Dennis Condrey
Encyclopedia
Dennis Condrey is an American professional wrestler, best known as being one half of the tag team Midnight Express.
He is currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment as a trainer for Florida Championship Wrestling
Florida Championship Wrestling
Championship Wrestling from Florida was the corporate and brand name of the Tampa, Florida wrestling office existing from 1961, when Eddie Graham first bought into the promotion, until 1987, when it closed down. It is also referred to as Florida Championship Wrestling...

.

Career

Dennis Condrey started wrestling in 1973 in the Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

 area. He moved on to Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

's Southeast Championship Wrestling and formed the Midnight Express in 1981 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 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"...

. They dominated the tag team scene there until Condrey left for Mid-South wrestling in 1984. Once there, he formed a new version of the Midnight Express with 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...

 with 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...

 as their manager. They also started a legendary feud with the Rock 'n' Roll Express
Rock 'n' Roll Express
The Rock 'n' Roll Express are a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson. The duo began teaming together in Memphis in the early 1980s, followed by the National Wrestling Alliance's Jim Crockett Promotions . In JCP, they held the NWA World Tag Team Championship...

 that carried over into the NWA
National Wrestling Alliance
The 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...

's 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:...

 in 1985.

In early 1986, Condrey and Eaton won the NWA World Tag Team Titles from the Rock 'n' Roll Express and feuded with them until Condrey left the promotion in early 1987. He literally left overnight, giving no notice to Cornette, Eaton, or the NWA.

Condrey would reunite with former partner 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...

 in the AWA under manager 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....

. "Loverboy" Dennis and "Ravishing" Randy called themselves "The Original Midnight Express", and claimed the right to the name, which had since been used by Condrey and Eaton (and later by "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton and "Sweet" Stan Lane
Stan Lane
Wallace Stanfield "Stan" Lane is an American professional wrestler, trained by Ric Flair, who started wrestling in 1974 in Championship Wrestling from Florida. For a brief time in Florida, he was nicknamed Nature Boy...

) in the NWA.

They would defeat Jerry Lawler and Bill Dundee for the AWA World Tag Team titles on October 26, 1987, in Memphis, TN. They would have a two month title reign, losing the titles to the returning Midnight Rockers
The Rockers
The Rockers were a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty that teamed from 1985 to 1992. The team worked for Central States Wrestling, the American Wrestling Association, Continental Wrestling Federation, Continental Wrestling Association and the World...

 (Shawn Michaels
Shawn Michaels
Michael Shawn Hickenbottom , better known by his ring name Shawn Michaels, is an American television host and retired professional wrestler. He presents the Outdoor Channel show MacMillan River Adventures, and is currently signed to WWE, where he has served in an ambassadorial role since December...

 and Marty Jannetty
Marty Jannetty
Frederick Marty Jannetty is an American professional wrestler, best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation as part of tag team The Rockers with partner Shawn Michaels, and later as a singles competitor. While in the WWF, he became a one time Intercontinental Champion and a one time...

) on December 27, 1987 in Las Vegas
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...

, Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...

.

At the request of Cornette, because his team of Eaton and Lane didn't have a program after their feud with 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...

 ended, convinced head booker Dusty Rhodes
Dusty Rhodes (wrestler)
Virgil Riley Runnels, Jr. , better known as "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, is a semi-retired American professional wrestler currently working for WWE...

 to give Condrey a second chance with Randy Rose and Dangerously in a "Midnight vs. Midnight" feud. Condrey and Rose resurfaced in the NWA (with Dangerously) in November 1988. During the November 5 episode of World Championship Wrestling
WCW Saturday Night
WCW Saturday Night was a weekly Saturday night TV show on TBS produced by World Championship Wrestling. The program existed through various incarnations under different names before becoming WCW Saturday Night in 1992...

, Jim Cornette received an anonymous phone call. The caller ridiculed Cornette over Eaton and Lane's loss of the NWA World Tag Team titles to the Road Warriors on October 29. Cornette recognized the caller and basically asked him to come say it to his face. At that point, Dangerously and the Original Midnight Express hit the ring and proceeded to pummel Cornette and Stan Lane, who was wrestling in a singles match. By the time Bobby Eaton showed up, it was three on one. Cornette showed up the next week on TBS carrying his blood stained suit jacket and the feud was on.

The teams wrestled at Starrcade '88
Starrcade (1988)
Starrcade '88 was the sixth annual Starrcade professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced under the National Wrestling Alliance banner. It was the first Starrcade event produced by World Championship Wrestling , and it took place on December 26, 1988 from the Norfolk Scope in Norfolk, Virginia...

