| Rock 'n' Roll Express | |
|---|---|
 The Rock 'n' Roll Express,c. 1985; Morton (left) and Gibson (right). | |
| Tag team | |
| Members | Robert Gibson Ricky Morton |
| Billed from | Memphis, Tennessee Music City, USA |
| Debut | 1980 |
TheRock 'n' Roll Express is aprofessional wrestlingtag team consisting of professional wrestlersRobert Gibson andRicky Morton. The duo began teaming together in Memphis in the early 1980s, followed byMid-South Wrestling (later to be known as the Universal Wrestling Federation), followed byJim Crockett Promotions (JCP). They held theNWA World Tag Team Championship nine times, with the first four times in JCP. They alsofeuded withThe Four Horsemen. In the late 1980s, they were contenders for theAmerican Wrestling Association'sAWA World Tag Team Championship. By 1991, the team was losing momentum, and Morton turnedheel on his partner to joinThe York Foundation inWorld Championship Wrestling (WCW). In 1992, the team reformed in both theUnited States Wrestling Association andSmoky Mountain Wrestling, where they held theSMW Tag Team Championship ten times. The duo also worked in theWorld Wrestling Federation. On March 31, 2017, the Rock 'n' Roll Express was inducted into theWWE Hall of Fame byJim Cornette.
Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson both teamed with each other in 1980 with Robert's brother Ricky in Memphis without the Rock N' Roll Express name.[1]
The Rock 'n' Roll Express was formed withRicky Morton andRobert Gibson in 1983 in Memphis by head bookerJerry Lawler. They were originally paired together as an alternative to the popular team ofThe Fabulous Ones (Steve Keirn andStan Lane) when they could not wrestle in certain towns. Thegimmick of The Rock 'n' Roll Express was a couple of high flying wrestlers who lovedglam metal music, as it was a popular genre of music at the time. In 1983 and 1984, the team participated in a series of matches againstThe Galaxians, the Bruise Brothers (Porkchop Cash andTroy Graham), and the team ofLanny Poffo andRandy Savage.[2]
They soon made their way to Mid-South Wrestling where they started a feud with theMidnight Express (Bobby Eaton,Dennis Condrey, and manager Jim Cornette). The feud began when Cornette threw a celebration for the Midnight Express after they won theMid-South Tag Team Championship.[3] During the celebration, The Rock 'n' Roll Express shoved Cornette's face into the celebratory cake.[3] The rivalry between the two teams carried on into the Mid-Atlantic area.
The Rock N' Roll Express went to theNational Wrestling Alliance (NWA)'sJim Crockett Promotions (JCP) in 1985 and won fourNWA World Tag Team Championships over the next couple of years. On July 9, 1985, the team debuted in JCP against the team ofIvan Koloff andKrusher Khrushchev, whom they defeated to begin their first reign as champions.[4] The reign lasted until October 13 of that same year. AtStarrcade in 1985, they recaptured the title,[5][6] only to lose them on a prime time WTBS special to the Midnight Express,Superstars on the Superstation, on February 7, 1986. This title change is significant because televised matches between major contenders were rarely shown in those days. They won the title back in Philadelphia on August 16, 1986, and held them until a Saturday night prime time match on WTBS'World Championship Wrestling againstRick Rude and the Raging BullManny Fernandez. The Rock 'n' Roll Express won the belts back when Rude, still a champion, simply left the NWA to go work forVince McMahon in theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF). Needing to save face, promoter Jim Crockett hadIvan Koloff substitute for an 'injured' Rude, and the Express won the belts for what proved to be the final time.
