The Lost WWE Iron Man Matches Part 2

Back on June 1, 2017 I posted a blog looking at The Lost WWE Iron Man Matches.  On that post I presented all the Iron Man Matches that took place before the famous WrestleMania XXII Iron Man match between Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels.

A comment was left on that post recently by Roy Lucier where he mentioned one happening in 1987 in Montreal.  Looking into this I discovered several Iron Man or Marathon matches that took place not in 1987 but in 1989 and they all featured The Rockers vs. The Rougeau Brothers.  I've described the matches the best I could based on information I found on them.  Most of it from The History of WWE.

August 4, 1989 House Show Montreal, Quebec

The Rockers: Shawn Michaels & Marty Jannetty defeated The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers: Jacques & Raymond 3 falls to 2 in overtime
The Rougeau's won falls 1& 2, the Rockers won falls 3 & 4.  The Rockers won the 5th and deciding fall when Michaels reversed an inside cradle by Raymond putting Jannetty on top after Jacques has done the same moments earlier.

August 6, 1989 House Show Chicago, Illinois

The Rockers: Shawn Michaels & Marty Jannetty defeated The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers: Jacques & Raymond in overtime
Despite the scheduled 60 minute time limit the deciding fall in overtime was at the 45 minute mark

August 19, 1989 House Show Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The Rockers: Shawn Michaels & Marty Jannetty defeated The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers: Jacques & Raymond in sudden death overtime 

September 9, 1989 House Show Boston, Massachusetts

The Rockers: Shawn Michaels & Marty Jannetty defeated The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers: Jacques & Raymond 3 falls to 2 in overtime
Shawn Michaels clotheslined Jacques to win the deciding fall

October 8, 1989 House Show Washington D.C.

The Rockers: Shawn Michaels & Marty Jannetty defeated The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers: Jacques & Raymond in sudden death overtime

November 17, 1989 House Show West Palm Beach, Florida

The Rockers: Shawn Michaels & Marty Jannetty defeated The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers: Jacques & Raymond 3 falls for 2 in overtime
The Rougeau's won falls 1& 2, the Rockers won falls 3 & 4.  The Rockers won the 5th and deciding fall when Michaels hit a piledriver on Jacques and put Jannetty on top for the pin after the Rougeaus had attempted a spike piledriver on Jannetty

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The Last Match: WWE Tag Team's of the 80's Part II

Welcome to Part 2 in my The Last Match retrospective looking at the WWE Tag Team's of the 80's!  Make sure you check out part one here: WWE Tag Team's of the 80's Part I

Demolition: Ax & Smash
October 28, 2016 CWE Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
with Wildman Firpo defeated The Cannon Clan: Bobby Collins, Kevin Cannon, & Rob Stardom

One of the most dominate teams of the WWE in the late 80's they sadly fizzled out at the end of their first run.  Ax had left the WWE in November 1990 while Smash and Crush continued as a team until May 1991. 

Seventeen years later on September 29, 2007 Ax & Smash reunited to defeat the Christopher Street Connection to win the UXW Tag Team Championships.  Over the next nine years the duo continued to compete around the world much to the delight of their fans.

The Bolsheviks: Nikolai Volkoff & Boris Zhukov
April 24, 1990 Wrestling Challenge San Antonio, Texas
defeated by The Rockers: Marty Jannetty & Shawn Michaels

Zhukov joined the WWE in October of 1987 after touring the territories since his debut in 1978.  He was using the Russian gimmick in the AWA prior the coming to the WWE where he was teamed with Nikolai.  For two and a half years the duo wrestled primarily has enhancement talent however did receive a couple title matches with Strike Force.  Including a two out three falls match at Saturday Night's Main Event.

After the duo split up they feuded briefly before Nikolai left the promotions.  Zhukov continued on his own until he too left the WWE in February 1991.

