British Bulldogs vs Rock n Roll Express

[mickdundee1973]

Wow, never knew that these teams had ever met!

[McMahonHater]

@mickdundee1973 Indeed a very cool bit of wrestling history.

[rockytheyorky]

This match was not sanctioned by the WWWF at the time it was during the bulldogs leave from the WWWF that this took place,and The Rock N Roll Express were between contracts with Jim Crockett promotions.How can anyone say this was not a classic its the only match up of these two teams ever other than I believe one that took place in japan,which has yet to surface.

[kulditbeme]

This match was held on 02-02-89, at Memorial Hall, Kansas City, Kansas, I was in attendence with family, we sat behind the announcers table, Giant Baba blocked a lot of view, also on the card, Stan Hansen and Terry Gordy lost the All Japan tag title to Jumbo Tsuruta and Yoshiaki Yatsu, Dory and Terry Funk was also on the card, I could not believe it did not sell out! I still have photos from the event.

[GLLWolf]

I love it when the Bulldogs played the heels...that was Dynamite's bread and butter

[1981CrueHead]

You know I love Morton and Gibson. But the Bulldogs ate and hit the gym and took the steroids. And they would have killed the RNR. RNR were great,but not in the league of the Bulldogs, the Steiners or LOD. Hey Ricky n Robert more pump less slump. If they hadn't been out drinking n partying maybe they'd hit the gym and history would be different. But they will forever be known for that long feud with the Midnight express that brought to them so much fame.

[Netriderceo]

@1981CrueHead It was speed and team work of the Rock N Roll and Midnight Express teams that sold them as legitimate competitors to those bigger teams. It wasn't like Rey Mysterio vs John Cena where it you could tell the smaller guy had no business in the ring with the bigger one. I've watched their matches either live, on TV or on YouTube since at least 1984 and I can tell you they always worked well with the bigger teams.

[pcp404]

I remember reading about this in one of the apter mags back in the 1980's

as i was in the uk they seemed to be at least 6 months behind the times

which was better than wrestling challenge (the once weekly wwf prog shown at 2 am in london on a wednesday morning and was 9 months behind

[RevDarkehorse]

If only Verne Gagne could have signed these two teams to a full time contract. Maybe Verne should have signed a talent exchange agreement with Jim Crockett and other U.S. promoters. Oh well.

[Netriderceo]

@RevDarkehorse Verne was too cheap and had no sort of vision. Remember this is the guy that let Rick Martel, Curt Hennig, Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan and Shawn Michaels slip through his fingers in favor of Nick Bockwinkel and Larry Zybyzko. And yeah, Verne did have money but he didn't want to spend it.

[HISTORYBUFFPA]

WOW!!

This is one of those dream matches you used to think about as a kid.

[zone6punch]

whoever uploaded this match on here u got down then!  Im a wrestling fan and ive never seen this match

[TOOKOOL75]

omg ive heard of this match but this is first time ive ever seen it!

[reivenlocke]

I bet Ricky and Robert were hurting after this match....the Bulldogs were the stiffest team in North America at the time.

[dittohead4life]

@reivenlocke The Bulldogs were the stiffest team in next to Hawk and Animal. That would have been a good match

[DiSte]

Now I gathered all the infos.

On 2/2/1989 there was a joint AJPW/WWA show in Kansas City (drawing only 300), where the two teams met.

Source: Wrestling Information Archive ("All-Japan Other Cards" page)

[Netriderceo]

@DiSte Are you sure that's not AJPW/AWA? It is after all, an AWA ring.

[DiSte]

This match was NOT from an AWA show.

It was a match recorded I believe in 1989 during a special WWA show with Pat O'Connor as the referee.

WWA even had a videotape on sale with this match in...

[TeslaDRay]

@DiSte

this is all japan. both teams toured there on and off in the late 80's.

[TeslaDRay]

wait nevermind.

[jtrujillo575]

its a shame the the bulldogs only had one title reign

[okrabay]

the awa should have had this on espn.

maybe they could have turned things around.

[suspekt29]

This is epic, too bad I can't seem to block out the annoying commentary

[MrDemolitionMan]

This match was released on video tape, just the one match on the tape.

[TheToughBrets]

I see a lot of people commenting on this being a "classic" match, but beyond being the one meeting of these two legendary teams (and therefore being a piece of historical interest to wrestling marks), the match itself was massively disappointing.

[Netriderceo]

@TheToughBrets It wasn't a 5 star match but I think a lot of what was wrong with it had to do with the referee being too old, too slow, and NEVER in position when he needed to make a count. Believe it or not, a bad ref and throw off the timing of the wrestlers and cause other problems that hinder the quality of the match. Given the fact that the match took place in an AWA ring, they should have had a guy like Scott LeDouex (AWA ref and former boxer) ref the match instead of that guy.

