WRITTEN PODCAST RECAP: Talk Is Jericho w/ The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express on how they formed, the art of the hot tag, their HOF induction (Apr. 14)

Talk is Jericho with Chris Jericho

Guest: Rock ‘n’ Roll Express

Release Date: April 14, 2017

Recap by: Armando G. Ureña, PWPodcast.com Contributor

DIRECT LINK TO LISTEN/DOWNLOAD

Recap of Jericho’s Podcast with Zach Myers of Shinedown:

Since it was not wrestling related, I did not cover Jericho’s previous podcast. I figured I would give a brief review of the episode for those who might be curious. The podcast was a fun conversation between Myers and Jericho. I would highly recommend it to Rock and Roll fans, and people who are generally interested in musicians and their experiences. It is also not a bad listen for anyone who might be looking for something interesting in general.  (7.8/10)

This Week’s Top Newsworthy Items

-The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express were brought together by Jerry Lawler and Jimmy Hart.

-The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express have yet to sign a Legends deal with the WWE.

-They didn’t get any money from the million copies of The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express Fan Club Pack that were sold in 1995.

TIMESTAMPS

00:00: Sponsor Ads
00:37: Podcast Introduction
05:56: Sponsor Ads
06:22: The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express Interview Part 1
23:12: Sponsor Ads
27:30: The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express Interview Part 2
1:10:09: Sponsor Ads and Closing

Show Highlights/Rundown

WWE Hall of Fame 2017 inductees, Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson, aka The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express, are joining Jericho for the show. Jericho summarizes what’s coming up. Jericho plugs Ricky Morton’s pro wrestling school, The School of Morton in Chuckey, Tennessee. You can learn more and apply at rickymortononline.com. Jericho talks about his Fozzy tour dates. Check fozzyrock.com to see if any shows are close to you. A new Fozzy single is likely to come out in June. The album is coming out in September.

The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express Interview: Part 1

Ricky and Robert still work independent tour dates, likely as a result of their maintained popularity in Tennessee. Ricky cried when he got the call for the WWE Hall of Fame. He told the story of how they got together. Robert had lost his tag partner to injuries sustained in a car accident. While in different locations, they both got phone calls from Jerry Lawler and Jimmy Hart to meet, and they put them together in Memphis, Tennesse.

Ricky and Robert instantly clicked as a tag team. Bill Dundee believed in them as a pairing. Once the Midnight Express came into Memphis, they had much better tag matches. They talked about Jim Cornette having so much heat he would have to watch the fans during matches rather than the match itself.

The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express Interview: Part 2

Jericho takes note of the chemistry the two have, being able to finish each other’s sentences. The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express were locker room pranksters, talking about some of the pranks they would pull. They talk about the NWA, and how over wrestlers back in the day were in the South. They would adjust how they worked to get the best matches out of the heels they worked with. They all discuss the art of the hot tag and selling. Ricky explained that being able to sell was key to being a good worker and crafting a good match. Jericho says that sometimes babyface’s hot tags aren’t hot enough. Ricky also mentioned how the heel should work to get the hot tag over. Jericho asks if they have signed a WWE Legends deal given that they are now in the Hall of Fame. Ricky hopes that they will be soon.  

They talked selling out the locations they wrestled in. One time in Louisiana, people had camped out for three days to buy tickets to watch the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express. Ricky goes on about the importance of getting an education, saying that he encourages the students at his school to get one. They feel not having an education cost them a lot of money back in the day, by not knowing to negotiate for more money.  

The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express received no money from the fan club pack sold in 1995. They tried to sue Jim Crockett, but they did not get much money. Winning the World Tag Team titles for the first time from Ivan Koloff and Krusher Khruschev is one of the team’s favorite matches. Robert also enjoyed the scaffold matches.  

Memorable Quotes:

“We bought a lot of promoters’ airplanes,” Robert Gibson while talking about how much money The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express would take home from shows they worked.

Score and Review (6.8/10)

Another podcast with new members of the WWE Hall of Fame. Hearing stories about the old-school days of the territories was a nice change from Jericho’s usual guests of modern and even ’90s wrestlers. The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express mostly told brief stories about some of their adventures traveling from town to town, and their interactions with others in the business. Their insights on the hot tag and selling were interesting, yet brief. They did not go in-depth on a lot of what they talked about, rather the podcast was more of a casual conversation between Jericho and The Express.

There might be a good reason for this, but Ricky Morton did most of the talking for the tag team, with Robert Gibson chiming in every now and then. It would have been nice to hear more from Robert. The team sounded like down to earth guys; I did not notice any signs of bitterness, which can often be found in many wrestlers from the ’80s and ’90s. Overall, a decent podcast that I would recommend to fans of old school wrestling or anyone who is looking to learn a little more about ’80s wrestling.  

On a side note, anyone near Tennessee who wants to become a wrestler should consider Ricky Morton’s school, I think he’d be a great guy to learn from.

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