The Dream Team: Brutus Beefcake & Greg "The Hammer" Valentine
June 15, 2013 Liberty States Wrestling, Oakland, New Jersey
defeated by Andrew Anderson & Kraig Stagg

The Hammer kicked Beefcake out of the team in favor of Dino Bravo at WrestleMania III in 1987.  The teamed up again in November 2003 at the Road Warrior Hawk memorial show defeating the Powers of Pain.  Over the next ten years they teamed up again thirteen times winning more often than losing.

The Powers of Pain: Warlord & The Barbarian
April 16, 2016 WrestleMerica, Gastonia, North Carolina
defeated by The Rock n' Roll Express: Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson in a steel cage match

Warlord and Barbarian first began teaming in Jim Crockett Promotions in January 1988 before joining the WWE in June of that year.  In March of 1990 they parted ways reuniting for a match in 1991 & 1992 in the WWE.  At the end of 1995 beginning of 1996 the wrestled a couple matches under masks as The Super Assassins in WCW. 

They didn't team again until 2003 and did so a couple dozens times over the next 13 years including wrestling five steel cage matches with the Rock n' Roll Express in 2016. 

The Rockers: Shawn Michaels & Marty Jannetty
March 14, 2005 Raw, Atlanta Georgia
defeated La Resistance: Rob Conway & Sylvain Grenier

They first began teaming in the AWA in 1986 until 1988 winning the AWA World Tag Team Championships two times.  They joined the WWE in 1988 and were a very successful tag team for the next 3.5 years even though the never officially captured the WWE Tag Team Championships.

We all know how the team ended, it's a pretty historic moment in wrestling.  In 2005 Michaels was feuding with Kurt Angle leading up to WrestleMania and Marty Jannetty was brought in to have a match on SmackDown with Angle.  To set that up the Rockers reunited on Monday Night Raw for a tag team match.  It was really cool them coming out to the Rockers music and Lilian Garcia announcing them as The Rockers.  For not having teamed in 14 years they looked great even hitting some classic tandem offence.

The Conquistadors: Uno & Dos
March 19, 1989 WWE, Hartford, Connecticut
defeated by The Young Stallions: Jim Powers & Paul Roma

Jose Estrada & Jose Luis Rivera had both been in the WWE for over a decade when they were teamed together and repackaged as The Conquistadors in November 1987.  They were essentially a jobber tag team picking up only a handful of wins in the 16 months there were together.

Their best showing together was at the 1988 Survivor Series when they were the last team eliminated on the heel team by the winners the Powers of Pain.  Other men donned the golden hoods as The Conquistadors but never again was it the original team.

Power and Glory: Paul Roma & Hercules
October 9, 1991 WWE house show, Paris, France
defeated by The Rockers: Shawn Michaels & Marty Jannetty

I can't put my finger on it as to why but I just really like these two guys together as a team.  They only teamed together for 18 months, and they lost more than they won, but they had some great matches with The Rockers and the Hart Foundation. 

They just jelled as a team and it would have been cool to see them get a tag team title run.  After this match Hercules continued a singles run while Roma took almost two years off before returning in 1993 in WCW.

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Shared Theme Songs

Theme songs have become a very important part of wrestling.  A simple guitar riff, the sound of glass breaking, or spoken words can pop a crowd into a frenzy of boos or cheers.  Everyone has their favorites, for me it's too hard to pick just one.

The WWE is well known for creating some of the best original music for their wrestlers, where as other promotions used radio songs, and WCW was known for using instrumental covers in a different key.  On a few occasions though the WWE would re-use theme songs and sometimes they would become so well known for that superstar that people would forget that someone else had it first.

WWE's first music release was The Wrestling Album in November 1985 commentary was provided between the tracks by Vince McMahon, Jesse "The Body" Ventura, and "Mean" Gene Okerlund.

This commentary revealed that Rick Derringer's "Real American" was written for the tag team duo of Mike Rotundo and Barry Windham the U.S. Express.  However we all known that it was Hulk Hogan is who ended up using the tune.
 
Kurt Angles iconic theme music "Medal" by Jim Johnston could not fit the Olympic gold medalist better.  Fans even took to chanting "You Suck" to the melody of the tune.  However in 1997 The Patriot Del Wilkes used it first during his short run in 1997.

