Height/Weight: Condrey 6'0"/260; Eaton 6'0"/235
Signature Moves: Rocket Launcher, Double Goozle
WCCW Titles Held: WCCW American Tag Team titles
Notable WCCW Feuds: The Fantastics
Need to Know Facts: Their relatively brief but memorable mid-1980s stay in WCCW is one of the highlights of the long and rich history of the fabled Midnight Express and their famously outspoken manager Jim Cornette.
The team's story begins in 1982, when Condrey -- who had begun his career in Tennessee, teaming with Phil Hickerson (later P.Y. Chu-Hi in WCCW/USWA) and "Dr. D" David Shults -- formed the original Midnight Express in Alabama along with Randy Rose and future PYT Express member Norvell Austin. Their gimmick was similar to that of the early Fabulous Freebirds: teams who signed to wrestle them could wind up facing any two members of the trio.
Moving on to Mid-South Wrestling in 1983, Condrey was paired with Bobby Eaton (who, having been trained by Tojo Yamamoto, had enjoyed considerable success in the Memphis and Georgia territories) by promoter Bill Watts, who hired former wrestling writer/photographer Cornette as their manager. One of the most wildly successful heel teams of the era, Condrey and Eaton quickly captured the Mid-South Tag Team belts and feuded with the Rock & Roll Express, the Fantastics, the PYT Express (Koko Ware and Norvell Austin) and the territory's top babyfaces, Hacksaw Jim Duggan and the Junkyard Dog. Attendance records throughout the region were shattered when Watts came out of retirement to team with JYD against the hated MX in a series of bouts.At the end of 1984, the Midnights moved to World Class where they resumed their long-running feud with the Fantastics, defeating them to win the American Tag Team titles the following January. Rogers and Fulton, however, would regain the belts at the second annual Texas Stadium Parade of Champions on May 5. The Fantastics, in fact, would be the MX's most frequent opponents in WCCW, although they occasionally took on the Von Erichs or other teams. Cornette would also become embroiled in a feud with Sunshine, who eventually defeated him in his final WCCW appearance at Fourth of July Star Wars '85 -- with a little help from the Great Kabuki.
In summer 1985, Cornette and the Midnights debuted in Georgia, where they once again feuded with the Rock & Roll Express over the NWA World Tag titles. In a scaffold match at Starrcade '86, their rivalry with the Road Warriors reached its climax when Hawk and Animal emerged victorious and Cornette blew out both of his knees in a fall from the scaffold.
Attempts were made to establish "new" MX teams on two different occasions during the '90s (Bob Holly and Bart Gunn in WWE, Joey Maggs and "Hardwork" Bobby Walker in WCW), but neither effort came close to recapturing the magic of the 1980s version. In 2004, however, Eaton and Condrey reunited and wrestled (sometimes with Stan Lane as a third member) in various indy promotions throughout the South.
Today Bobby Eaton is retired, having been hospitalized multiple times for cardiac problems, and in June 2013 underwent successful surgery to insert a pacemaker; Dennis Condrey now works for WWE's NXT division as a developmental trainer. Stan Lane retired from the sport in 2005, while Jim Cornette is executive producer of TV for Ring of Honor Wrestling.
