 Condrey in 1979 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Dennis Condrey (1952-02-01)February 1, 1952 (age 73) Florence, Alabama, U.S.[1] |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Dennis Condrey Mr. Pro |
| Billed height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)[1] |
| Billed weight | 255 lb (116 kg)[1] |
| Billed from | "The Dark Side" (in The Midnight Express) Muscle Shoals,Alabama |
| Trained by | Joe Turner |
| Debut | 1973[1] |
| Retired | 2011 |
Dennis Condrey (born February 1, 1952) is an American retiredprofessional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with theContinental Wrestling Association,Jim Crockett Promotions andWorld Championship Wrestling in the 1970s and 1980s.[1][2]
Dennis Condrey was born inFlorence, Alabama, and started wrestling in 1973 in theTennessee area, wrestling for promoterNick Gulas. He would also wrestle in theMid-Atlantic area as well. In 1974, Condrey teamed up withPhil Hickerson, and became known as the Bicentennial Kings, and was managed by "Kangaroo"Al Costello. In March 1977, he began wrestling forJerry Jarrett's promotion in Memphis. Four months later, he would make his first international trip to Canada, wrestling in the Maritimes. In 1978, Condrey went toAlabama'sSoutheast Championship Wrestling. After the Bicentennial Kings broke up in 1979, Condrey formed the Big C's with Don Carson. In 1980, after Carson retired, Condrey teamed up withRandy Rose, and formed theMidnight Express, alongsideNorvell Austin.[3] They left for Mid-South wrestling in 1984.
Once in Mid-South, Condrey formed a new version of the Midnight Express withBobby Eaton withJim Cornette as their manager.[3] They also started a legendary feud with theRock 'n' Roll Express that carried over into theNWA'sJim Crockett Promotions in 1985.
In early 1986, Condrey and Eaton won the NWA World Tag Team Titles from the Rock 'n' Roll Express onSuperstars on the Superstation and feuded with them until Condrey left the promotion in early 1987. He left overnight, giving no notice to Cornette, Eaton, or the NWA.[4]
Condrey would reunite with former partnerRandy Rose in the AWA under managerPaul E. Dangerously. "Loverboy" Dennis and "Ravishing" Randy called themselves "The 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.[3]
They would defeat Jerry Lawler and Bill Dundee for the AWA World Tag Team titles on October 30, 1987, inWhitewater, Wisconsin. They would have a two-month title reign, losing the titles to the returningMidnight Rockers (Shawn Michaels andMarty Jannetty) on December 27, 1987, inLas Vegas,Nevada.[5]
After wrestling the independents, Condrey returned to the NWA in November 1988, alongside Randy Rose and Paul E. Dangerously, and now calling themselves "The Original Midnight Express".
During the November 5 episode ofWorld Championship Wrestling, 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 atStarrcade '88, but nothing was solved.[6] 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 at theChi-Town Rumble 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 byGeorge Scott. Jim Crockett, Jr. 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 tobury both teams 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. On July 22, 1989, Condrey defeatedTom Prichard to win theCWF Heavyweight Championship, before losing the title back to Prichard on December 6. He would also form a short-lived tag team called the "Lethal Weapons" withDoug Gilbert. Together, they went to the New England area to wrestle forInternational Championship Wrestling. On December 30, 1989, they defeatedPhil Apollo andVic Steamboat, who was subbing for Apollo's partner Eric Sbraccia, who no-showed, to win theICW Tag Team Championship. They held onto the belts until March 1990, when they left the promotion. Condrey retired shortly thereafter.
Condrey came back to team with Eaton in 2004 and,[7] along with Stan Lane, they have been wrestling as the Midnight Express in the independents and feuding with the Rock 'n' Roll Express andThe Fantastics.
Condrey signed toWorld Wrestling Entertainment in March 2010 as a developmental trainer.[8] He was assigned toFlorida Championship Wrestling and works with the rookies on theNXT roster. Condrey retired in 2011, after wrestling his last match on October 15, againstBill Mulkey at the AWE Night of Legends.