, but nothing was solved. The Midnights vs. Midnights would be the hottest feud in the NWA for months, building up to a 6-man tag match involving the managers on pay-per-view in February 1989. The one who got pinned would have to leave the promotion. However, due to changes in ownership, the NWA was going through booking upheaval with Dusty Rhodes being replaced as head booker by 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...

. Jim Crockett already had a problem with Condrey due to his previous overnight disappearance and Scott had previous animosity with Rose, so Scott's appearance as top booker made for the catalyst to bury the team and the feud. The feud was cooled off and the "loser leaves town" match was going to be used to kick one of them out of the territory once and for all and continue to bury the other. At the last minute, Dennis Condrey once again decided to leave the NWA, rather than take his PPV payoff and give Crockett and Scott the satisfaction. Jack Victory was brought in as his replacement and the match went forward.

Condrey returned to Alabama (now known as Continental) in the Spring of 1989 and would become the CWF Heavyweight Champion
NWA Southeast Continental Heavyweight Championship
The NWA Continental Heavyweight Championship was a major title in the National Wrestling Alliance's Alabama territory called Southeastern Championship Wrestling. It existed from 1984 until 1988 when CCW became the Continental Wrestling Federation. The title continued on as the CWF Heavyweight...

. He would also form a short-lived tag team called the "Lethal Weapons" with Doug Gilbert
Doug Gilbert
Doug Gilbert is a professional wrestler from Memphis, Tennessee who wrestles on the independent circuit. He is the brother of "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert and the son of wrestler/referee/promoter Tommy Gilbert....

 before retiring from full-time action in the early 1990s.

Condrey came back to team with Eaton in 2004 and, along with Stan Lane, they have been wrestling as the Midnight Express in the independents and feuding with the Rock 'n' Roll Express and The Fantastics
Fantastics
The 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...

.

Condrey signed to World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...

 in March 2010 as a developmental trainer. He was assigned to Florida Championship Wrestling
Florida Championship Wrestling
Championship Wrestling from Florida was the corporate and brand name of the Tampa, Florida wrestling office existing from 1961, when Eddie Graham first bought into the promotion, until 1987, when it closed down. It is also referred to as Florida Championship Wrestling...

 and works with the rookies on the NXT
WWE NXT
WWE NXT is a sports entertainment television program produced by WWE that debuted on February 23, 2010. Described as a hybrid between reality television and WWE's scripted live event shows, the premise of the show follows select talent contracted to WWE's developmental territory Florida...

 roster.

In wrestling

  • Finishing maneuvers
    • Full nelson facebuster
    • Enzuigiri

  • Signature moves
    • Running leg drop
    • Airplane spin
    • Neckbreaker
      Neckbreaker
      In professional wrestling a neckbreaker is any throw or slam that focuses its attack on the opponent’s neck. One type of neckbreaker involves the wrestler slamming an opponent's neck against a part of the wrestler's body, usually the knee, head or shoulder...

    • Back elbow smash

  • Managers
    Manager (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 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...

    • Baby Doll
      Nickla Roberts
      Nickla Ann Roberts is an American semi-retired professional wrestler and valet, better known by her ring name, "The Perfect 10" Baby Doll...

    • 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....

    • Jimmy Hart
      Jimmy Hart
      James "Jimmy" Ray Hart is a professional wrestling manager, executive, composer, and musician currently signed with WWE. He is best known for his work in the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling under his nickname "The Mouth of the South." He has managed many professional...

    • Terri Runnels
      Terri Runnels
      Terri Lynne Boatright Runnels is a former World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Federation professional wrestling manager, television host and occasional wrestler....


  • Nickname
    Nickname
    A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....

    s
    • "Loverboy"

Championships and accomplishments

  • American Wrestling Association
    American Wrestling Association
    The 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 Championship
      AWA 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 :...

       (1 time) – 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...


  • Continental Wrestling Federation
    • CWF Heavyweight Championship
      NWA Southeast Continental Heavyweight Championship
      The NWA Continental Heavyweight Championship was a major title in the National Wrestling Alliance's Alabama territory called Southeastern Championship Wrestling. It existed from 1984 until 1988 when CCW became the Continental Wrestling Federation. The title continued on as the CWF Heavyweight...

       (1 time)

  • Georgia Championship Wrestling
    Georgia Championship Wrestling
    Georgia Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion whose self-titled TV program aired in the 1970s and 1980s on Atlanta, U.S., superstation WTBS. Though based in Atlanta, the company also ran live wrestling shows throughout its geographic "territory" of Georgia Georgia...

    • NWA Georgia Heavyweight Championship
      NWA Georgia Heavyweight Championship
      The NWA Georgia Heavyweight Championship was the major title in the Georgia Championship Wrestling professional wrestling promotion. It started in 1964 and was unified in 1981 with the NWA National Heavyweight Championship....