During their time in JCP, the Rock 'n' Roll Express achieved enormous popularity. At times the company would run two shows in one night, with the Rock 'n' Roll Express often headlining the "B" team cards. They would often outdraw the concurrent "A" team shows with bigger-named talent. On one occasion, this led them to receive a jealous reprimand from booker Dusty Rhodes after they sold out Charlotte, while the A team card with Rhodes did less than half the gate in Baltimore. Morton and Gibson were so popular during this time period that they were actually asked to leave Carowinds Amusement Park because they were creating a mob and it was shutting down the park. It was a common occurrence for the fans to swarm them as they did their ring entrance which drew a huge crowd reaction when their music (Electric Light Orchestra'sRock 'n' Roll Is King and later Ricky Morton's Boogie Woogie Dance Hall) began.[7] Fans would also hang out at their houses, and at the height of their popularity, the Charlotte police would station an officer at their homes to keep fans away. Robert Gibson says they went nine months without a day off during this period, and when they repeatedly requested time off, Jim Crockett told them that it would cost them too much money in lost ticket sales. They eventually would fake injuries to get days off.[8]
In November 1986 atStarrcade, The Rock 'n' Roll Express defeatedOle Anderson andArn Anderson in aSteel Cage match to retain the NWA World Tag Team Championship.[6] After a series of matches running from late August through early October, they lost their title for a fourth and final time (They would win four more in later years, but only the first four were also recognized byWorld Championship Wrestling later) in the fall of 1987 to Arn Anderson andTully Blanchard thanks to a pre-match attack by their longtime rivals, The Midnight Express. Morton suffered an injured arm in the attack which led to Gibson beginning the match alone. Eventually Morton would join the match in a sling, but the match ended when Gibson told the referee to stop the match due to Morton's injury. They feuded heavily withThe Four Horsemen membersRic Flair, Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard, who constantly mocked them and attacked them outside of the ring.
During late 1987, the Rock 'n' Roll Express feud with the Midnight Express heated up again which led to an historic scaffold match on November 26, 1987, at Starrcade 87 in Chicago. Morton and Gibson defeated Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane eight minutes into the match. As 1988 began, they entered into a brief feud withThe Sheepherders. On January 23, 1988, in Cincinnati, Ivan Koloff & the Warlord defeated The Rock 'n' Roll Express in twelve seconds, with Morton and Gibson leaving the company after the match. After a several month absence, Ricky and Robert did an interview withBob Caudle atClash of the Champions II where they discussed returning to the NWA. On June 26 at the start ofThe Great American Bash Tour, Ricky and Robert defeated the Sheepherders in their return match. They won several more matches against the Sheepherders, as well as a few others until a pay dispute led to Robert Gibson departing JCP again in late July. Ricky Morton stayed on and wrestled singles matches, as well as tag team and six man matches with a variety of partners such as Nikita Koloff, Brad Armstrong, and Steve Williams. Morton had his last match on September 23, 1988, before leaving JCP again.[9]
In 1988, The Rock 'n' Roll Express went to Memphis and AWA. They had a brief feud withThe Midnight Rockers in theContinental Wrestling Association (CWA), over theAWA World Tag Team Championship. Their first match on February 15, 1988, ended in controversy, causing the AWA World Tag Team title 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. In all, the Rock 'n' Roll Express spent April to May, and October to December 1988 in the AWA having short runs with Verne Gagne. Robert Gibson stated that they went to the AWA out of respect to Wahoo McDaniel who was wrestling there at the time. On February 2, 1989, in Kansas City they had a match withThe British Bulldogs, and they also did a brief tour in Japan forAll Japan Pro Wrestling during 1988.
On January 3, 1990, Morton and Gibson made their return to the NWA. During the early part of the return they had TV matches with the Midnight Express, the Horsemen, andThe Fabulous Freebirds. On July 7, 1990, they challengedDoom for the NWA World Tag Team Championship atThe Great American Bash in the semi-main event, but lost. On September 22, 1990, in a match against Doom at a house show in Jacksonville, Florida, Robert Gibson suffered a torn ACL whenButch Reed came off the top rope on his extended knee whileRon Simmons was holding it. Morton would state years later on a podcast with Ric Flair that the injury actually occurred the day before the match when Robert's wife hit him with a car. Ricky says that he told Robert to just get to the ring and go down right after the start of the match so that he could be paid while injured. Gibson was forced to miss a considerable amount of time throughout the rest of 1990 and the first half of 1991 while recovering fromsurgery which was performed byDr. James Andrews.[10] On June 12, 1991, atClash of the Champions XV in Knoxville, Tennessee, Morton turned on a returning Gibson to join the York Foundation, which led to a match between Morton and Gibson atThe Great American Bash on July 14, 1991. Richard Morton (managed byAlexandra York) pinned Robert Gibson at 17:23 after Morton came off the top and hit Gibson in the back with a computer as York distracted refereeBill Alfonso on the apron. The former partners had more matches over the next several weeks, mostly won by Morton. Morton and Gibson continued their singles careers until Robert was released by WCW in November 1991. Morton stayed on in WCW as a heel until the summer of 1992.
