The rock and roll express entrance Continue Professional wrestling tag team Professional wrestling tag team The Rock 'n' Roll ExpressTag teamMembersRobert GibsonRicky MortonBilled fromMemphis, TennesseeMusic City, USADebut1983 The Rock 'n' Roll Express is a professional wrestling team made up of professional wrestlers Robert Gibson and Ricky Morton. The duo started together in Memphis in the early 1980s, followed by the Universal Wrestling Federation (then known as Mid-South wrestling), followed by a stint with Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). They held the NWA World Tag Team Championship nine times, the first four times in the JCP. They also had an fight with four horsemen. In the late 1980s, they competed in the American Wrestling Association's AWA World Tag Team Championship. By 1991, the team was losing momentum, and Morton turned his back on his partner to join The York Foundation in World Wrestling (WCW). In 1992, the team was reinvented in smoky off-roading, where they held the SMW Tag Team Championship ten times. The duo also worked for the World Wrestling Federation. On March 31, 2017, Jim Cornette inducted the duo into the WWE Hall of Fame. The Rock 'n' Roll Express was founded with Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson in 1983 in Memphis under lead author Jerry Lawler. They were initially paired as an alternative to the popular team of The Fabulous Ones (Steve Keirn and Stan Lane) when they couldn't wrestle in certain cities. The rock 'n' Roll Express gimmick was a couple of high-flying wrestlers who loved glam metal music, as it was a popular music genre at the time. In 1983 and 1984, the team participated in a series of games against galaxies, the Bruise Brothers (Porkchop Cash and Troy Graham) and the team of Lanny Poffo and Randy Savage. [1] They were soon on their way to Mid-South Wrestling, where they started an argument with Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton, Dennis Condrey and manager Jim Cornette). The feud began when Cornette threw a party for Midnight Express after winning the Mid-South Tag Team Championship. [2] During the celebration, Rock 'n' Roll Express stuck Cornette's face in the party cake. [2] The competition between the two teams continued the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). Jim Crockett Promotions (1985-1988) Rock N' Roll Express went to The National Wrestling Alliance's (NWA) Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) in 1985 and won four NWA World Tag Team championships in the next couple of years. On July 9, 1985, the team made their JCP debut against Ivan Koloff and Krusher Khrushchev, who they beat to begin their first reign as champions. [3] The reign lasted until 13 October of the same year. At Starrcade in 1985, they re-captured the title,[4][5] only to lose them in prime time as a WTBS special for Midnight Express, superstation superstars, in February. 1986. This title change is significant because televised matches between major challengers were rarely shown on those days. They won the championship in Philadelphia on June 16. Rock 'n' Roll Express won back the belts when Rude, who is still champion, simply left NWA to work for Vince McMahon of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Promoter Jim Crockett had to save face, and Ivan Koloff replaced the injured Rude, and the Express won the belts for the last time. During his time as a JCP, Rock 'n' Roll Express gained enormous popularity. At times, the company ran two shows overnight, and Rock N Roll was often headlining the B-team cards, which they usually exceed simultaneous A-team performances with larger designated talent. Once, this led them to jealousy from bookmaker Dusty Rhodes after they sold Charlotte, while a Team A card with Rhodes made less than half the Baltimore gate. Morton and Gibson were so popular during this time that they were actually asked to leave carowinds amusement park because they created a crowd and it closed the park. It was common for fans to flock to their ring entrance, which provoked a huge audience reaction when their music (ELO's Rock N' Roll Is King and later Ricky Morton's Boogie Woogie Dance Hall) began. [6] Fans also hung out in their homes, and at the height of their popularity, Charlotte police set up a police officer in their homes to keep out the fans. Robert Gibson says they were nine months without a day off during this period, and when they asked for time off, Jim Crockett told them it would cost them too much lost ticket sales. They eventually pretended to be injuries to get days off. [7] In November 1986 at Starrcade, Rock 'n' Roll Express defeated