrey, Randy Rose and Norvell Austin in Alabama's Southeast Championship Wrestling. The group's gimmick was the so called "Freebird Rule"; which allowed any two members of the team to wrestle their matches on any given night, thus their opponents who had only (kayfabe) signed to face "The Midnight Express", didn't know which combination they would get. 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Dennis Condrey is a professional wrestler, best known as being one half of the tag team Midnight Express. ... Randy Rose competed in 1981 in Alabamas Southeast Championship Wrestling and formed the Midnight Express with Dennis Condrey and Norvell Austin. ... Official language(s) English Capital Montgomery Largest city Birmingham Area  Ranked 30th  - Total 52,419 sq mi (135,765 km²)  - Width 190 miles (306 km)  - Length 330 miles (531 km)  - % water 3. ... The Continental Championship Wrestling promotion, based out of Knoxville and managed by Ron Fuller, Southeastern Championship Wrestling was a chief NWA territory during the 1970’s and early 1980’s while operating out of Tennessee and Alabama. ... In professional wrestling, a gimmick is slang that refers to a wrestlers on-screen personality. ... The Fabulous Freebirds were a professional wrestling tag team that usually consisted of three wrestlers. ... In professional wrestling, kayfabe (pronounced KAY-fayb; IPA: ) refers to the portrayal of events within the industry as real, that is the portrayal of professional wrestling as not staged or worked. ...

Eaton/Condrey

In 1983, Condrey left for Mid-South Wrestling and formed a version of the Midnight Express with Bobby Eaton for manager Jim Cornette, going by the nicknames "Beautiful Bobby" and "Loverboy Dennis". Bobby Eaton Bobby Eaton (born Robert Lee Eaton), is a professional wrestler, famous for his days as one half of the Midnight Express. ... James E. (Jim) Cornette (born September 17, 1961) is an American professional wrestling manager, commentator, promoter, and booker. ...

Rose and Austin disbanded in 1984 and the Eaton/Condrey version made the team famous with their feuds against the Rock 'N Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson) and the Fantastics (Bobby Fulton & Tommy Rogers) in World Class Championship Wrestling and the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA)'s Jim Crockett Promotions. A professional wrestling feud is a staged disagreement between two wrestlers or factions of wrestlers over a purported slight or insult. ... Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson The Rock N Roll Express The Rock N Roll Express was a professional wrestling tag team comprised of Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson that was extremely popular in the 1980s. ... Ricky Morton, (born September 21, 1956) is an American professional wrestler famous for competing in tag team matches as one half of The Rock N Roll Express in the 1980s and early 1990s. ... Robert Gibson Reuben Kane is a professional wrestler best known by his ring name of Robert Gibson. ... Tommy Rogers & Bobby Fulton The Fantastics Also see the musical The Fantasticks. ... Bobby Fulton Then and Now James Hines is a professional wrestler better known as Bobby Fulton of The Fantastics. ... Tommy Rogers Thomas Couch is a professional wrestler better known as Tommy Rogers of The Fantastics. ... World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), also called the World Class Wrestling Association (WCWA), was a popular regional professional wrestling promotion run out of Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. ... The National Wrestling Alliance NWA is a group of independent professional wrestling promotions, in operation since 1948. ... Jim Crockett Promotions was the name of a professional wrestling promotion owned by Jim Crockett, Jr. ...

Eaton/Lane

Eaton and Condrey won the NWA World Tag Team Championship in 1986. In 1987, Condrey literally (and legitly) abandoned the team when they were scheduled to appear at an event in Los Angeles and he changed his plane ticket to go somewhere else so he could drop out of sight. Stan Lane was broight in as a replacement for the missing Condrey, using the nickname "Sweet Stan". The Eaton/Lane version won the NWA United States Tag Team Titles 3 times and the World Tag Team Titles once. In the fall of 1988, Eaton and Lane became the first tag team to hold the NWA World Tag Team Championship and the NWA United States Tag Team Championship simultaniously (The Steiner Brothers would soon duplicate that feat in February 1991). The combination of Eaton and Lane are considered by many as the most accomplished and innovative tag team in professional wrestling history. The NWA World Tag Team Championship is the premier tag team title in the National Wrestling Alliance. ... -1... Flag Seal Nickname: City of Angels Location Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates , Government State County California Los Angeles County Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 1,290. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The NWA United States Tag Team Championship. ...

Original Midnight Express

In late 1988, Condrey and Rose came to the NWA with manager Paul E. Dangerously and called themselves the "Original Midnight Express", "Ravishing Randy" and "Loverboy Dennis". They worked for the American Wrestling Association where Condrey/Rose won the AWA World Tag Team Championship, eventually heading to the NWA to feud with Eaton/Lane/Cornette. Paul Buster Heyman (born September 11, 1965) is a professional wrestling manager, on-air talent, and former promoter. ... The American Wrestling Association (AWA) was a professional wrestling organization, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. ... The AWA World Tag Team Championship was the tag team title for the American Wrestling Association from 1960 until the promotion folded in 1991. ...