In late July 1992, Ricky Morton briefly feuded withEddie Gilbert in theUnited States Wrestling Association (USWA), and before his brief USWA run ended, Gibson joined him for a few tag team matches.[11] They reunited on August 8, 1992, inSmoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW) and feuded withThe Heavenly Bodies, winning the tag team title ten times. The feud with the Heavenly Bodies, which had been ongoing for approximately a year,[12] included abarbed wire cage match and aTexas death match.[13] The rivalry carried over to bothWorld Championship Wrestling and theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1993, splitting pay per view matches for the two promotions. The Rock 'n' Roll Express defeated the Heavenly Bodies (Stan Lane andDr. Tom Prichard) at WCW'sSuperBrawl III event and the Bodies (this time Prichard andJimmy Del Ray) defeating the Express for theSMW Tag Team Championship at theSurvivor Series. Defending the SMW tag title at the event was part of an agreement between the WWF'sVince McMahon and SMW's Jim Cornette.[14]
Back in SMW in May 1994, The Rock 'n' Roll Express lost their title to the team ofChris Candido andBrian Lee, who were managed byTammy Fytch.[15] The duo, however, won the title back in August.[15] After that feud ended, they feuded withThe Gangstas over the titles. During that feud, they had Jim Cornette as their manager. Soon after the Gangstas feuded, Cornette betrayed Morton and Gibson, as they feuded withThe Dynamic Duo, whom they lost the titles to in April 1995.
In April 1995, they defeatedDick Murdoch and Randy Rhodes to win the vacant NWA World Tag Team Championship. In June 1995, they were stripped of the titles, as their USWA match withPG-13 ended in controversy. A week later, they defeated PG-13 to win back the NWA World Tag Team titles and win theUSWA World Tag Team Championship, making them double champions, but it didn't last, as they lost the USWA titles back to PG-13 a week later. In July 1995, they scheduled to feud withThe Thugs over the SMW Tag Team Championship, and set to turn heel, but in August 1995, Morton was suspended after an altercation between his girlfriend Andrea Callaway andTracy Smothers' girlfriend Angela Lambert, leaving Gibson on his own. As a result of Morton's suspension, they vacated the NWA World Tag Team titles. When Morton returned to SMW, Gibson had turned heel and joined Jim Cornette's Militia, but the proposed feud between the two didn't materialize as the promotion folded shortly after his return.
After SMW's closure, they reunited in the USWA and resumed their feud with PG-13.
On June 3, 1996, Morton and Gibson made their return to World Championship Wrestling onMonday Nitro, facing and losing to Ric Flair and Arn Anderson, and preliminarily reigniting an old WCW rivalry. They made their second appearance onMonday Nitro, August 5, 1996, losing to WCW World Tag-Team ChampionsHarlem Heat. Their third appearance came three weeks later, where they faced Ric Flair and Arn Anderson again onNitro in Lakeland, Florida. They lost to Flair and Anderson, but three days later in Orlando, Florida at aWCW Worldwide taping, the Rock 'n' Roll Express gained their first victory in their comeback, defeatingHigh Voltage. Their next appearance came onWCW Saturday Night on September 30, where they fell toThe Faces of Fear (Meng andThe Barbarian).[16] Morton and Gibson appeared sparingly going forward on Saturday Night andWCW Pro. They left in 1997 to participate in independent federations.
A year later, they were in the WWF for a brief stint as part of theNWA angle (managed by former rivalJames E. Cornette). They then usedThe Rockers' old theme music. Their first appearance came onMonday Night RAW when they facedSkull and8-Ball on January 12, 1998, in State College, Pennsylvania, and lost via disqualification.[17] During their time in the company, they appeared atWrestleMania XIV in March 1998 in a tag teambattle royal, which was won by theLegion of Doom 2000.[18] They also had feuds with L.O.D. 2000 andThe New Midnight Express having an NWA Tag Team Title match at the WWF Pay Per View Unforgiven against them.
After WWF in May 1998 they worked for theindependent circuit. They went to work forOhio Valley Wrestling andPower Pro Wrestling until 1999.
As of 2023, they still team together.
In early 2003, Morton and Gibson appeared inTNA as part ofVince Russo'sSports Entertainment Xtreme (SEX) faction. The duo feuded withAmerica's Most Wanted,Chris Harris andJames Storm. In late 2003 and early 2004, they worked for the All World Wrestling League, owned by Eddie and Thomas Farhat, the sons of the "Original Sheik"Ed Farhat. The duo returned to TNA for the specialTotal Nonstop Deletion,[19] participating in the Tag Team Apocalypto open invitational forThe Broken Hardys'TNA World Tag Team Championship.
