Hello readers and welcome to another Nefatiri Spotlight. Since I will be spending the remainder of the week getting ready to attend my next WWE house show, I have decided to leave you with a good read. Since everyone seems to be spotlighting tag teams, I thought I'd do the same.

I'm a huge fan of ESPN Classic because late at night I can watch wrestling. To be specific, I watch AWA wrestling; and in my opinion, some of the best wrestling you can watch if you, of course, don't count the international wrestling leagues.

Well, last Saturday night, the AWA spotlighted one of my favorite old school tag teams: The Midnight Rockers. They were making a big return against the formidable team of "Slick" Nick Kiniski and Mr. Magnificent. The two teams would put on an awesome bout, not the greatest match ever, but it was done well enough to showcase the talents of The Midnight Rockers.

 

Who Were The Midnight Rockers?

The Midnight Rockers or just plain "The Rockers," were a tag team made up of two very talented men: Marty Jannetty and, future Hall of Famer, Shawn Michaels.The two men just happened to meet in a small Kansas territory in 1985. They struck up a partnership after Marty and, then partner, "Bulldog" Bob Brown parted ways and became an official nameless tag team after working a few matches.

The two wrestled a few more matches and even managed to win the NWA Central States Tag Team Championship on May 15, 1986. Their reign was short lived, though, and they lost the belts seven days later. Shawn and Marty parted ways briefly, only to find out that they had both been signed to the AWA because of the AWA's desire to sign as much young talent as possible.

They would end up teaming together, once again, because of booker, Greg Gagne. They wrestled a few matches and it wasn't long before people started noticing how good they were. They got a big push when they were booked to feud against one of the top teams in the AWA: Doug Somers and Buddy Rose. They had a good long feud with Somers and Rose, even managing to tag with Curt Hennig, also known as Mr. Perfect, who is another WWE Hall of Famer.

Shawn and Marty finally won the AWA Tag Team Championship from Somers and Rose after a really long, drawn out feud. During this time in their careers, they managed to catch the attention of Vince McMahon. They signed a contract with the WWF even though they were still AWA Champions. They dropped the AWA belts on May 25, 1987 and left to work for Vince.

 

The Rocky Road to Success

Shawn and Marty were fired shortly after signing with Vince. I know, tough break for them. Shawn stated on his "Heartbreak and Triumph" DVD that he and Marty liked to party too much. They were unprofessional, according to Vince, and as a result, he let them go.

Shawn and Marty ended up back in the AWA, but it was not doing very well at the time. The WWF was becoming very successful and Shawn knew that it was only a matter of time before the AWA folded completely. After a short stint in the AWA, and an even shorter run in the CWF, they were given a second chance to prove themselves in the WWF.

They would not disappoint.

The WWF fans got a preview of things to come in 1988 when The Rockers made their Pay Per View debut at Survivor Series, winning a 10-Man Tag team match that lead to a feud with The Brainbusters. The feud received rave reviews from the lucky fans who got to see them fight since they were mainly working the house shows.

In 1989, the feud with The Brainbusters was halted for a feud with The Fabulous Rougeaus. This feud resulted in the introduction of the Iron Man Match, and though at least five of these matches took place between the two feuding teams, none of them were ever televised.

In 1990, The Rockers spent the year and then some months feuding with The Orient Express. The Orient Express went through some changes when Akio Sato, one half of the original Orient Express, decided to leave the US. Despite the change, The Orient Express continued feuding with The Rockers, their most memorable match taking place at the Rumble in '91.

The Rockers were one of the best tag teams in the WWF, second only to the reigning tag team champions, The Hart Foundation. There was only room at the top for one team, which meant the start of a new feud. The Rockers and The Hart Foundation—Bret Hart and Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart—wrestled several great matches. Shawn and Bret even wrestled a few singles matches during the feud, giving us a preview of great things to come from the two of them.

Eventually, The Rockers proved to be "better," if only by a few small technicalities and eventually earned themselves a shot at the belts. They wrestled a Two-out-of-Three Falls match on October 30, 1990 and "won" the belts. However, it was not the way that they envisioned.

The match would have probably been an instant classic had the top ropes not broken. When that happened, it made it harder to put on a good show. Shawn even stated on his DVD that it was "terrible." They still got the win, but by WWE records, it never happened. This great, innovative team never won the belts and sadly they never would.

Shawn and Marty split up after Shawn decided that he wanted to take part in singles wrestling. In what would be dubbed the famous "Barbershop Incident," Shawn super-kicked Marty through a window, making him bleed. At the time, it was considered very controversial. The two would not survive on-screen after that and went on to feud, ending their partnership for good.

