Batten Twins
The Batten Twins were a professional wrestling tag team, consisting of twin brothers Bart and Brad Batten. They performed under the "Batten Twins" name in Central States Wrestling, Continental Wrestling Association, International Championship Wrestling, Jim Crockett Promotions, Southern Championship Wrestling, Texas All-Star Wrestling, World Championship Wrestling, and the World Wrestling Council, and the name U.S. Express in World Class Championship Wrestling. The team also appeared in various independent promotions during the 1990s including, most notably, Atlantic Coast Championship Wrestling, IWA Mid-South, Smoky Mountain Wrestling and Southern States Wrestling.
A popular tag team in the Southern United States during the 1980s, the Battens faced off against some of the top tag teams of the era. They began their wrestling career working for the Poffo family in 1983. As identical twins, the brothers were a rarity in pro wrestling at the time of their debut. Their tenure in the NWA's Central States territory saw them engaged in a long feud with Sheik Abdullah. They held the NWA Central States Tag Team Championship a record four times, defeating The Midnight Express, the Midnight Rockers, Sheik Abdullah and Akio Sato, and Bobby Jaggers for the title.
The Battens were also major stars in Puerto Rico during the late-1980s where they won WWC Tag Team Championship four times and the WWC Caribbean Tag Team Championship twice. Their unexpected "heel turn" made them one of the most hated wrestlers in the country. After returning to the U.S., the Battens continued wrestling on the Southern independent circuit until the early-2000s. In April 2005, The Batten Twins ended their 23-year career with a retirement tour of their home state.
Early life
Bradley Jay "Brad" Batten and Bartley Alan "Bart" Batten were born to Marjorie and Jack Batten in New Martinsville, West Virginia on September 8, 1958. They were involved in youth sports at an early age. In 1969, the brothers were featured in The Charleston Daily Mail about identical twins who participate in little league baseball. Both brothers played football from junior high to college with Bart attending West Virginia State University and Brad going to Glenville State College. As both schools had a longtime football rivalry, the brothers often played against each other but with Bart as a wide receiver and Brad a running back they were never on the field at the same time. In addition to teaching school, Bart Batten went on to play two years of semi-professional football for the West Virginia Rockets.Professional wrestling career
International Championship Wrestling (1983–1984)
Both brothers were wrestling fans and decided to try out for a career in pro wrestling after attending several International Championship Wrestling shows in the early 1980s. The two spent about a year working out until they each weighed. They also experimented with steroids during this time. Then living in St. Albans, West Virginia, Bart approached Lanny Poffo at an ICW show in Beckley. The wrestler introduced Brad to his brother Randy Savage and invited the brothers to the promotion's next show in Marmet to meet with their father Angelo Poffo. Lanny later admitted to Brad that he was skeptical about him having a twin brother but when the twins entered the dressing room the Poffo family "saw dollar signs" as identical twins were very rare in the wrestling business at the time.The Battens were initially trained by Lanny Poffo in Sutton, West Virginia. Bart recalled that Poffo had tried to "shoot on him" during their first day of training by putting him in a front facelock. He had wrestled three years in high school, however, and was able to reverse the facelock and make Poffo submit to a guillotine hold. Their training progressed quickly after this incident, with both Angelo Poffo and Randy Savage taking part, and they were put into their first match after only a few sessions. The brothers became close friends with both Lanny and Randy. Brad especially became a key figure behind the scenes by helping produce ICW's television show as well as driving the ring truck and setting up the ring.
They made their pro debut on May 12, 1983, against Tony Falk and Doug Vines in Prestonsburg, Kentucky. Brad was injured shortly after their debut when he blew out his left knee performing a jumping high five and toe kick with his brother. Ironically, this would become a signature maneuver during their career. He would be out of action for nearly a year and a half. While his brother was recovering from his injury, Bart was paired with Johnny Wilhoit and subsequently defeated Tojo Yamamoto and Gypsy Joe for the ICW United States Tag Team Championship. They remained champions until the promotion's close the following year.
Continental Wrestling Association (1984–1985)
After ICW's close, Brad Batten began working for rival promoter Jerry Jarrett's Continental Wrestling Association promotion in Memphis, Tennessee. Wrestling under the name "Mark Batten", he made his first appearance at the Mid-South Coliseum teaming with Porkchop Cash against AWA Southern Tag Team Champions Tommy Rich and Eddie Gilbert on April 30, 1984. Following their loss, Batten formed a new tag team with Johnny Wilhoit called "The New Generation". A music video filmed on Jarrett's estate near Nashville was aired on Memphis Championship Wrestling to introduce the team; it became a viral video after it was shown by Jon Stewart on The Daily Show nearly thirty years later. The team was intended to capitalize on the popularity of The Fabulous Ones and The Rock 'n' Roll Express but they failed to catch on with fans. The New Generation's last match was against The Dirty White Boys at the Mid-South Coliseum on October 8, 1984, which they lost.Brad was eventually joined by his brother and had their first match together against former trainers Lanny Poffo and Randy Savage. At the end of year, the team had several matches against The Nightmares. The brothers also wrestled Plowboy Frazier in three separate handicap matches at the Mid-South Coliseum between December 31, 1984, and January 28, 1985. They lost to Frazier and Adrian Street in a tag team match that same month. On February 11, the Battens got their revenge on Frazier when they finally beat him in a handicap match; due to the pre-match stipulations, the twins would have lost their hair had they lost the match.
