The Rock 'n' Roll Express

Infobox Wrestling team
article_name= The Rock 'n' Roll Express
type=T


caption=(left to right) Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson
members=Ricky Morton
Robert Gibson

names=
former_members=
debut=1983
disbanded=
billed= Memphis, Tennessee
promotions= ECW
WCW
NWA
SMW
WWF
USWA
AWA
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The Rock 'n' Roll Express was a professional wrestling tag team comprised of Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson that was popular in the 1980s.

History

Formation

The Rock 'n' Roll Express was formed by Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson in 1983 in Memphis. They were originally paired together as an alternative to the popular team of Steve Keirn and Stan Lane, The Fabulous Ones, when they couldn't wrestle in certain towns. The gimmick of the Rock 'N Roll Express was a couple of high flying wrestlers who loved glam metal music, as it was a popular genre of music at the time. They soon made their way to Mid-South Wrestling where they started a legendary feud with The Midnight Express that would carry on into the NWA. They also appeared in "Legends of Wrestling"'s three video games.

Jim Crockett Promotions

They went to the NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions in 1985 and won 4 NWA World Tag Team Championships over the next couple of years there. Their first championship came on July 9, 1985 and lasted until October 13 that same year. At "Starrcade '85", they recaptured the titles only to lose them on a prime time WTBS special, "Superstars on the Superstation", on February 7, 1986. This is significant because televised matches between major contenders were rarely shown in those days. Their loss to the Midnight Express only served to make them even more popular during the '80s professional wrestling boom. They won the titles back in Philadelphia on August 16, 1986, and held them until a Saturday night prime time broadway match on WTBS' "World Championship Wrestling" against Rick Rude and the Raging Bull Manny Fernandez. This match is memorable for the fact that even though it was a 60 minute match, about one third of the match was Rude applying a wristlock to Morton's left arm, leading some people to call it "The match of the 20 minute resthold" During the telecast on WTBS, you could hear Morton say that his left arm was numb.Fact|date=February 2007.

In an ironic twist, the Rock 'n' Roll Express won the belts back when Rude, still a champion, simply left the NWA to go work for Vince McMahon in the WWF. Needing to save face, promoter Jim Crockett had Ivan Koloff substitute for an 'injured' Rude, and the Express won the belts for what proved to be the final time.

Feud with the Four Horsemen

It is significant to note that despite the rarity of high quality matches on television in those days, the Rock 'n' Roll Express actually lost their titles on television three separate times. The final loss came in the fall of 1987 to Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard thanks to a pre-match attack by their longtime rivals The Midnight Express. (They would win 4 more in later years, but only the first 4 were also recognized by World Championship Wrestling later on.)

They feuded heavily with Four Horsemen members Ric Flair, Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard, who constantly mocked them and attacked them outside of the ring.

Later years

In 1988, The Rock & Roll Express had a brief feud with The Midnight Rockers in the CWA, over the AWA World Tag Team titles. Their first match on February 15, 1988, ended in controversy, causing the AWA World Tag Team titles to be held up. A week later, on February 22, a rematch for the held-up titles was held and The Midnight Rockers won them back.

Back in the NWA, with the advent of the Road Warriors and the Steiner Brothers as the new dominant face tag teams, the Rock 'N Roll Express were turned into mid-carders. In 1991 at the Clash Of The Champions, Ricky turned on Robert to join the York Foundation and they feuded, until Gibson was released.

Reunions

They reunited in 1992 in Smoky Mountain Wrestling and feuded with the Heavenly Bodies and The Gangstas, and won the tag team titles 9 times. The feud with the Heavenly Bodies carried over to WWF television in 1993, with the Bodies defeating the Express for the SMW Tag Team Championship at the Survivor Series.

In 1996, they returned to WCW, but used sparingly on the pre-taped B-Shows, "WCW Saturday Night" and "WCW Pro", as jobbers. They left in 1997 to participate in indy feds.

In 1998, they were in the WWF as part of the NWA angle (ironically managed by former rival James E. Cornette), but it did not last long. They also made several appearances in WCW as lower card talent.

In 2005, they could be occasionally found to team up in the independents although Gibson is semi-retired.

On June 7 2008, they defeated The Midnight Express (Dennis Condrey and Bobby Eaton) at the NWA 60th Anniversary Show in Atlanta, Georgia.

In wrestling

Finishing and signature moves
*Double dropkickFavorite Moves: Double Back Elbow Dropkick Drop Toehold/Elbowdrop Combo

Managers
*James E. Cornette

Championships and accomplishments

*Continental Wrestling Association | Championship Wrestling Association:*AWA Southern Tag Team Championship (1 time):*CWA Tag Team Championship (1 time):*CWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time)

*Korean Pro-Wrestling Association:*NWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time)

*Mid-South Wrestling:*Mid-South Tag Team Championship (3 times)

*Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling:*NWA World Tag Team Championship "(Mid-Atlantic version)" (4 times)

*National Wrestling Alliance:*NWA World Tag Team Championship (2 times)¹:*NWA Hall of Fame (Class of 2006)

*NWA Southwest:*NWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time)(First)

*NWA Wildside:*NWA Wildside Tag Team Championship (1 time)

*Smoky Mountain Wrestling:*SMW Tag Team Championship (10 times)

*United States Wrestling Association:*USWA Tag Team Championship (3 times)

*Pro Wrestling Illustrated:*PWI Tag Team of the Year award in 1986.:*PWI ranked them # 4 of the best 100 tag teams during the "PWI Years" in 2003.

¹One of these two NWA World Tag Team Championship reigns occurred in Memphis, Tennessee but the records are unclear as to which promotion hosted the card. In the other, the title was awarded to them and the records are unclear as to where this occurred and which promotion they wrestled for at the time.

Theme songs

In Memphis, the CWA, their entrance music was "Rock and Roll All Night" by Kiss. Promotional videos were also made with that music.

Their initial theme song was "Rock and Roll Is King" by Electric Light Orchestra.

In early 1987, however, Ricky Morton released his own single that became the Express entrance theme, "Boogie Woogie Dance Hall." It was featured in promotions on WTBS, backed with "Sometimes You Feel Like A Nut."

In Smoky Mountain Wrestling they used the song "Old Time Rock & Roll" by Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band.

In their 1993 WWF appearances, they used a production music track called "Guitar Bash". In 1998, the duo used the old theme song of The Rockers, Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty.

Further reading

The Rock 'n' Roll Express’ history is covered in a chapter dedicated to the team in the book "The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Tag Teams"
*

External links

* [http://www.memphiswrestlinghistory.com/ Memphis Wrestling History]