Starting in 2005, they would team up again, often wrestling against the Midnight Express in the Mid-Atlantic area. On June 7, 2008, they defeated The Midnight Express (Dennis Condrey andBobby Eaton) at theNWA 60th Anniversary Show inAtlanta.
In 2009, the Rock 'n' Roll Express joined Booker T's Pro Wrestling Alliance in Houston, Texas and became PWA Tag Team Champions.
On February 6, 2017, the WWE announced it would be honoring the Rock 'n' Roll Express by inducting the team into theWWE Hall of Fame at the 2017 WWE Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on March 31, 2017. On March 20, WWE officially announced that the team will be inducted by Jim Cornette.[20] They recently captured the Viral Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championships at VPW's Holiday Havoc on December 9, 2017.
On April 5, 2019, the NWA announced that the Rock 'n' Roll Express would compete in theCrockett Cup (2019) on April 27, 2019, in Concord, North Carolina. They were defeated byThe Briscoe Brothers (Jay Briscoe andMark Briscoe) in the first round. On October 1, 2019, during the second day ofNWA Power television tapings, The Rock 'n' Roll Express defeated The Wildcards (Thomas Latimer &Royce Isaacs) to win the NWA World Tag Team Championship for the fifth time.[21]
On September 28, 2019, the Rock 'n' Roll Express made theirNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) debut atFighting Spirit Unleashed (2019) in New York City. They teamed withHiroshi Tanahashi and defeatedLos Ingobernables de Japón (Bushi,Shingo Takagi, andTetsuya Naito), it was also refereeTiger Hattori's final match in the United States. On September 29, at Fighting Spirit Unleashed inPhiladelphia, they teamed with Tanahashi andChaos (Hirooki Goto,Tomohiro Ishii, andYoshi-Hashi) in atwelve-man tag team elimination match versusBullet Club (Jay White,Kenta,Tama Tonga,Tanga Loa,Chase Owens, andGedo).
The Rock 'n' Roll Express made theirAll Elite Wrestling (AEW) appearance on the October 30, 2019 episode ofDynamite to crown the inauguralAEW World Tag Team Champions, but were ambushed byProud n Powerful (Santana and Ortiz). AtAEW Full Gear, the two participated in the aftermath of the opening tag team match betweenThe Young Bucks andProud n Powerful, where Morton executed a Canadian Destroyer on Santana followed up by a suicide dive ontoSammy Guevara and Ortiz.
On the August 12 episode ofDynamite, the Rock 'n' Roll Express were involved in a segment withFTR andArn Anderson and Tully Blanchard to celebrate Tag Team Appreciation Night. However, after a scuffle between Tully Blanchard and Ricky Morton, FTR would attack The Rock 'n' Roll Express.[22]
On the January 4, 2025 episode ofAEW Collision, the Rock 'n' Roll Express made an appearance where they were ultimately kidnapped byJon Moxley and the Death Riders.[23] On the January 22, 2025 episode ofDynamite, the Rock 'n' Roll Express would again be kidnapped and attacked by Moxley and theDeath Riders.[24]
On the April 23, 2025 episode ofDynamite, the Rock 'n' Roll Express would be involved in a new angle which saw them getting attacked by FTR.[25]
Over the years, when Morton and Gibson were not teaming with each other, they each had different tag team partners, calling themselves "The New Rock 'n' Roll Express." Ricky Morton teamed withRicky Fuji while in Japan for FMW, and withBrad Armstrong,Kid Kash, or his cousin Todd in the independent circuit in the U.S., while Robert Gibson teamed withMarty Jannetty inIWA Japan as "The Rock 'n' Rockers", which played off both the Rock 'n' Roll Express and Jannetty's famous tag team withShawn Michaels,The Rockers. He also teamed withBob Holly in 1992. Ricky Morton also teamed on occasion with Jack Ward ("JT Walker"), a professional wrestler billed from Paintsville, Kentucky.
1During this win, 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.
| Winner (wager) | Loser (wager) | Location | Event | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Rock 'n' Roll Express (hairs) | The Bruise Brothers (titles) | Morristown, Tennessee | SMW House Show | September 11, 1993 | [38] |
| Chris Candido andBrian Lee (Tammy Sytch's hair) | The Rock 'n' Roll Express (Ricky Morton's hair) | Johnson City, Tennessee | SMW Fire On The Mountain 1994 | August 6, 1994 | [39] |
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