The Lightning Express (professional wrestling)

Last updated
Lightning Express
Tag team
Members Brad Armstrong [1]
"White Lightning" Tim Horner [1]
HeightsBrad Armstrong:
6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Tim Horner:
5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Combined
weight		453 lb (205 kg)
Debut1984 [1]
Disbanded1995 [2]

The Lightning Express was a professional wrestling tag team, composed of Brad Armstrong and Tim Horner.

Professional wrestling entertainment form that mimics contact sports

Professional wrestling is a form of performance art and entertainment that combines athletics with theatrical performance. It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, that mimic a title-match combat sport. The unique form of sport portrayed is fundamentally based on classical and "catch" wrestling, with modern additions of striking attacks, strength-based holds and throws and acrobatic maneuvers. Much of these derive from the influence of various international martial arts. An additional aspect of combat with improvised weaponry is sometimes included to varying degrees.

Brad Armstrong (wrestler) American professional wrestler

Robert Bradley James was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Brad Armstrong. He is best known for his appearances with the promotion World Championship Wrestling in the 1990s. He was the son of wrestler "Bullet Bob" Armstrong and brother to professional wrestlers Steve, Scott and Brian.

Timothy Horner is a retired professional wrestler, best known as Tim "White Lightning" Horner, one half of The Lightning Express with Brad Armstrong.

Contents

History

National Wrestling Alliance (1984 - 1988)

Armstrong and Horner first teamed under the moniker The Lightning Express in 1984, in the NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions. The name came from Horner's nickname, "White Lightning", and the remarkable speed of both wrestlers. [1]

National Wrestling Alliance professional wrestling governing body

The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling organization. Formed in 1948, it was for a time the most-recognized brand and largest governing body in professional wrestling. Under the control of the NWA Board of Directors, the organization acted as a governing body for the NWA's national territory system which recognized one world champion, participated in talent exchanges and collectively protected the territorial integrity of member promotions.

Jim Crockett Promotions

Jim Crockett Promotions Inc. was a family-owned professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1931, the promotion emerged as a cornerstone of the National Wrestling Alliance. By the 1980s, Jim Crockett Promotions was, along with the World Wrestling Federation, one of the two largest promotions in the United States. The Crockett family sold a majority interest in the promotion to Turner Broadcasting System in 1988, resulting in the creation of World Championship Wrestling.

A babyface team, they won the NWA National Tag Team Championship from The Hollywood Blonds. [3] The Lightning Express split up soon after, and each went his separate way, until they reformed in Jim Crockett Promotions in 1986. Here they feuded with The Midnight Express and the team of Ivan Koloff and Krusher Khruschev, over the NWA United States Tag Team Championship. [1]

In professional wrestling, a face (babyface) is a heroic or a "good guy" wrestler, booked (scripted) by the promotion with the aim of being cheered by fans. Traditionally, they wrestle within the rules and avoid cheating while behaving positively towards the referee and the audience. Such characters are also referred to as "blue-eyes" in British wrestling and técnicos in lucha libre. The face character is portrayed as a hero relative to the heel wrestlers, who are analogous to villains. Not everything a face wrestler does must be heroic: faces need only to be cheered by the audience to be effective characters.

The NWA National Tag Team Championship was the major tag team title in the NWA-affiliated Georgia Championship Wrestling from 1980 until 1986. The championship was introduced in November 1980 when Georgia Tag Team Champions The Fabulous Freebirds won a tournament to determine the first champions, defeating Stan Frazier and Robert Fuller in the final. They were introduced as the Georgia and National Tag Team Champions and carried a trophy to the ring representing the National title as they wore belts which represented the Georgia title.

Ivan Koloff Canadian professional wrestler

Ivan Koloff was a Canadian professional wrestler, best known for once holding the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship. He was known as "The Russian Bear".

They left Crockett for the Universal Wrestling Federation in 1987, where they won the UWF Tag Team Championship from Sting and Rick Steiner and feuded with The Sheepherders. [4] When Jim Crockett, Jr. bought the UWF in 1987, the team returned to his promotion. On the October 24th, 1987 episode of Power Pro Wrestling they were defeated for the UWF titles by The Sheepherders. The Express continued to wrestle together until 1988, when they split up. [1]

UWF Tag Team Championship

The UWF Tag Team Championship was the tag team title in the Universal Wrestling Federation from 1986 until the promotion closed in 1987. It was formerly known as the Mid-South Tag Team Championship from 1979 until 1986 when Mid-South Wrestling became the UWF.