[wwwMERTHcom]

I had no idea that these two teams ever wrestled.

[Lfdjake91]

This match is really a lost mat classic, as it featured arguably the best tag team from the WWF & the NWA facing each other, yet sadly few people know that these 2 teams ever even wrestled each other.

[Lfdjake91]

The referee for this match is former NWA World champ Pat O'Connor.

[DoktorSick]

thanks for posting .This is a classic match!!!

I was a big time mark for the rock n roll express back in the day.

[ECOOL76]

Wow, I never even thought about these 2 against each other. WWE is about to put out a greatest tag team dvd. If The R and R Express isnt on it then I will burn Vince McMahon's house down.

[themightycelestial]

I love this classic stuff.

In these tag team matches,

they always start off where one of the faces gets beat up alot, but the ref keeps getting distracted whenever his partner tries to go in & help him.

But when the tag is finally made, the ref doesn't even flinch when the two heels get in the ring at the same time! :o)

Stuff like this just brings back alot of childhood memories.

Thanx!

[Nik133]

Sadly this match was a letdown.

[hank7216]

If this was 88, Dynamite was a shell of himself by this point. Would have been great before his back injury

[newschoolz]

this looks like awa wrestling

[NAYellowjackets]

AWA and Central States in Kansas City.

[Lfdjake91]

IIRC, this match was actually from a AJPW show that All-Japan ran in the US. The show did not draw well so they never ran another show here.

[bigpoppanard]

Not entirely true, it was an AWA show from 1988, AJPW had a deal with the AWA for a talent exchange...I remember on the english version of this tv taping had stars from NWA Central States/WWA and a couple from the Memphis promotion. They also spoke to Bill Apter before the match saying this match was the "dream match" every fan wanted to see.

[littlenipper8u]

Thanks for posting this, 2 of the all time tag teams in there prime.

[sakonhagakure]

I remember when I was a kid I always wanted to see Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson vs Shawn Michaels and Marty Janetty.

[DefLeppardVanHalen]

It happened in 1988, over in Memphis.

[jcp1977]

The British Bulldogs in my opinion were one of the greatest tagteams of all time

The Rock and Roll Express are the original Rockers and AWA made their version of the RNR Express in The Midnight Rockers

[taxi30342]

Can anyone remember RnR wrestled Rick Rude & Manny Ferenandes? for the nwa tag team belt and beat them (just)to become tag team champs for the 7th time its about 20+yrs ago any joy on someone uploading it pleassssse i seen this wrestling match & i was hooked ever since

[satyran]

that was a phantom title switch, when Rick Rude left to join the WWF.

[taxi30342]

Cheers for responding, but im sure im remember morton scrapping with rude outside the ring and gibson got the pin fall on the bull (I seen It on TV about 25yrs ago)an unbelievable match, i hope someone uploades this footage my work colleges dont agree they think im wrong, i must have been abducted by Aliens "I DO REMEMBER SEEN THIS MATCH ON TV" Dubliner in peace..

[satyran]

You're absolutely right, the two teams did have several matches, and they did show a pinfall from a match on several tv shows as "proof" of the RnR's "winning" back the belts. But I assure you my friend that the actual title change match never took place. If you google search "rock n roll express phantom title change" it will pull up this and other examples. You've got a great memory! It seems like there was a tape in 87 that had the match. Take care!

[mamacornettesmoney]

You are both right. They aired an old match where Rock n Roll beat Ragin n Ravishing, but it wasn't really a title match. They showed it when Rude left and announced that Rock n Roll had won the tag belts insinuating that this was the title change, but the match they showed really was from a couple of months prior. The actual title change was "phantom".

[amaribling]

dame is off da hook!!!

Any1 know what year this was?????

[Wilkrn1975]

There in an AWA ring. I knew the RNR Xpress wrestled AWA in the late 80's ut didn't know the Bulldogs did. I'm guessing it's around 88-89.

[eljefereal]

I know it's blurry, but at the start I think it says 1988

[amaribling]

I hear that but I dont think its "88 As they were in the WWF

[bbbokkk]

people earlier commented that in a real fight the rnr would have no chance with the bulldogs?..being on steroids does not make you a better fighter in a shoot..ive seen dynamite years ago when he was smaller than morton and without the gas davey is no bigger than gibson..steroids make you stronger and prettier kids , NOT TOUGHER!!!...ask lex luger why he ran out of that cage match with brody..luger was jacked and looked great , while brody was not , but luger was scared for his life...hahahahaha

[victort1973]

You're off a little bbbokkk. Steroids or not, Dynamite was a "legit" tough guy. He was always asked by other wrestlers to come along to places just in case a fight broke out. The Bulldogs would've smashed RNR in a real fight and that is fact.

