Pro wrestlers and rock stars adopted similar styles in the 1980’s: long manes groomed like a woman’s hair-do, tight spandex pants in outrageous colors and prints, headbands and bandannas as accessories, and plenty of exposed chests. The intent seemed to be a blending of the masculine with the feminine, and an overt flirtation and sexiness.
First hitting the ring in 1983, the baby-face Tag Team known as the Rock & Roll Express incorporated the look and attitudes of an 80’s hair-band into their gimmick, and the fans loved it. Just as the crowd would cheer and rock out when Def Leppard or Bon Jovi hit the stage, so too did they scream like banshees when the Rockers, Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson, were at war in the ring, often taking a whipping from some heel team.
Ricky and Robert became the ultimate Baby-face team in the 1980’s. They took rough beatings from every evil heel team of their day: big ugly barbarians, sadistic Russians, masked villains, you name it. But, similar to any rock band, there was a dark side to this seemingly fun loving duo. Whenever they were against a weaker jobber team, they’d turn absolutely vicious. Check out their dirty tactics, stiff punches and kicks, and absolute disdain for the health and safety of their opponents any time they’re wrestling a weaker team.
The officials and the audience always gave Ricky and Robert a pass, meaning they were permitted to bend the rules, double-team, and generally ignore the rules, and everyone supported them because they were so popular. This is like a movie star or rock star who repeatedly uses drugs, trashes hotel rooms, or otherwise ignores the laws we all must follow, and we continue to love them anyway.
Here is a match featuring the Rock and Roll Express, in their matching blue tights, destroying a pair of jobbers in all white gear: Cougar Jay and Tommy Angel.
It was almost as if Ricky and Robert were tired of having to job for all the other Tag Teams they faced, forever crawling on their knees, or staring up at the lights and accepting knees and elbows to the gut, or submissively allowing the big men to toss them around like rag-dolls. Maybe to re-assert their masculinity, to prove they were men and not sissies, the Rock and Roll Express decided to tear apart and utterly destroy the weaker teams they faced.
