Tag Team Thumb-Sketch
Chapter Two: Rock 'n' Roll Express
#PWHS #Article #TagTeam #ThumbSketch #RockNRollExpress
The longest tenure of any tag team in the history of pro wrestling. For thirty years Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson have delighted audiences with their dual drop kick finish and exciting style of tag teaming. In 1983 they were paired in Memphis by booker Jerry Lawler to be a compliment to the already established “Fabulous Ones”. They started their famed feud with Jim Cornette and the Midnight Express in Mid South Wrestling soon afterward and extended it into the NWA under the Jim Crockett Promotion banner.
In 1992, they entered Cornette’s Smoky Mountain Wrestling to begin a feud with the first-ever Smoky Mountain tag champs The Heavenly Bodies who had Cornette as their manager. Stan Lane, Tom Prichard, and Lane’s replacement Jimmy Del Ray were the perfect compliment and the Smoky Mountain fans in the Southeast saw some of the greatest tag matches anytime anywhere. During their tenure there, The Express won the tag belts ten different times. However it seemed logical and did not come across as just a cheap “pop” as several tag teams seemed equally talented in the “Old School” booking style of Cornette.
There are not enough adjectives or superlatives to describe a team with such longevity; they have appeared in all Major and most Minor Wrestling Alliances or Federations in America. There is only ONE team that can brag the longest tenure...and these guys are the winners. fifteen-plus tag title histories will find the name of Rock ‘n' Roll Express etched there resulting in wearing belts for different time spans thirty-plus times. They cannot be underestimated when the discussion comes up in where they rank among the greatest Tag Teams of All Time.
And if you have not already got it, there is an excellent documentary on this tag team made by Michael Elliot, one of our members.
In 1992, they entered Cornette’s Smoky Mountain Wrestling to begin a feud with the first-ever Smoky Mountain tag champs The Heavenly Bodies who had Cornette as their manager. Stan Lane, Tom Prichard, and Lane’s replacement Jimmy Del Ray were the perfect compliment and the Smoky Mountain fans in the Southeast saw some of the greatest tag matches anytime anywhere. During their tenure there, The Express won the tag belts ten different times. However it seemed logical and did not come across as just a cheap “pop” as several tag teams seemed equally talented in the “Old School” booking style of Cornette.
There are not enough adjectives or superlatives to describe a team with such longevity; they have appeared in all Major and most Minor Wrestling Alliances or Federations in America. There is only ONE team that can brag the longest tenure...and these guys are the winners. fifteen-plus tag title histories will find the name of Rock ‘n' Roll Express etched there resulting in wearing belts for different time spans thirty-plus times. They cannot be underestimated when the discussion comes up in where they rank among the greatest Tag Teams of All Time.
And if you have not already got it, there is an excellent documentary on this tag team made by Michael Elliot, one of our members.
Unique content strictly for the Professional Wrestling Historical Society.
Tag Team Thumb-Sketch: Chapter Two.
Author: Terry Kent.
Published: August 2, 2016.
Article: #145.
Editor: Jimmy Wheeler.
Tag Team Thumb-Sketch: Chapter Two.
Author: Terry Kent.
Published: August 2, 2016.
Article: #145.
Editor: Jimmy Wheeler.
Tag Team Thumb-Sketch: Chapter Three - Read Here.
Tag Team Thumb-Sketch: Chapter One - Read Here.
Other articles by Terry can be Read Here.