Rock N Roll Express vs. The Rockers

[goodhelmet]

Initially, I thought this was a no-brainer so why bother? However, with the AWA set and rediscovering the Rockers in the WWF, people are calling them a Top 5 team. I have also seen some pushback on The NWA and teams that worked a southern style. A year ago, I think the Rockers get slaughtered at this board. Now, with more WWF fanboys on board and the AWA stuff, I want to know who people enjoy more!

[Matt D]

I'm going with Ricky and Robert. Shawn has a tendency of letting his ego get in the way of things (not often but enough) and Ricky realized more than anyone in the history of wrestling that the better you make your opponents look, the more it means when you get the advantage on them.

[KrisZ]

I voted R&R but the Rockers aren't very far behind. The one problem with them as a team is that they never had that money feud. They had the great feud with Rose/Somers but that was during the beginning of the end of the AWA.

[Matt D]

To be fair, Morton > Michaels but Jannetty > Gibson so much more that I should probably have voted Rockers. The math just isn't that simple though.

[El-P]

To be fair, Morton > Michaels but Jannetty > Gibson so much more that I should probably have voted Rockers. The math just isn't that simple though.

Indeed.

[kev72]

Rock and Roll Express Ricky could work is ass off and sell like a mother fucker - IMHO, there was no better tag team that could tell a story like Ricky and Robert, plus Gibson was always there for the "hot tag".

[MJH]

To be fair, Morton > Michaels but Jannetty > Gibson so much more that I should probably have voted Rockers. The math just isn't that simple though.

Seconded. That and RnR were just working against better teams much more regularly.

[goodhelmet]

I thought this would be much closer after the AWA set and all the love I hear the Rockers getting in reviews from the site. I also didn't take into account the inherent dislike for Shawn Michaels when posting this. To be fair, I know people don't really dig Robert Gibson either.

[soup23]

I thought about this a good bit but for me it went with a tag team that I would be challenging to make my top 5 tag teams of all time vs. a tag team that has a legit case at top 3. Shawn/Marty had some all time classics with Blood in the Sand/ the 2nd cage match. They also had a some other matches that hovered around **** with Rose/Somers on the AWA set.

 

There WWF stuff I have watched a bunch of either independently or in conjecture with the yearbook. There is a whole lot of good to very good in those matches but probably my highest ranked match is vs. the Orient Express at Royal Rumble 1991 which is ****1/4.

 

RNR has the Russian match, Midnights WWar90, and Ragin and Ravishing match as all timers. Under that, they also have just as much if not more good to very good stuff as the Rockers.

 

Having watched both fairly recently, I would take something like Doom vs. RNR from GAB 90 over Rockers vs. Demolition from 12/88 in MSG.

[Dylan Waco]

I like The Rockers a ton and have been touting them as a top level U.S. team for years. But they aren't the Rock N Roll Express.

[WingedEagle]

I'm a huge Michaels fan. The kind that isn't very welcome in these here parts. But I'll take average RNR over high level Rockers in most cases.

[JazeUSA]

The greatest tag team match Ive ever saw to date was in Shelby NC when the Rock & Roll Express beat the Russians for the tag belts in the NWA, that match was ***** IMO, that's just one example of many that comes to mind when I think about how great the R&R's were, I love the Rockers but simply can not put them ahead of the R&R's, I'm interested to see what others think tho, great topic/debate...

[Loss]

I thought this would be much closer after the AWA set and all the love I hear the Rockers getting in reviews from the site. I also didn't take into account the inherent dislike for Shawn Michaels when posting this. To be fair, I know people don't really dig Robert Gibson either.

I wouldn't interpret the Rock & Rolls winning as Michaels hate. I think it's just that even if people like the Rockers, the Rock & Rolls are still better.

[slabinski611]

The Rockers may have been an underapreciated team playing 3rd wheel to the Harts/Demos but the Rock n Rolls are the definition of what I like about tag team matches. The match against the Russians is my favorite tag match from the crocket era with Midnights/Fantastics Clash1 a close 2nd.

 

Btw, what is the date of the good Rock n Roll vs Ravishing/Ragin match ? The one I've seen nearly put me to sleep which I give credit to Rude for. I seriously don't remember a good Rick Rude match prior to the Warrior match at Summerslam though I thought he was a changed man later in WCW.

[Cross Face Chicken Wing]

Mark me down as the third vote for The Rockers. The glam metal look wins out over the creepy handkerchief over the neck look. Also, Morton never super kicked Robert through the plate glass window of a fake barber shop.

[Matt D]

Mark me down as the third vote for The Rockers. The glam metal look wins out over the creepy handkerchief over the neck look. Also, Morton never super kicked Robert through the plate glass window of a fake barber shop.

He decimated his leg!

[JazeUSA]

The Rockers may have been an underapreciated team playing 3rd wheel to the Harts/Demos but the Rock n Rolls are the definition of what I like about tag team matches. The match against the Russians is my favorite tag match from the crocket era with Midnights/Fantastics Clash1 a close 2nd.