Ole Anderson and Arn Anderson in the Steel Cage match to retain the NWA World Tag Team Championship. [5] After a series of matches from late August to early October, they lost their title for the fourth and final time (they would win four more in later years, but only the first four were also recognised in World Cup wrestling later) in the autumn of 1987 thanks to a pre-match attack by their long-time rivals The Midnight Express. Morton got an injured hand in an attack that led to Gibson's start to the match on his own. In the end Morton joined the match with a snout, but the match ended when Gibson told the referee to stop the match because of Morton's injury. They argued vigorously with members of the Four Horsemen, Ric Flair, Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard, who constantly taunted them and attacked them outside the ring. In late 1987, rock 'n' roll express's feud with Midnight Express heated up again, leading to a historic scaffolding match on 26 May 1987. Morton and Gibson defeated Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane eight minutes into the game. When 1988 began, they argued with sheep herders. On January 23, 1988 in Cincinnati, Ivan Koloff & the Warlord defeated The Rock 'n' Roll Express in 12 seconds as Morton and Gibson left the company after the fight. After several months away, Ricky and Robert interviewed Bob Caudle on Clash of the Champions II, where they discussed returning to NWA. Ricky and Robert defeated the Sheep Herders in their comeback match on April 26. Rock 'n' Roll Express won several more fights with the Sheep Shepherds and a few others until a pay dispute led to Robert Gibson leaving JCP again in late July. Ricky Morton was left wrestling for singles matches as well as a tag team and six-man matches against several partners, including Nikita Koloff, Brad Armstrong and Steve Williams. Morton had his last fight on September 23, 1988 before leaving JCP again. [8] AWA and return to NWA/WCW (1988-1992) In 1988, Rock 'n' Roll Express went to Memphis and AWA. They had a brief feud with The Midnight Rockers at the Continental Wrestling Association (CWA) for the AWA World Tag Team Championship. Their first match on The 15th. A week later, on The 22nd. All in all, Rock N Roll Express spent short runs with Verne Gagne between April and May and October-December 1988 at AWA. Robert Gibson said they went to AWA out of respect against Wahoo McDaniel, who was wrestling there at the time. On February 2, 1989, in Kansas City, they had a matchup with the British Bulldogs, and they also made a short tour of Japan for All Japan Pro Wrestling in 1988. On January 3, 1990, Morton and Gibson returned to NWA. In the early part of their return, they had TV matches with Midnight Express, the Horsemen and The Fabulous Freebirds. On July 7, 1990, they challenged Doom to the NWA World Tag Team Championship at The Great American Bash in the semifinals, but lost. On September 22, 1990, during a game against Doom in a home appearance in Jacksonville, Florida, Robert Gibson suffered a torn ACL when Butch Reed emerged from the top rope with his extended knee while Ron Simmons held it. Morton told a podcast with Ric Flair years later that the injury actually occurred the day before the fight when Robert's wife hit him with a car. Ricky said he was going to tell Robert to get in the ring and go down right after the fight started so he could be paid. Hurt. Gibson had to miss a considerable amount of time throughout the rest of 1990 and the first half of 1991 while recovering from surgery performed by Dr James Andrews. On June 12, 1991, at the Clash of the Champions XV in Knoxville, Tennessee, Morton turned on the returning Gibson to join the York Foundation, leading up to a matchup between Morton and Gibson at The Great American Bash on June 14, 1991. Richard Morton (w/Alexandra York) pinned Robert Gibson at 5:23 when Morton came from above and hit Gibson in the back with a computer while York distracted referee Bill Alfonso in the apron. Former partners had more matches over the next few weeks, mostly won by Morton. Morton and Gibson continued their singles careers until WCW released Robert in November 1991. Morton remained the heel of WCW until the summer of 1992. SMW, USWA, WCW and WWF (1992-1996) In late July 1992, Ricky Morton briefly argued with Eddie Gilbert of the United States Wrestling Federation (USWA), and before his short USWA run ended, Gibson joined him for a few tag team matches. They were reunited on 8 May 1945. On 18 August 1992, smoky mountain wrestling (SMW) and argued with The Heavenly Bodies, winning the tag team championship ten times.