The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express join WWE’s 2017 Hall of Fame class

Kurt Angle finally has some company in the WWE Hall of Fame class of ‘17, and it’s a duo who set the standard for babyface tag teams throughout their runs in the WCW, WWE and, most famously, the National Wrestling Alliance - the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express.

Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson held NWA gold eight-times as one of the hottest acts working for Jim Crockett Promotions in the 1980s. With Dusty Rhodes booking them, the duo used their speed and teamwork to battle bigger opponents like the Midnight Express, Ivan & Nikita Koloff and the Four Horsemen, while causing fans’ hearts to skip a beat with their rock star gimmick.

CBS Sports broke the news for WWE a short time ago. Morton explained how it happened:

It was a surprise. I had a message on my phone [from WWE] to call the number back. I think they got ahold of Robert at the time. When they called, it was just like a suckerpunch. It just knocked us off our feet.

Gibson echoed that sentiment, adding “It's an honor for Ricky and me to go into the hall of fame.”

The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express may not be the heartthrobs they were in their heyday, but Morton, 60, and Gibson, 58, are still working independent dates. Recently, they made an extremely well-received appearance in Matt Hardy and Impact Wrestling’s Total Nonstop Deletion episode, competing in Tag Team Apocalypto.

You can read WWE.com’s history of the new Hall of Famers here, and we should get the usual excellent produced video packages honoring Gibson & Morton starting tonight on Raw.