The Dissection 10.20.09: The Midnight Express 25th Anniversary Scrapbook

Posted by Mike Campbell on 10.20.2009

Loverboy Dennis! Beautiful Bobby! Sweet Stan! The Midnight Express!

The Dissection
The Midnight Express 25th Anniversary Scrapbook

For those reading this for the first time, since this is a somewhat infrequent column, here's how thing work. The Dissection is a look at the literary works of pro wrestling breaks things down into four categories. The good, the bad, which are self explanatory. The ugly, which isn't just bad, but damaging to the credibility of the author, book, etc. and the rest, which is for things that don't fit into one of the other categories.

This is a different sort of book, than the previous books that I've covered. This isn't something that you can pick up in any Barnes and Noble, it's only available through Jim Cornette. This only covers the time period of the Midnight Express, which was formed in late 1983 when Bill Watts decided to pair up Bobby Eaton, Dennis Condrey, and make Cornette their manager, and the team split in 1990, when Ole Anderson suggested that Cornette go home if he didn't like things, and Jim and Stan Lane took him up on the offer. This was compiled by Jim Cornette and includes his photos, records, everything from the seven year era of the Midnight Express.

THE GOOD:

This is definitely a book that has something for every type of wrestling fan. The story nuts like myself will love the stories of the various riots that the MX had to deal with in Mid South, the backstage hell of WCW under Jim Herd, the details of Cornette's injury in the famous Skywalkers match in '86 and more. There are few who can tell stories like Jim Cornette and if you've seen even a couple of his shoot interviews, then you'll be able to read this and you can imagine him saying things word for word. Cornette's records include things like what the houses were for the various shows, what the MX actually made, and even copies of paystubs from WCCW and JCP, which is something for the fans who enjoy things from the business aspect. There are tons of photos of the various wrestlers in different areas and time frames, and even photocopies of actual "fanmail" for Cornette for the people who just want to look at pictures. I'm actually getting the creeps just thinking about the letter where a fan included an honest to goodness booger, thankfully Jim didn't include the booger in the book.

As if that wasn't enough, the end of the book also includes descriptions of several of the famous spots that the MX used during their matches. If you've only heard of things like the Tennesee Tiptoe and Referee boxing, and wonder what it is, you'll finally have your answers. Jim also includes descriptions of the MX intro, including his various sayings "The human highlight film of professional wrestling." "Twins sons of different mothers." "The Gangster of Love and the Sultan of Swing." The Stan Lane era also included Lane introducing Cornette, and there's also some of Lane's famous intros included as well.

THE BAD:

Because this is such a 'something for everyone' type of book, those who only care about certain aspects will be skipping over a lot of things. If you're only interested in the great stories, then you'll be skimming right past Jim's records as far their matches, houses, pay, etc. Honestly though, there wasn't much other way that the book could have been compiled. It starts in 1983 when they were first formed and goes between records and stories, then onto World Class, and then the NWA.'

THE UGLY:

Nothing! Cornette has been talking about his meticulous record keeing for years, and here it is in the flesh. There are a few instances where he doesn't have records, for reasons such as being laid up with a knee injury after a scaffold bump, or "missing the plane" to the Bahamas, and not having to manage in very unsafe conditions, which he explains.

THE REST:

What more do you need? The great stories, the impressive house records which make a case for the MX to be legit draws almost as soon as they formed (considering that Mid South was on its ass in late 1983), career bios of Jim, Dennis, Bobby, and Stan. The full story of the Skywalkers match and the entire fallout from it. There's even a nice little anecdote about Jim noticing that, despite the horrible business they were doing, Knoxville, TN seemed to usually do well. Which told him that it was a good wrestling town.

Overall: This is $20 well worth spending. A great concept that was well-done in execution, highest recommendation for this book.