BobBitchen
08-07-2009, 10:20 PM
1986.
Midnight Rockers
In early 1986, both Jannetty and Michaels were signed by the American Wrestling Association (AWA) as they needed young talent to replace the wrestlers that had switched to the World Wrestling Federation as it was expanding towards becoming a national company.[3] The two were paired up by the AWA bookers, Greg Gagne (son of the owner and one of the bookers) suggested the name ”The Country Rockers”, another idea for a name was the "U.S. Express" (as told by Marty during an interview on AWA television that aired in 1986) not keen on the idea the two of them came up with the name The Midnight Rockers inspired by Judas Priest’s ”Living after Midnight”. AWA owner Verne Gagne did not seem to understand the idea, (in fact he is quoted as wondering if fans might confuse the name with rocking chairs) but let the team go ahead and use the name.[1] The two started wearing identical outfits and develop the ”Fun loving pretty boy” gimmick they’d be known for throughout their time together. After wrestling on the lower end of the card to get the fans familiar with the team the Midnight Rockers soon moved onto a feud with the team of Doug Somers and Buddy Rose who at the time were one of the top teams in the promotion.[3] Their initial outing with Somers and Rose at the WrestleRock stadium show on April 20, 1986 did not go well for Jannetty and Michaels who lost in front of 22,000 fans.[4] When Somers and Rose beat Scott Hall and Curt Hennig for the AWA World Tag Team Championship the Midnight Rockers suddenly found themselves chasing the main tag team title of the promotion. The Midnight Rockers teamed up with Curt Hennig to defeat Somer, Rose and Alexis Smirnoff at ”Battle by the Bay” on June 28, 1986 to prove that they were indeed capable of beating the champions.[5] The Midnight Rockers would repeatedly challenge Somers throughout the rest of 1986 but never quite be able to get the win when the titles were on the line. Finally near the end of that year the Midnight Rockers finally started to show that they were gaining the upper hand in the feud. Jannetty and Michaels defeated the champions in a ”non-title” Steel cage match on December 25, 1986 on the AWA’s ”Brawl in St. Paul” show.[6] Finally on January 27, 1987 the Midnight Rockers defeated Rose and Somers for the AWA Tag Team title.[2] The brutal feud with Somers and Rose and winning the AWA tag team titles got the Midnight Rockers noticed by both wrestling fans and promoters all over the world. Jannetty and Michaels realized that the AWA was a promotion in decline, in fact it would shut down completely by 1990, and they decided that their best bet was to work for the World Wrestling Federation. The Midnight Rockers got an offer from Vince McMahon while holding the AWA Tag Titles. The Midnight Rockers even signed with the WWF while still holding the gold, necessitating the quick title change to the unproven duo of Boris Zhukov and Soldat Ustinov on May 25, 1987
ESPN classic kicks ass.
<a href="http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=5912452">The Midnight Rockers vs. Doug Somers and Buddy Rose</a><br/><object width="425px" height="360px" ><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"/><param name="wmode" value="transparent"/><param name="movie" value="http://mediaservices.myspace.com/services/media/embed.aspx/m=5912452,t=1,mt=video"/><embed src="http://mediaservices.myspace.com/services/media/embed.aspx/m=5912452,t=1,mt=video" width="425" height="360" allowFullScreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent"></embed></object>
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=5912452
not the same match but same time frame.
Midnight Rockers
In early 1986, both Jannetty and Michaels were signed by the American Wrestling Association (AWA) as they needed young talent to replace the wrestlers that had switched to the World Wrestling Federation as it was expanding towards becoming a national company.[3] The two were paired up by the AWA bookers, Greg Gagne (son of the owner and one of the bookers) suggested the name ”The Country Rockers”, another idea for a name was the "U.S. Express" (as told by Marty during an interview on AWA television that aired in 1986) not keen on the idea the two of them came up with the name The Midnight Rockers inspired by Judas Priest’s ”Living after Midnight”. AWA owner Verne Gagne did not seem to understand the idea, (in fact he is quoted as wondering if fans might confuse the name with rocking chairs) but let the team go ahead and use the name.[1] The two started wearing identical outfits and develop the ”Fun loving pretty boy” gimmick they’d be known for throughout their time together. After wrestling on the lower end of the card to get the fans familiar with the team the Midnight Rockers soon moved onto a feud with the team of Doug Somers and Buddy Rose who at the time were one of the top teams in the promotion.[3] Their initial outing with Somers and Rose at the WrestleRock stadium show on April 20, 1986 did not go well for Jannetty and Michaels who lost in front of 22,000 fans.[4] When Somers and Rose beat Scott Hall and Curt Hennig for the AWA World Tag Team Championship the Midnight Rockers suddenly found themselves chasing the main tag team title of the promotion. The Midnight Rockers teamed up with Curt Hennig to defeat Somer, Rose and Alexis Smirnoff at ”Battle by the Bay” on June 28, 1986 to prove that they were indeed capable of beating the champions.[5] The Midnight Rockers would repeatedly challenge Somers throughout the rest of 1986 but never quite be able to get the win when the titles were on the line. Finally near the end of that year the Midnight Rockers finally started to show that they were gaining the upper hand in the feud. Jannetty and Michaels defeated the champions in a ”non-title” Steel cage match on December 25, 1986 on the AWA’s ”Brawl in St. Paul” show.[6] Finally on January 27, 1987 the Midnight Rockers defeated Rose and Somers for the AWA Tag Team title.[2] The brutal feud with Somers and Rose and winning the AWA tag team titles got the Midnight Rockers noticed by both wrestling fans and promoters all over the world. Jannetty and Michaels realized that the AWA was a promotion in decline, in fact it would shut down completely by 1990, and they decided that their best bet was to work for the World Wrestling Federation. The Midnight Rockers got an offer from Vince McMahon while holding the AWA Tag Titles. The Midnight Rockers even signed with the WWF while still holding the gold, necessitating the quick title change to the unproven duo of Boris Zhukov and Soldat Ustinov on May 25, 1987
ESPN classic kicks ass.
<a href="http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=5912452">The Midnight Rockers vs. Doug Somers and Buddy Rose</a><br/><object width="425px" height="360px" ><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"/><param name="wmode" value="transparent"/><param name="movie" value="http://mediaservices.myspace.com/services/media/embed.aspx/m=5912452,t=1,mt=video"/><embed src="http://mediaservices.myspace.com/services/media/embed.aspx/m=5912452,t=1,mt=video" width="425" height="360" allowFullScreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent"></embed></object>
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=5912452
not the same match but same time frame.