WWE: 7 Innovations Jim Cornette Did That Changed Wrestling

1. He Managed The Midnight Express Team That Should Be WWE Hall Of Famers

Cornette started managing The Midnight Express when he was just 22 years old in 1983. There aren't too many people in wrestling that can say they managed a top tag team at such a young age, but Cornette fit in immediately. The team was made up of Dennis Condrey and Bobby Eaton with Stan Lane later replacing Condrey. The Midnight Express was the heel tag team that would regularly oppose the babyface team known as The Rock & Roll Express comprised of Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson. The two teams feuded all over the south and had what was arguably the greatest tag team rivalry in the history of wrestling just because of how many matches they had. Fans loved the Rock & Roll and hated the Midnights. It was easy to understand. One of Cornette's most famous and painful moments as the Midnight Express manager was during a 1986 Scaffold match where his boys were up against the Road Warriors. Cornette was supposed to drop down 20 feet from the Scaffold with Big Bubba Rogers (later known as the Big Boss Man in WWE) there to break his fall, but he wasn't there. Cornette landed hard on his leg and suffered major injuries. It's painful just watching it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2m24JlJOW4 If the WWE Hall of Fame was legitimate in the sense that it honored the best teams then the Midnight Express would be honored there. Perhaps one day it will happen, but for now they're on the outside looking in. That snub doesn't take away the reported 50+ tag title reigns that the team won over the years. Cornette's done a lot of great things in the wrestling business, but it was his work as the manager of the Midnight Express that stands out more than anything.