       (1 time)
  • International Championship Wrestling (New England)
    International World Class Championship Wrestling
    International World Class Championship Wrestling was an independent professional wrestling promotion based in Boston, Massachusetts. It was promoted by Angelo Savoldi and his sons Mario, Tom, and Joseph Savoldi....


    • ICW Tag Team Championship
      IWCCW Tag Team Championship
      The ICW / IWCCW Tag-Team Championship was the top tag-team championship of International World Class Championship Wrestling between 1984 and 1995 where IWCCW closed down operations...

       (1 time) – with Doug Gilbert
      Doug Gilbert
      Doug Gilbert is a professional wrestler from Memphis, Tennessee who wrestles on the independent circuit. He is the brother of "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert and the son of wrestler/referee/promoter Tommy Gilbert....

  • International Wrestling Cartel
    • IWC Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with 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...


  • 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:...

    • NWA World Tag Team Championship (Mid-Atlantic version)
      WCW World Tag Team Championship
      The World Championship Wrestling Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling world tag team championship in World Championship Wrestling...

       (1 time) – with 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...


  • Mid-South Wrestling Association
    • Mid-South Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Bobby Eaton

  • NWA Bluegrass
    National Wrestling Alliance
    The 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 (1 time, current) – with Bobby Eaton

  • NWA Mid-America / Continental Wrestling Association
    Continental Wrestling Association
    The 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 Championship
      AWA Southern Tag Team Championship
      The 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...

       (9 times) – with Phil Hickerson (5), Don Carson (1), David Shultz (1), and Randy Rose (2)
    • NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Championship
      NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Championship
      The NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling title defended in the US states of Tennessee and Alabama.The title began in 1957 and lasted first 1980 when it was first abandoned when Jerry Jarrett took over the Mid-American titles from Nick Gulas...

       (2 times)
    • NWA Mid-America Tag Team Championship
      NWA Mid-America Tag Team Championship
      The NWA Mid-America tag-team championship was a tag-team title promoted by the NWA Mid America promotion that ran more or less exclusively in Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky from the 1940ties until 1980...

       (1 time) – with Phil Hickerson
    • NWA Six-Man Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Al Greene & Phil Hickerson (1), and Tojo Yamamoto & Chris Colt (1)
    • NWA Tri-State Heavyweight Championship (Alabama version) (1 time)
    • NWA Tri-State Tag Team Championship (Alabama version) (1 time) – with Joe Turner
    • NWA World Brass Knuckles Championship
      NWA World Brass Knuckles Championship
      The NWA World Brass Knuckles Championship was a short-lived title in the National Wrestling Alliance. It was defended in the Tennessee area from 1978 until 1981.-Title history:...

       (1 time)

  • NWA Wrestle Birmingham
    National Wrestling Alliance
    The 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 Wrestle Birmingham Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
    • NWA Wrestle Birmingham Television Championship (1 time)

  • Southeastern Championship Wrestling
    Continental 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...

    • NWA Alabama Heavyweight Championship
      NWA Alabama Heavyweight Championship
      The NWA Alabama Heavyweight Championship was created in October, 1962. Since its creation, the championship has been defended in a number of NWA territories throughout the decades....

       (2 times)
    • NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship (Northern Division) (1 time)
    • NWA Southeastern Tag Team Championship (15 times) – with Randy Rose (10), David Shultz (1), Don Carson (1), and Phil Hickerson (3)

  • Windy City Wrestling
    • WCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Randy Rose

  • 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...

    • NWA American Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Bobby Eaton

  • World Wrestling Council
    World Wrestling Council
    The World Wrestling Council is one of Puerto Rico's two main professional wrestling promotions, the other one being the International Wrestling Association....

    • WWC North American Tag Team Championship
      WWC North American Tag Team Championship
      The NWA North American Tag Team Championship was a major tag team championship that was used and defended in Capitol Sports Promotions...

       (1 time) – with Dutch Mantel
      Dutch Mantel
      Wayne Keown is an American professional wrestler, and author better known by his ring name, Dutch Mantel or Dutch Mantell. He currently is semi-retired but still makes occasional wrestling appearances. He was previously with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as a writer behind the scenes...


  • Pro Wrestling Illustrated
    Pro Wrestling Illustrated
    Pro 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 him # 219 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003.
    • PWI ranked him # 21 of the 100 best tag teams during the "PWI Years" with Bobby Eaton in 2003.

  • Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
    • Tag Team of the Year (1986) with Bobby Eaton
    • Hall of Fame
      Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame
      The Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame is a professional wrestling hall of fame that recognizes people who make significant contributions to the sport. It was founded in 1996 by Dave Meltzer, editor of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame is not...

       (Class of 2009) with Bobby Eaton as the Midnight Express

External links

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