The Top 100 Tag Teams of All Time | 94: The Midnight Express

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Loosely speaking, there have been six different versions of the Midnight Express that mattered even a little bit. Two of those versions made it into this top 100 list. First, the number 111-ranked Bobby Eaton & Dennis Condrey come in at number 94 on the list. Eaton & Condrey were the second iteration of the Midnight Express, after Condrey’s stable with Novell Austin and Randy Rose from the early ‘80s. Eaton & Condrey formed in ‘83 and teamed for four years, until Condrey left Jim Crockett Promotions in ‘87 for the AWA. More on that later. 

May 5, 1985 – Irving, Texas 

Bobby Fulton & Tommy Rogers def. Bobby Eaton & Dennis Condrey {NWA American Tag Team Championship Two Ring No Disqualification Match}
From WCCW 2nd Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions. I was originally going to post a review of the Midnights vs. Road Warriors Sky Walkers match here, as that’s the match that’s been reviewed by enough Cagematch users to be officially included. But that match sucks (this one does too, but doesn’t have a proto-deathmatch stipulation) and this match at least was well-reviewed by the Observer at the time, so I’m using that as an excuse to not watch a scaffold match. Every non-singles match on this show took place in both rings, including this one. This was a rather bland, but thankfully short brawl. There was no rhyme or reason to it, no interesting ebbs and flows in the action that let one team control long enough for anyone to care. And the finish was overbooked nonsense. Jim Cornette knocked out Fulton with the racket and Condrey pinned him, while at the same time Rogers rolled up Eaton. A referee had been knocked out, so separate referees counted the two pins. The original referee’s count won out so the Fantastics won at 8:35. Terrible, but I still prefer it to the Road Warriors scaffold match. *¾   

August 31, 1984 – Houston, Texas 

Bobby Fulton & Tommy Rogers def. Dennis Condrey & Bobby Eaton
From Houston Wrestling. Let’s try to erase that match from our memories with a supposedly good match between these teams. The Midnight Express were the Mid-South Tag Team Champions but the titles weren’t on the line as the Fantastics had just started teaming two months before this. We’ll see one of their matches for those titles in just a bit. Eaton’s tights match the Fantastics’ trunks and I hate it. What I don’t hate is him falsely accusing the Fantastics of cheating at every opportunity. The crowd reacts most when the Fantastics go after Cornette, so he hams it up to the point of ridiculousness. Rogers spends the match getting absolutely destroyed and the crowd is rabid to see him get revenge.  When Fulton tags in it’s so loud that my speakers almost blow out. A minute later, Eaton accidentally hits a diving kneedrop on Condrey and Rogers gets the pin at 17:34. I could have used a little more from the babyfaces after the hot tag, as it felt like they were suddenly told to pack it in a little early. But you have to watch this match because fans just don’t react to wrestling like this anymore. You know how everyone talks about how loud Steve Austin’s pop was when he helped Mankind win the WWF Championship? I would be zero percent surprised if this was louder. ***¾ 

April 19, 1986 – New Orleans, Louisiana 

Hawk & Animal def. Bobby Eaton & Dennis Condrey {Quarterfinal Match}
From NWA Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup. It’s amazing how much Cornette aged in just two years since the previous match. This was a fun little slice of power vs. chicanery, but like most matches in these overstuffed tournaments it was too short to develop into something more interesting. Hawk beat up Eaton in a really entertaining way, but as soon as Animal started having some fun, Cornette tripped him and drew a disqualification at 8:21. A “rematch” occurred at the following year’s Crockett Cup after Lane replaced Eaton on the team. Supposedly that match is better, but I bet it also doesn’t really hold up. **¾ 

February 2, 1986 – Atlanta, Georgia 

Bobby Eaton & Dennis Condrey def. Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson {NWA World Tag Team Championship Match}
From JCP Superstars on the Superstation. This was on the WWE Network at one point, but I’m pretty sure you can’t find it on Peacock now. Sucks, but (and I’m not advocating this) it’s not that hard to find elsewhere if you’re curious. I loved this. The Midnights attacked before the bell, but the Rock N’ Roll Express were on defense right out of the gate. They knew the threat they faced and they fought like hell to keep their opponents from gaining any ground. That is, until Eaton catapults Gibson into Condrey. Immediately, the Midnights punish Gibson with huge moves and Cornette’s belt. The finish was kind of a bummer, but that’s not surprising given that it was a big heel win. Morton decides to bring Cornette into the ring and whip him with his own belt, but Condrey sneaks up behind and hits him with the tennis racket. Cornette drags Eaton on top to make the Midnights NWA Champions for the first and only time as a duo at 16:27. ***½ 

May 11, 1984 – Houston, Texas 

Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson def. Bobby Eaton & Dennis Condrey {Mid-South Tag Team Championship Match}
From Houston Wrestling. I always thought that the Rock N’ Roll Express’ theme song was Run Rudolph Run, but it was a soundalike. It sounded like the ring announcer called this a non-title match, but the referee holds up the belts so that’s good enough for me. These guys were doing this match every single day during the May circuit, so it’s no surprise they have the routing down pat. As usual, the Houston crowd is a bunch of raving lunatics and it’s awesome. The Midnights cheated like crazy and Gibson looked tough as nails. And Morton did the Morton thing, which the crowd loves. This probably worked a bit better than their title change in ‘86 because Morton is more sympathetic than GIbson and he’s the one who spent this match getting beat up. Gibson evaded a belt shot and hit Condrey with a weird crossbody for the win at 14:40. Again, watch this (and probably any Houston wrestling match) for the heat alone. ***¾ 

Everyone’s favorite combination of this team is Lane & Eaton, but Condrey was certainly an entertaining heel. It’s such a shame that Eaton passed away, he was incredible. I’m glad I’ll be able to revisit more of his matches in this series.