In their first three months together, the Battens faced Eddie Gilbert & "Iron" Mike Sharpe, The Terminators, and The Wild Hoggs at WMC Studio. In April 1985, Brad Batten wrestled single matches against Mike Sharpe, Mr. Wrestling and AWA Southern Heavyweight Champion Randy Savage. The Batten Twins also challenged The PYT Express for the AWA Southern Tag Team Championship but they were unsuccessful in winning the title. That summer, the Battens battled Hot Property and The Kiwi Sheepherders before leaving the area.
NWA Central States (1985–1986)
The Batten Twins moved on to the NWA's Central States territory where they had a long-running feud with Sheik Abdullah The Great and his various tag team partners, most often Akio Sato and Tarzan Goto, but also including American Starship Coyote and Mr. Pogo. Within a few weeks of their arrival, they also received a title shot against NWA Central States Tag Team Champions "Bulldog" Bob Brown and Marty Jannetty. It was during this match that the champions split up when Brown stopped cooperating with his partner. The championship remained vacant until The Batten Twins defeated The Midnight Express in a tournament final on November 21, 1985.Their first title reign lasted three months before the championship was held-up following a title defense in Kansas City, Kansas against Sheik Abdullah and Akio Sato on February 20, 1986. The title was returned to The Batten Twins following a rematch one week later. On March 6, Bart Batten defeated Sheik Abdullah in a Texas Death match. Batten took the first fall when he made his opponent submit to an abdominal stretch while Abdullah took the next two wins by pinfall. The bout ended when Abdullah failed to get up after a 10-count. Batten had previously lost to Abdullah in an Iranian Death match two months earlier. On April 19, the team entered the inaugural Jim Crockett, Sr. Memorial Cup Tag Team Tournament at the Louisiana Superdome but were eliminated in the first round by Nelson Royal and Sam Houston.
In May 1986, The Batten Twins were defeated by the young duo of Marty Jannetty and Shawn Michaels, The Midnight Rockers, for the NWA Central States Tag Team titles. They quickly regained the belts from The Midnight Rockers the following week, causing Michaels to leave the territory, but dropped them to Hacksaw Higgins and J.R. Hogg on May 29. Though their feud was short-lived, the Battens considered The Midnight Rockers one of their favorite opponents of all time.
World Class Championship Wrestling (1986)
Bart and Brad Batten were brought into World Class Championship Wrestling during the summer of 1986. The team was renamed the U.S. Express and Bart given the name "Mark Batten". One day after losing the NWA Central States belts, they made their WCCW television debut against Killer Brooks and Matt Borne in Dallas, Texas on May 30, 1986.On June 9, The Batten Twins and Steve Simpson beat Matt Borne, Killer Brooks and The Assassin in a six-man tag team match. During the next two months, The Battens scored victories over Jerry Allen and The Grapplers. On July 11, they were beaten by Matt Borne and The Dingo Warrior. A week later in Fort Worth, both brothers wrestled in singles matches; Bart Batten was pinned by WCCW Television Champion "Mad Dog" Buzz Sawyer, however, Brad Batten beat The Dingo Warrior via disqualification. After the Batten-Sawyer bout, Sawyer put Bart Batten in a gorilla press slam and tossed him over the top rope. He fell 20 feet onto the concrete floor. The WCCW TV Champion then attacked Brad Batten and Perry Jackson, who were coming to aid Bart, which instigated a 4-man brawl between Sawyer and Borne versus Steve Simpson and Kevin Von Erich. Brad Batten later talked with Fritz von Erich about booking the brothers as "heels" and suggested a "family vs. family" storyline pitting the Batten and Von Erich brothers against each other but the promoter turned down the idea.
At Labor Day Star Wars '86, The Batten Twins lost to Mark Lewin and Kevin Sullivan in the opening rounds of championship tournament for the WCWA World Tag Team Championship. The next night at Fort Hood's Prichard Stadium, The Batten Twins defeated Killer Brooks and Perry Jackson. Moments after Bart pinned Jackson, their opponents began fighting with each other with Brooks vowing never to partner with Jackson again. They lost to Rick Rude and Jos LeDuc a week later in Fort Worth. At the 3rd Cotton Bowl Extravaganza, The Batten Twins were beaten by Chris and Mark Youngblood.