The Rockers debuted in the WWE in 1988 breaking up in the infamous Barber Shop incident in December 1991 (aired January 1992).  During that time they used a happening tune called "Rockin' Rockers".  Jannetty would use it during his solo run and as The New Rockers with Al Snow's Leif Cassidy.

In 1998 The Rock N Roll Express returned to the WWE as part of the NWA Invasion angle during that time frame they would use "Rockin' Rockers" as their entrance music.

Fatu was repacked as The Sultan debuting in 1996 with and The Iron Sheik & Bob Backlund as his managers.  He had what I think is one of the best themes, "Desert Heat" I don't know why I just really dig it.  The Sultan left in January 1998 and shortly after Fatu emerged as one of the Headshrinkers.

Tiger Ali Singh debuted in 1997 as a blue chipper similar to that of the Rock.  After a handful of matches in 1997 he left television.  When he returned in mid 1998 he was repackaged as an arrogant aristocrat and he began using "Desert Heat"as his entrance music.  Later after Singh left the WWE in 2002 whenever The Iron Sheik would make an appearance they used Desert Heat for him.

Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart needed a partner after Bret won the Intercontinental Championship.  Turning to another brother-in-law Owen Hart they formed The New Foundation debuting in December 1991 teaming until February 1992.  The theme music they used penned by Jim Johnston was called "Wrecking Crew".

The Heavenly Bodies: "Gigolo" Jimmy del Ray & "Doctor of Desire" Tim Prichard teamed in the WWE from 1993 - 1995 and also used this as their theme.  They are the ones that I most associate the theme with.

WCW did this a lot too except is was mostly generic canned music that they had in the turner library.  For instance at Slamboree 1994 when Tully Blanchard wrestled Terry Funk, Blanchard's ring music that night is the same that Chris Jericho used when he debuted in WCW in 1996.

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The Failure of "The New" Tag Teams

The first ever tag team wrestling match was believed to have occurred in San Francisco, California in 1901 but didn't catch on until the 1930's outside the Bay area. Tag Team wrestling has a long and storied history and there have been many phenomenal tag teams.  

In my time you had The Rock n' Roll Express, The Road Warriors, Demolition, The Fantastics, The Midnight Express, The Andersons, The Brain Busters, The British Bulldogs, and now American Alpha, The Revival, and DIY tearing it up inside the squared circle. 

Overtime tag teams break up, get back together, and sometimes they become "New".  Putting the word "New" in a tag team name generally doesn't work out well for that team.  I give you examples of "New" tag teams that didn't cut the mustard compared to their predecessors. 

The Dream Team  / The New Dream Team

Original: Greg "The Hammer" Valentine & Brutus Beefcake w/ "Luscious" Johnny V

March 25, 1985 - March 29, 1987 

WWF Tag Team Champions

The New: "The Hammer" Valentine & Dino Bravo w/ "Luscious" Johnny V

March 29, 1987 - November 26, 1987

Greg "The Hammer" Valentine and Brutus Beefcake with manager "Luscious" Johnny V first teamed up March 25, 1985 in Brantford, Ontario Canada at an All Star Wrestling television taping.  They defeated Rick McGraw & Jim Powers in short order.  Valentine was still the Intercontinental Champion at the time.

On July 6, 1985 in Baltimore, Maryland Tito Santana defeated Valentine inside a Steel Cage to win the championship.  Three days later on July 9th The Dream Team would get their first shot at the WWF Tag Team Champions: US Express: Mike Rotundo & Barry Windham losing in  a dark match at the Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, New York.  They would win the titles Augusta 24, 1985 at a house show in Philadelphia, PA and hold onto them for 226 days until dropping them to the British Bulldogs at WrestleMania 2 on April 7, 1986.  They would chase the titles the next few months but never regain them.

The New Dream Team was born out of WrestleMania III after the Dream Team defeated the Rougeau Brothers with help from Dino Bravo.  Bravo had been teaming with them in six-man tag team matches leading up to the event and apparently Beefcake must not have been pulling his weight because even though they won the match he was kicked out of the group.

