On this date in WWF history: The Rock 'n' Roll Express debut on Monday Night RAW
by Jesse Holland on Jan 12, 2012 10:00 AM EST
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Nothing says "Attitude Era" like a couple of geriatric high flyers who still listen to southern rock.
But that didn't stop the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from trying to get a few more miles out of those old tires, inexplicably countering the nWo with the NWA. Complete with a screaming Jim Cornette and his weapon of mass destruction: A Wilson tennis racket.
Kindling + catgut = fear in the hearts of men.
On January 12, 1998, the once-great Rock 'n' Roll Express (Robert Gibson and Ricky Morton) made their debut on Monday Night RAW, taking on the much larger Disciples of Apocalypse (Skull and 8-Ball).
The result was an unmitigated failure.
Let's put aside the fact the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) was no longer relevant in the late nineties, the Rock 'n' Roll Express made no effort to update their look to reflect the current product.
Maybe that was the point, to give them a nostalgic feel, but Cornette grabs the mic and kills the music, then proceeds to shove them down our throats and basically squash them with his overselling before they even hit the ramp.
See for yourself, after the jump.
Skip to 2:15.
So not only does Cornette shower them with accolades before they get to the ring, he then joins Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler at the announce table to continue his argument for why we should care.
We didn't.
The entire NWA stable idea was a bomb and this angle is a perfect example. It just felt out of place and out of touch. The Rock 'n' Roll Express and the NWA had a lot of great moments in pro wrestling history.
This wasn't one of them.
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Poor Ricky Morton
My heart goes out to the guy. A pioneering tag team wrestler, he had money and fame and spent it all away.
All these years later, he’s penniless, useless in the real world, and wrestling in half-empty high school gyms trying to hang on to whatever is left.
I’ve seen interviews with him where he blames guys like Kevin Nash for throwing him away, when in reality it was the wrestling business who threw him away.
The above video from 14 years ago shows how desperately out-of-touch and out-of-place Morton was, even in the 90s. Yet he STILL seems to think there’s a spot for him in today’s wrestling?
by CAxlRose on Jan 12, 2012 10:31 AM EST via mobile reply actions
But I really liked
Severn popping the crowd with the UFC Super Fight Championship and the Legendary 10lbs of Gold.
They should have made him the Goldberg of the WWE.
RIP Nick Adenhart 4/9/09
I blog about the Angels at First2Third.net
As a ten year old kid when they started featuring the NWA guys
I was completely confused as to who all the NWA guys were (more or less) and why they were there.
"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!" Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.
Ryder or Riot #WWWYKI
AA Gamethread Embiggening Record Holder- 458 posts (08/24/11)
3rd Place- 2011 AAOP Contest | 1st place- 2012 AAOP Contest
by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Jan 12, 2012 11:22 AM EST reply actions
I’m kind of glad I missed this at the time. But the RnRs were a very popular team during the mid-1980s, and they represented more or less the state of the art in aerial wrestling at that time in the U.S. It may be hard to believe, but the double dropkick, flying bodypress, and flying headscissors were all you needed to be high-flyers in those days. When Sting dove between the ropes at an opponent on the floor at Starrcade ’87, the announcers just about lost it. I mean it was like the most amazing move ever.
Plus the RnRs gave us the term “playing Ricky Morton.”
Yeah, kind of amazing to think of how low the bar was for aerialists back in the day. I mean I thought Liger completely defied gravity and all the laws of Physics when he came over and even his spots look kinda vanilla in hindsight.
To me Liger, Pillman and Misterio represent the huge leaps forward in aerial maneuvers. Liger still looks pretty awesome even though the moves he created or popularized are common now. I think Pillman was the best of the “Western” style aerialists at that time. Then Misterio showed up and things were never the same again. I was lucky enough to see him wrestle Dean Malenko in Buffalo in 1996 or so and the man was a total freak physically. It seemed like he could do anything.
I remember this angle
This was when I was just started out watching wrestling and my dad had to explain to me just what the NWA was
by Jonathan Loesche on Jan 12, 2012 2:09 PM EST reply actions
The Rock 'n Roll Express
who helped give birth to copycat tag team The Rockers are using The Rockers’ WWF music when they come out to the ring.
Inception!
On another note, a ton of the stuff that the WWF was throwing on TV to see what would stick during ‘97/’98 might have been bad, but it’s all interesting to watch in hindsight. Of course, the idea that someone watching WWF TV in 1998 would have any knowledge of what the Rock ’n Roll Express did in 1987 is silly.
The music
I noticed that too, and was wondering…
"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!" Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.
Ryder or Riot #WWWYKI
AA Gamethread Embiggening Record Holder- 458 posts (08/24/11)
3rd Place- 2011 AAOP Contest | 1st place- 2012 AAOP Contest
by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Jan 12, 2012 7:54 PM EST up reply actions
You said to skip to 2:15...
But once I hit play and saw Owen cutting a promo, I decided to end at 2:15 instead.
Man, just from that picture alone, Robert Gibson should sure HBK for gimmick infringement. He had the corner absolutely locked down for the middle age cross-eyed guy.
by buzz_killr on Jan 12, 2012 4:45 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
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