Eaton and Lane had for a time what many considered the best finishing move in all of wrestling. The "Veg-O-Matic" consisted of Lane bear-hugging an opponent while Eaton ascended to the top rope. When Eaton was in position, Lane would lower the opponent to a horizontal position a few feet above the mat with Eaton then jumping from the top rope and leg droping the suspended opponent across the neck. When performed correctly it was the (kayfabe) most devastating maneuver of its time in tag-team matches, compared only to the Road Warriors (Animal and Hawk) Doomsday Device. Double-team maneuvers in professional wrestling are when two wrestlers work together to attack an opponent, these moves are mainly used by tag teams in tag matches. ... Sean Waltman performs a leg drop on Shark Boy A Leg drop or Legdrop refers to an attack used in professional wrestling in which an attacking wrestler will jump and land his leg across a fallen opponents chest, throat or face. ... The Legion of Doom The Road Warriors with Paul Ellering. ... This article is about the professional wrestler, for otheruses see Road warrior Joseph (Joe) Laurinaitis (born January 26, 1960) better known by his ring name of The Road Warrior or Road Warrior Animal, is an American professional wrestler. ... This article is about the professional wrestler, for other uses see Road warrior Michael Hegstrand (September 12, 1957 – October 19, 2003) was an American professional wrestler. ... Double-team maneuvers in professional wrestling are when two wrestlers work together to attack an opponent, these moves are mainly used by tag teams in tag matches. ...

Cornette was known for giving very original names to the Midnights' moves. Besides the aforementioned "Veg-O-Matic", Cornette coined the names "Flapjack" (now a common tag-team maneuver), "Double Goozle" (a combination school boy/clothesline), "Rocket Launcher" and "Divorce Court" (for an armbar takedown). Double-team maneuvers in professional wrestling are when two wrestlers work together to attack an opponent, these moves are mainly used by tag teams in tag matches. ... Christopher Daniels covers Jerrelle Clark with a lateral press while hooking the leg for a three count during an episode of TNA iMPACT! A pinfall, also known just as a fall, is a victory condition in professional wrestling that is met by holding an opponents shoulder blades to the... Double-team maneuvers in professional wrestling are when two wrestlers work together to attack an opponent, these moves are mainly used by tag teams in tag matches. ... Much of the action in professional wrestling involves the application of techniques that involve lifting the opponent up and throwing or slamming him/her down. ...

The team of Eaton and Lane disbanded in late 1990 not long after Condrey and Rose did the same, leaving no Midnight Express teams.

World Wrestling Federation

The Midnight Express name was resurrected by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in the late 1990s when they put a combination of Bob Holly and Bart Gunn together as The New Midnight Express with Cornette as their manager -- all as part of the "NWA invasion" angle They came in as NWA Tag Team Champions but did not achieve much success (nor did the angle). World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. ... Robert William (Bob) Howard (born January 29, 1963 in Mobile, Alabama) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Bob Hardcore Holly. ... Mike Plotcheck Mike Plotcheck a. ... In professional wrestling, an angle is a fictional storyline (the wrestler Kurt Angles name is a coincidence; Angle is his given surname). ...

In 2002 and 2003 Bobby Eaton began teaming with Rikki Nelson in NWA Mid-Atlantic in 2002 and 2003 as The Midnight Express. Ricky Nelson is a professional wrestler who competed in the NWAs Jim Crockett Promotions. ...

In 2004, Eaton and Condrey reformed the Midnight Express and started wrestling for various independent promotions in the Mid-Atlantic area. They sometimes team with Stan Lane in six-man matches.-1... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Trivia

The Midnight Expresses' intro song was a revamped rendition of the song "Chase" by composer Giorgio Moroder for the 1978 Midnight Express film. // Music in professional wrestling serves a variety of purposes. ... Giorgio Moroder (born Giovanni Giorgio Moroder on April 26, 1940 in Ortisei, Italy) is an Italian record producer, songwriter and performer, whose groundbreaking work with synthesizers during the 1970s was a significant influence on techno and electronic music in general. ... Midnight Express is a 1978 fictionalized biographical film, based on the story of Billy Hayes, a young American sent to a Turkish prison for trying to smuggle hashish out of Turkey to the US. It stars Brad Davis, Irene Miracle, Bo Hopkins, Paolo Bonacelli, Paul L. Smith, Randy Quaid, Norbert...

Awards

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) ranked them at two different spots in the 100 best tag teams during the "PWI Years" in 2003. They ranked Eaton & Condrey at # 21 and Eaton & Lane at # 32. Eaton & Lane also won the PWI Tag Team of the Year Award in 1987.

Hulk Hogan on the cover of the November 1994 issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated. ...

External links

• Official Midnight Express Tribute Site
• The Midnight Express at Obsessed with Wrestling