Sting (wrestler) American retired professional wrestler, actor, author and former bodybuilder

Steve Borden, better known by the ring name Sting, is an American retired professional wrestler, actor, author and former bodybuilder. He is currently signed to WWE under a Legends contract.

Rick Steiner American professional wrestler

Robert Rechsteiner is an American real estate broker and semi-retired professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Rick Steiner.

World Championship Wrestling (1990 - 1991)

In July 1990 Tim Horner returned to WCW and almost immediately began teaming again with Armstrong. The Lightning Express had their first match back on July 16th, 1990 in Gainesville, GA during a WCW Saturday Night taping, defeating Arn Anderson & Barry Windham by disqualification. On August 20th at a WCW Power Hour taping the duo defeated United States Tag-Team Champions The Midnight Express via disqualification. Their win streak was snapped at two, as they fell to The Master Blasters in the debut at Clash of the Champions XII on September 5th. This would be their last teaming for several months, as Horner formed a tandem with Mike Rotundo while Armstrong received a singles push as "The Candyman".

<i>WCW Saturday Night</i> Former professional wrestling television series

WCW Saturday Night is a weekly Saturday night TV show on TBS that was produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Launched in 1971 initially by Georgia Championship Wrestling, the program existed through various incarnations under different names before becoming WCW Saturday Night in 1992. Although initially the anchor show of the Ted Turner-backed wrestling company, the September 1995 premiere of WCW Monday Nitro airing on sister station Turner Network Television usurped the show's once preeminent position in the company, as the primary source of storyline development and pay-per-view buildup.

Arn Anderson American professional wrestler

Martin Anthony Lunde, better known by his ring name Arn Anderson, is an American road agent and retired professional wrestler and author. His career has been highlighted by his alliances with Ric Flair and various members of the wrestling stable The Four Horsemen in the National Wrestling Alliance and World Championship Wrestling. After his retirement Anderson worked as producer for WWE until 2019. On March 31, 2012, Anderson was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as a member of the Four Horsemen.

Barry Windham American professional wrestler

Barry Clinton Windham is an American semi-retired professional wrestler and the son of wrestler Blackjack Mulligan. He is best known for his appearances with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW).

The Express returned to action on January 8th, 1991 at a WCW Saturday Night taping, wrestling The Fabulous Freebirds to a double-disqualification. They would team again later in the month to face The Horsemen on another episode of Saturday Night. On the March 2nd episode of WCW Saturday Night the Express was defeated by The Freebirds in what would be their final WCW match for four years. [2] [5]

The Fabulous Freebirds were a professional wrestling tag team that attained fame in the 1980s, performing into the 1990s. The team usually consisted of three wrestlers, although in different situations and points in its history, just two performed under the Freebirds name.

World Championship Wrestling (1995)

The duo was briefly reunited after Tim Horner rejoined WCW in 1995, the team name was rarely mentioned on-air. [2] Armstrong & Horner made their first appearance on a February 3rd, 1995 taping of WCW Worldwide in Orlando, FL. In a match that later aired on April 9th, they were defeated by The Blue Bloods. A week earlier (in a match taped on March 22nd at Center Stage for WCW Saturday Night), the pairing received a non-title match against WCW World Tag-Team Champions Harlem Heat, but were unsuccessful. They received a rematch against The Blue Bloods at an April 5th taping for The Main Event, but were again unsuccessful. In a dark match at an April 12th taping of WCW Saturday Night they were defeated by Arn Anderson & Ric Flair, but later in the night earned their first victory in their comeback when they defeated Len Denton & Jim Rogers in a match that aired April 22nd. A day later they also beat Tony Vincent & Jim Rogers by pinfall, in what would be their final WCW match. [6]

Championships and accomplishments

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Cawthon, Graham (2013). the History of Professional Wrestling Vol 3:Jim Crockett and the NWA World Title 1983-1989. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN   149480347X.
  2. 1 2 3 Cawthon, Graham (2014). the History of Professional Wrestling Vol 4: World Championship Wrestling 1989-1994. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN   1499656343.
  3. 1 2 Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2006). "NWA National Tag Team Title [Crockett]". Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN   0-9698161-5-4.
  4. 1 2 Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2006). "UWF Tag Team Title [Bill Watts]". Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN   0-9698161-5-4.
  5. ↑ http://www.thehistoryofwwe.com/wcw91.htm
  6. ↑ http://www.thehistoryofwwe.com/wcw95.htm
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