 

Btw, what is the date of the good Rock n Roll vs Ravishing/Ragin match ? The one I've seen nearly put me to sleep which I give credit to Rude for. I seriously don't remember a good Rick Rude match prior to the Warrior match at Summerslam though I thought he was a changed man later in WCW.

Rude/Fernandez vs. Rock N Roll Express 12/6/86

Rude/Fernandez vs. Rock n Roll Express 12/20/86

Rude/Fernandez vs. Rock n Roll Express w/ Interviews (2/21/87)

Rude/Fernandez vs. Rock n Roll Express 5/30/87

[Smack2k]

Mark me down as the third vote for The Rockers. The glam metal look wins out over the creepy handkerchief over the neck look. Also, Morton never super kicked Robert through the plate glass window of a fake barber shop.

Wait wait...you got it wrong...Marty was scared of Shawn that he jumped through the glass afraid of what might happen to him...if Bobby Heenan says so, that it must be!

[JerryvonKramer]

I reckon Robert Gibson probably has the biggest ability vs no. of great matches variation of anyone. He's probably not quite as mediocre as people make out, but he's seldom much more than adequate, yet he's been in some awfully great matches.

 

We compared the RnRs to the Fantastics and Gibson was demonstrably the 4th guy, now we're comparing them to the Rockers and he's demonstrably the 4th guy. He's the 4th guy if you compare them to either version of the MX too. Reckon more than anyone he massively lucked out on that run. Without Morton, does anyone see Gibson being much more than a JTTS or even a flat-out jobber?

[soup23]

Rude/Fernandez vs. Rock N Roll Express 12/6/86

 

That is the best one in my mind. It goes really long and may not be for everyone and I do prefer the Russians tag but I know Parv and others hold this one dearly and it is a great match in my opinion.

[Superstar Sleeze]

As the guy who threw out the "Top 5" comment, I usually refrain from those comments unless I have actually made a list. I have not even come close to making a list so I feel foolish that I even threw it out there. I will say when I made that declaration only the Midnight Express & Rock 'N' Roll Express were the two teams I would put ahead of the Rockers from the US. I think they are at least in the conversation with any other American tag team ever. However, I do want to give a go at trying to point out why the Rockers are closer to the RNRs than maybe one would think. However, it is 2 am here. So I will give it a go over the course of the next couple days and see if I can get something up by the weekend.

[stomperspc]

I think Robert Gibson gets a bad deal. He might not be a whole lot more than mediocre but I don’t think mediocre is necessarily bad in this case. Ricky Morton was such a good babyface especially in a tag team role that Gibson did not have to be much more than what he was which was a competent tag team wrestler. He is going to pale to Ricky Morton in comparison as a lot of other wrestlers would but he was far from just some schmuck along for the ride in the Rock ‘n Rolls. He brought something to the team, even if that was just his ability to be a competent babyface tag team wrestler.

 

I would have RNR, Midnight Express, and Tully & Arn all above the Rockers in terms of US tag teams. I think I’d likely have the Fantastics above the Rockers as well but that would probably be a better and closer comparison than the RNR/Rockers one.

[Childs]

One of the questions I can never resolve in my own mind is whether Morton or Eaton was the greatest U.S. tag team wrestler of all time. Do you give Morton more credit for lugging Gibson or do you give Eaton more credit for being great with multiple partners? Do you like Eaton's offense or Morton's selling/fire? It's one where my answer changes repeatedly.

[Matt D]

One of the questions I can never resolve in my own mind is whether Morton or Eaton was the greatest U.S. tag team wrestler of all time. Do you give Morton more credit for lugging Gibson or do you give Eaton more credit for being great with multiple partners? Do you like Eaton's offense or Morton's selling/fire? It's one where my answer changes repeatedly.

Can I vote Arn?

[Superstar Sleeze]

I think Robert Gibson gets a bad deal. He might not be a whole lot more than mediocre but I don’t think mediocre is necessarily bad in this case. Ricky Morton was such a good babyface especially in a tag team role that Gibson did not have to be much more than what he was which was a competent tag team wrestler. He is going to pale to Ricky Morton in comparison as a lot of other wrestlers would but he was far from just some schmuck along for the ride in the Rock ‘n Rolls. He brought something to the team, even if that was just his ability to be a competent babyface tag team wrestler.

 

I would have RNR, Midnight Express, and Tully & Arn all above the Rockers in terms of US tag teams. I think I’d likely have the Fantastics above the Rockers as well but that would probably be a better and closer comparison than the RNR/Rockers one.

Still top 5 though, baby!

 

It is actually kind of surprising how thin the elite US tag teams are. I agree those were two other teams I would put in my Top 5. Tully & Arn have longevity issues and Fantastics while they were great with MX, I can't think of many other tag matches they had were great with different teams. I think those are easier arguments for the Rockers, but I would not begrudge anyone having those teams over the Rockers.