On Friday, The Ringer reported that the latest members of the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2024 are the U.S. Express.
The U.S. Express, comprised of brothers-in-law Barry Windham and Mike Rotunda, formed in 1983 while the two worked for Championship Wrestling from Florida. The team won the NWA United States Tag Team Championship (though the version of the titles they won was only defended in the Florida territory) four times, losing them for the final time to Hector Guerrero and Chavo Guerrero Sr.
They signed with the World Wrestling Federation in 1984, being rechristened with a patriotic gimmick and Bruce Springsteen’s “Born In The USA” as their entrance music. There, they won the World Tag Team Championship twice. In 1985, just over a year removed from their debut, Windham left the WWF, and the team split. Rotunda left shortly after Windham did.
The original pairing of Barry Windham and Mike Rotunda reunited a few times over the four decades that followed, but both found success elsewhere. Rotunda returned to the WWF in 1991 under the name Irwin R. Schyster, an accountant with a mean streak. He signed with WCW in 1995 and briefly joined the nWo in 1996. After leaving WCW in 1997, he worked in New Japan Pro Wrestling and All Japan Pro Wrestling for much of the rest of his career. He retired in 2003.
Barry Windham left for Jim Crockett Promotions in 1986, eventually joining the Four Horsemen, before jumping between WCW and the WWF a couple of times in the 1990s. Following sporadic wrestling appearances in the 2000s, Windham officially retired in 2010.
This will be the second WWE Hall of Fame induction for Barry Windham. The first came in 2012 for his work as part of the Four Horsemen. He joins a very short list of wrestlers who’ve been inducted twice, which includes names like Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, Ric Flair, and Booker T. This will be the first induction for Rotunda. The pair will join Paul Heyman and Bull Nakano in the Class of 2024.
