Pro wrestler Dennis Condrey, Midnight Express tag team star, dies at 74

Former professional wrestler Dennis Condrey, a founding member of The Midnight Express tag team, died March 20. He was 74.

Wrestler Dax Harwood announced Condrey’s death in an Instagram post hours after the former wrestler’s death and also set up a GoFundMe page to help cover his funeral expenses.

“Greatest of All Time scenarios will always be a hot button for debate,” Harwood, 41, wrote in his tribute. “However, when it comes to greatest tag teams of all time, almost always is The Midnight Express brought up.”

Nicknamed “Loverboy,” Condrey got his professional start near Charlotte, North Carolina. He made his ring debut in 1973 and was a staple in the Memphis, Mid-South World Class Championship Wrestling and Jim Crockett (NWA) promotions, PWInsider reported.

Condrey rose to fame in 1980 as one-half of The Midnight Express, which he founded with Randy Rose and Norvell Austin. He later reformed the team with “Beautiful” Bobby Eaton and their manager, tennis racquet-wielding Jim Cornette.

With Condrey and Eaton using a brawling style of wrestling and Cornette using his gift of gab to promote his team and infuriate fans, The Midnight Express became a mainstay in Crockett’s promotion. The team would receive an added push from its exposure on Superstation WTBS in Atlanta.

The team would generate heat with its feud with tag team rivals Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson, who competed as the Rock N’ Roll Express, PWInsider reported.

“Their rivalry played to the strengths of all involved and drew tons of money for every promoter smart enough to utilize that feud,” the publication reported.

Condrey left the tag team in 1987 for Verne Gagne’s AWA promotion and Stan Lane replaced him, PWTorch reported.

Condrey and Rose reunited in the AWA and were managed by Paul E. Dangerously (Paul Heyman, who was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2024), branding themselves as “The Original Midnight Express.” They left that wrestling territory in 1988 and began a feud with Eaton, Lane and Cornette in Jim Crockett Promotions, according to PWTorch.

Condrey retired from the ring in 2011 after holding several titles during his career.

“When I think of this business as a craft, Dennis Condrey is as good as any craftsmen professional wrestling ever had,” Nick Aldis of the WWE wrote on X. “For me, pro wrestling is at it’s best when it’s a combination of technical skill, perfect timing and rugged, believable aggression; Dennis Condrey embodied that combination flawlessly.”

“AEW and the wrestling world are mourning the passing of Loverboy Dennis Condrey, one half of the legendary Midnight Express,” All Elite Wrestling wrote on X. “Our deepest sympathies go out to his family, friends and fans during this difficult time.”

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