The New Dream Team tagged together for the next few months with a few title shots against the Hart Foundation before having their final match as a team in the 1987 Survivor Series.

The Blackjacks  / The New Blackjacks

Original: Blackjack Mulligan & Blackjack Lanza w/ Bobby Heenan

1971 - 1984

2 x NWA American tag Team Champions

NWA Texas Tag Team Champions

WWA World Tag Team Champions

WWF World Tag Team Champions

WWE Hall of Fame 2006

The New: Blackjack Windham & Blackjack Bradshaw

February 17, 1997 - January 19, 1998

The team of Blackjack Mulligan and Blackjack Lanza toured the country for 13 years collecting major championships along the way.  They also main event many cards in singles matches including competing against Bruno Sammartino for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship.

The New Blackjacks were first introduced on WWE television February 2, 1997 by a vignette with Blackjack Lanza sitting by a campfire declaring the Blackjacks would ride again.  Two weeks later Blackjack Windham, Barry Windham son of Blackjack Mulligan, and Blackjack Bradshaw, now known as JBL, debuted attacking the Godwinns.

The New Blackjacks did have a couple title matches with Owen Hart & British Bulldog but accomplished little else.  The team broke up when Windham turned on Bradshaw joining the Jim Cornette lead NWA Stable.  You can read all about the NWA Invasion of the WWF here.

The Rockers / The New Rockers

Original: Shawn Michaels & Marty Jannetty

May 15, 1985 - January 12, 1992

2 x AWA World Tag Team Champions

NWA Central States Tag Team Champions

2 x AWA Southern Tag Team Champions 

2 x NWA Mid-America Tag Team Champions

The New: Marty Jannetty & Leif Cassidy 

February 20, 1996 - December 16, 1996 

Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty first teamed in NWA Central States Wrestling winning their tag team championships on May 15, 1985 only holding them for one week.  They wouldn't adopt the name Midnight Rockers until early 1986 when they joined the AWA.  The would change their name to the Rockers until they entered the WWF in 1988.  On December 3, 1991 the famous Barber Shop segment was recorded when Michaels threw Jannetty through the window thus ending the team.  However this segment did not air on television until January 12, 1992.  Their final match as a team was December 30, 1991 in a loss to the Beverly Brothers in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

They would team up once again March 14, 2005 on WWE Raw defeated La Resistnace in Atlanta, Georgia.

Marty Jannetty returned to the WWE in early 1996 initially as a singles competitor before he began teaming with Al Snow who was renamed Leif Cassidy.  They duo portrayed a pair of comedic heels akin to the 1960's The Monkees.  The duo broke up when Jannetty left the WWE.

The Midnight Express / New Midnight Express

Original: "Lover Boy" Dennis Condrey, Randy Rose, Norvell Austin, "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton, "Sweet" Stan Lane with James E. Cornette 

1980 - November 1990 & 2004 - August 2011

15 Different Championships for 71 title reigns

The New: Bodacious Bob & Bombastic Bart

March 17, 1998 - August 14, 1998

1 x NWA Tag Team Champions

The original Midnight Express has a long and storied history in wrestling with the two most prominent incarnations being Condrey & Eaton and Eaton and Lane.  There are plenty of sources on the internet where you can read about them.  I had the please of meeting to duo of Eaton & Condrey on two occasions.  The first briefly at a signing at Carson's Pro Wrestling World in Allentown, PA.  The second a bit longer at the 2009 NWA Legends Fanfest in Charlotte, North Carolina.  One night during the weekend I found myself, beer in hand, somehow standing in a small group of a couple other fans with Dennis and Bobby as they told stories and we all had a fantastic time! Both genuinely nice guys.

The New Midnight Express were a team in the WWE during the infamous NWA Invasion of the WWF in 1998, you can read my post about it here.  At NWA Legends Fanfest during the Conversation with Cornette I asked about the New Midnight Express.  Cornette said Vince McMahon was always bothered that even though Cornette managed the WWF Champion in Yokozuna people still asked about The Midnight Express.  So the New Midnights were born and Cornette hated it.

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