One of the greatest tag teams of all time, Robert Gibson and Ricky Morton, known as The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express, were glam metal-themed high-flyers whose big heyday was in Southern wrestling during the 1980s. More than just stars for their time, Gibson and Morton were ridiculously influential, inspiring classic teams like The Rockers and The Hardy Boyz, and modern stars like The Young Bucks.
However, because The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express were never big stars in WWE, there are likely many modern fans who don’t know much about them, so let’s cover the shockingly long career of the legendary tag team.
10 Started In Memphis
While they’re likely better known for their work in the major NWA-affiliated promotions, Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson were initially paired together in the Memphis-based Continental Wrestling Association by head booker Jerry “The King” Lawler in 1983. Playing off of the then-popular glam metal genre, The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express were conceived as a fill-in babyface tag team to work as substitutes for the more established The Fabulous Ones on shows they couldn’t make. However, soon enough, they proved to be a popular team themselves.
9 Got Popular In Jim Crockett Promotions
In 1985, they debuted for Jim Crockett Promotions, which would later become WCW, and captured the NWA World Tag Team Championship from The Russians in one of their first matches for the company. Over the course of the 1980s, Gibson and Morton would become four-time Tag Team Champions in JCP, as well as one of the most wildly popular acts in the company. Reportedly, the duo were so popular that they could rarely take days off because it would translate into a dramatic decrease in ticket sales.
8 Decorated Tag Team Champions In Every Decade
Gibson and Morton were tag team champions as soon as their partnership began, capturing the AWA Southern Tag Team Championship in CWA within their first year of working together. They would hold those belts twice, and also capture the Mid-South Tag Team Championship three times before moving over to JCP.
The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express would win titles all in every decade since forming, but the biggest title they would hold is the NWA World Tag Team Championship. Their most recent reign was in October 2019, for the rebooted NWA, which they held until early-2020.
7 Feud With Midnight Express
Every top act in wrestlingghas one legendary feud to their name, and The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express had one of the hottest long-term feuds ever against the Jim Cornette-managed Midnight Express, Bobby Eaton and Dennis Condrey (later Eaton and Stan Lane). One of the great Southern heel tag teams, The Midnight Express clashed with The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express numerous times throughout the 1980s, including at Starrcade ‘87 in a Scaffold Match, which Morton and Gibson won.
6 Rivalry With The Four Horsemen
The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express didn’t just feud with The Midnight Express. As perennial good guys, Gibson and Morton were a perfect match for top heel stable, The Four Horsemen. Nearly ten months after defending the Tag Team Championship against Arn and Ole Anderson in a Cage match at Starrcade ‘86, The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express dropped the belts to Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard after suffering a beatdown from The Midnight Express before the opening bell rang. Upon returning to now-WCW for a brief run in 1996, their first match back was against Horsemen Ric Flair and Arn Anderson, a 19-minute losing effort on Monday Nitro.
5 Break-Up Angle
After departing the soon-to-be WCW in 1988, The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express returned to the promotion in 1990, where they renewed their old tag team rivalries as well as challenging Butch Reed and Ron Simmons for the belts. However, Robert Gibson would sustain an injury that took him out for months, only for Ricky Morton to turn heel on his partner as soon as he came back in mid-1991. Joining Alexandria York’s The York Foundation, Morton took on Gibson in a singles match at Great American Bash ‘91, and the two didn’t reunite until they were both gone from WCW the following year.
4 Smoky Mountain Wrestling Run
In 1992, The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express reunited in the United States Wrestling Association before the two took their act to Jim Cornette’s Tennessee-based Smoky Mountain Wrestling. There, they had a lengthy feud with The Heavenly Bodies — Stan Lane and Tom Prichard — which resulted in numerous clashes for the SMW Tag Team Championship.
The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express were highly decorated in this promotion, too. Over the course of 1992 to 1995 — SMW’s final year — Gibson and Morton held the championship 10 times.
3 WWE Run
After appearances in WWE in the early-1990s as part of a working relationship with SMW, The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express showed up on WWE television more regularly in early-1998. This time, however, they represented the NWA, as Jim Cornette was spearheading an invasion storyline. During this run they would have some big PPV matches — including taking part in a Tag Team Battle Royal at WrestleMania 14 — before dropping the NWA World Tag Team Championship to The Headbangers.
2 Continued To Wrestle On The Indies
The NWA invasion storyline would be short-lived, and by June 1998, The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express would be back on the indies, wrestling literally anywhere that would have them. Aside from some televised appearances on Impact Wrestling in 2003, Morton and Gibson would perform for companies like Juggalo Championship Wrestling and Big Time Wrestling, as well as various NWA-affiliated promotions, taking on either homegrown talent or battling fellow veterans in nostalgia bouts. In more recent years, they had matches in buzz worthy indie promotions like Game Changer Wrestling and Bar Wrestling.
1 Late-2010s Resurgence
In 2017, The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, after which the duo enjoyed higher profile matches in bigger promotions. It was in 2019 that they not only took part in the Crockett Cup tournament, but also captured the NWA World Tag Team Championship for the first time in nearly two decades on NWA Powerrr. Matches for New Japan Pro-Wrestling followed as well as appearances for the newly-founded All Elite Wrestling, where Morton and Gibson got physical with The Inner Circle as well as FTR.