Dennis Condrey

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Dennis Condrey
Statistics
Ring name(s)	Dennis Condrey "Loverboy" Dennis Condrey
Billed height	6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Billed weight	260 lb (118 kg)
Born	February 1, 1952 Florence, Alabama

Dennis Condrey is a professional wrestler, best known as being one half of the tag team Midnight Express.

1 Career
2 Managers
3 Championships/Accomplishments

[edit] Career

Dennis Condrey started wrestling in 1973 in the Tennessee territory. He moved on to Alabama's Southeast Championship Wrestling and formed the Midnight Express in 1981 with Randy Rose and Norvell Austin. 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 with Jim Cornette as their manager. They also started a legendary feud with the Rock 'N Roll Express that carried over into the NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions 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 in the AWA under manager Paul E. Dangerously. "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) 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" (Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty) on December 27, 1987 in Las Vegas, NV.

At the request of Cornette, because his team of Eaton and Lane didn't have a program after their feud with The Road Warriors ended, convinced head booker Dusty Rhodes 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 late 1988. During a television broadcast on TBS at the Techwood Drive Studios in Atlanta, Jim Cornette received an anonymous phone call. The caller ridiculed Cornette over Eaton and Lane's recent loss of the NWA World Tag Team titles to the Road Warriors. 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', but nothing was solved. The Midnight's vs. Midnight's 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 upheval with Dusty Rhodes being replaced as head booker by George Scott. 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, but at this point no one really cared.

Condrey returned to Alabama (now known as Continental) in the Spring of 1989 and would win the CWF Heavyweight Champion. He would also form a short-lived tage team called the "Lethal Weapons" with Doug Gilbert before retiring from full-time action in the early 1990's.

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.

[edit] Managers

Jim Cornette
Baby Doll
Paul E. Dangerously
Terri Runnels

[edit] Championships/Accomplishments

[edit] National Wrestling Alliance

1-Time NWA Bluegrass Tag Team Champion (with Bobby Eaton)
1-Time NWA World Tag Team Champion (with Bobby Eaton)
2-Time NWA Six-Man Tag Team Champion (with Al Greene & Phil Hickerson and Tojo Yamamoto & Chris Colt)
1-Time NWA World Brass Knuckles Champion

[edit] American Wrestling Association

1-Time AWA World Tag Team Champion (with Randy Rose)

[edit] Southeast Championship Wrestling

15-Time NWA Southeast Tag Team Champion (10-time with Randy Rose, 1-time with David Shultz, 1-time with Don Carson and 3-time with Phil Hickerson)
1-Time NWA Southeast Heavyweight Champion
2-Time NWA Southeast Alabama Heavyweight Champion

[edit] Mid-Southern Wrestling

9-Time Mid-Southern Tag Team Champion (with Phil Hickerson 5 times, Don Carson once, David Shultz once and Randy Rose twice)
2-Time Mid-American Heavyweight Champion

[edit] Other titles

1-Time Georgia Heavyweight Champion
1-Time WWC North American Tag Team Champion (with Dutch Mantel)
2-Time Mid-South Tag Team Champion (with Bobby Eaton)
1-Time WCCW American Tag Team Champion (with Bobby Eaton)
1-Time CWF Heavyweight Champion
1-Time ICW Tag Team Champion (with Doug Gilbert)
1-Time IWC Tag Team Champion (with Bobby Eaton)
1-Time UCW Tag Team Champion (with Bobby Eaton)

[edit] Pro Wrestling Illustrated

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