Why They Were Great

I know. After reading all of this you're probably thinking that I must be crazy. They never won the belts and some of their feuds were average at best so what makes them great? They're great because they were innovative.

Vince McMahon enjoyed The Rockers because they were always coming up with something new. Sherri Martel, former manager of HBK among others, used to watch Marty and Shawn play with action figures. According to Shawn, if he and Marty could do it with the toys, then they could do it in the ring.

The Rockers were responsible for several aspects that are important...uh...were important in tag team wrestling. For example, they did a lot of combination moves. Double drop kicks, enzuigiris, elbow drops—you name it, and they probably did it. They were also high-flyers which later played key in the success of future tag teams like The Hardy Boyz.

They had a strong, coordinated offense but their defensive tactics weren't that bad either. Marty and Shawn dressed alike, except for the hair, so it was easy for them to get away with things that would be considered "dirty tactics." For instance, Shawn might have someone lying in the ring trapped in a headlock. If the ref turned his back for even a second, Shawn and Marty would switch places without the official tag.

This particular tactic, in some form or another, has been used by other tag teams such as The Basham Brothers. Though The Basham Brothers aren't around anymore, tactics like this can still be found in the current product, though slightly modified. Right now I'm thinking about Edge and his "look-a-likes" in the form of Hawkins and Ryder.

Another defense that they used totally caught me off guard when I discovered it. I saw it for the first time the other night when I watched them in action. Shawn was being Irish whipped into a corner but before his back could hit it, Marty threw himself on the turnbuckle taking the brunt of the hit. It happened so quickly that I wondered if I even saw it to begin with.

That. Was. Awesome.

 

Setting the Bar

The Rockers may not have won any gold during their time in the WWF, but they certainly left their mark. Chris Jericho, the first ever Undisputed Champion, has gone on record saying how much he loved The Rockers. He complimented their look—which gets an eyebrow from me—charisma, and their high-flying style as part of the reason for his success having started off in his career imitating Shawn.

While The Rockers didn't have much success, Shawn certainly has enough accomplishments to make up for it. I would list them all, but, seriously, I'd be here all night. He has had several nods from PWI for Match of The Year, Feud of the Year in 2008, winning the big one at Wrestlemania 12, and of course, being the center of controversy. Shawn has done it all despite the lack-luster success of The Rockers.

Marty has done some wrestling since the break-up but nothing that can compare to the huge list Shawn has accumulated over the years. I find it quite heart-breaking considering Marty was just as good in the ring as Shawn. Watch the videos and I dare you to say otherwise. He even made an attempt at a come-back.

On the March 14, 2005 edition of Raw, Marty made an appearance which resulted in a Rockers reunion for one night only. The two did very well, especially since it had been years since they stepped in the ring together. That very same week on Smackdown, Marty wrestled in a match against Kurt Angle. Marty lost the match but he showed that he could still move in the ring.

Several things happened with Marty, some personal problems that landed him a release from the WWE. He would return again in 2006 to work an angle with Shawn and the McMahons, but he was a no-show during one of the tapings and you know what that means.

Though each former Rocker chose separate paths—one successful and the other not so much—it doesn't take away the impact that they had together on the evolution of the WWF.

Because of the bar they set, we got teams like The Hardyz, Edge and Christian, and London and Kendrick. Their high-flying style, even after disbanding, led to Shawn being the highlight of the "first" ever ladder match; something that was so unbelievable it led to the creation of Tables Ladders and Chairs matches and Wrestlemania's own Money in the Bank Ladder match.

The Rockers may never crack the top ten of anybody's list but they'll certainly never be forgotten - at least by those in the industry who imitated them.

In the meantime, get comfortable and watch the vids. I promise you won't be disappointed. The things they did were innovative for the time but even I couldn't help but pick out moves I've seen superstars of today rip off from them. I'm sure they're both flattered. Until next time...that is all.

~Nef

The Rockers Return to the AWA

Part 1

Part II

The Rockers Reunion in 2005

The Rockers vs La Resistance

List of Accomplishments

  • Two-Time AWA World Tag Team Champions
  • NWA Central States Tag Team Championship
  • Two-Time AWA Southern Tag Team Champions
  • 1989 Tag Team of the Year - Wrestling Observer Newsletter Award
  • PWI Ranked No.33 of 100 Tag Teams "PWI Years" in 2003

*Note: All of the following information can be found on Wikipedia, "Heartbreak and Triumph: The Shawn Michaels Story", and in the WWE Encyclopedia.