[bbbokkk]

if thats your opinion you are more than welcome to it...its not a fact though cause none of us have ever seen any of the four guys in a real fight...ive seen plenty of jacked up guys get their asses handed to them in real fights by guys who look like they dont have a chance...my guess is that someone picked a fight with the rnr every night in damn near every bar they drank in after the show cause all the women loved them so all the guys and boyfriends probably tested them.

[TheoUnit798]

its well documented that Dynamite was a legit tough guy though.

[TitusVentura]

yeah ask jacque rougeau

[TheoUnit798]

u refering to when Rougeau took a cheap shot, with a roll of quarters expecting Dynamite Kid to go down, but Dynamite stood up to it and fought him until Bad News broke it up?

[TheoUnit798]

Plus Dynamite was a shooter.

[TheoUnit798]

Plus Lex never ran out on Brody, he just noticed that Brody wasn't selling at all when he was hitting him. He kinda stared at Brody and thought 'fuck this' and climbed out the cage and walked off.

[HarveyFoFi]

Wow, I never knew they ever wrestler each other. Thank for posting this video.

[takeithowuwantit]

this is one of their many meeting ,only the second in the usa.most of thier matches took place in japan. they faced each 10 times total,with each winnig 5 times against each other,with the exception ,of a draw.that was this match right here.

[ferndog681]

this match is a virtual fight. it never happened. it was created digitally for our viewing pleasure. i wish they really did fight. :(

[stoningtonj]

Wasnt this right after the RNR turned heel in Memphis...I think they were fueding with Lawler...

[Desperadorrj]

Yes, I knew there was footage on this match somewhere!

Thank you for posting this!

[johnorydupont]

Shohei Baba promoted this show and had help from Verne Gagne, Bob Geigel and Pat O'Connor. This version was obviously shot by All-Japan. The version the AWA used had wider shots, which revealed a very sparse crowd. Maybe 500 in the entire building. It's sad because this wasa great match. But by this point, anything that didn't have a WWF logo was immediately viewed as inferior.

[nwauwf]

what company and year was this

[prairiesix]

Thank God for YouTube..most of the time. I never knew about this match.

[Cavillier1970]

OMG This is like one of those Dream Matchups fans talk about and play What If? I'm shocked that this is offered in any DVD sets cause this would be a jewel to have, especially if Jim Ross called it.

[MAD69CEO]

was this after the bulldogs left WWF?

[jaymiles81]

What kind of count did the Ref give Robert (Rock and Roll Ex.) @ 5:18?

[Ankssss]

Wow. Rare footage.

[lmatthe]

Wow... this was rare back then...2 major babyfaces against each other. 2 of my favorite all time teams. AWSOME!!!!!

[Fair2Flair]

This is likely a one time match they worked when both teams were not under contract for their respective organizations. The commentary is in Japaneses likely because the WWF/E/whatever owns the rights not only to their own library, but those of the old NWA/WCW and the AWA. If it were in English, they would likely take legal action.

[GBODY7]

This is an AWA matach so obviously vince has this match in his library

[Fair2Flair]

He likely does have the English version, but Japanese one probably is not part of it, since many of the Japanese "versions" of the same matches in English are posted here, while the English get taken down very quickly due to WWE legal threats. Even if he does, apparently Vince doesn't care about the Japanese language ones.

[sondog42]

I have this match in it's entirety (sp) and it goes well over a half hour.

[bloggo1]

i'm a fan of the WWE, the old NWA, and the old AWA, as well as Stampede Wrestling, and other smaller territories in the U.S. and Canada! in my opinion, the Rock and Roll Express were good wrestlers, just not in the same league as the Bulldogs!

[zackskyler]

Ricky Morton...the greatest seller of all time. He made people look great! I liked both of these teams back in the day.

[guysolbgmn]

roid rage VS mullet mania!!!

[signsandwonders1]

I could never understand what was so special about either the Rock and Roll Express or the Midnight Express...two flabby mullet wearing beer drinking tag teams who would never win a fight if it were not scripted. British Bulldogs were great though.

[nwauwf]

let me guess your a wwf/wwe fan right

[RunDCM]

in those days not everyone had a "body" and they had an image of a Van Halen, Bon Jovi, or what hair metal as we know today is. They were good workers in the ring and worked as a team. A 2 on 1 mentality instead of indivisualism in the current WWE. Good workers and sellers and excellent finisher for it's time.

[mcjeff1234]

i agree ,rock and roll express never impressed me but the midnights were great.

[frank1130]

his match happened in kansas city, and was one of the final wrestling events that former wrestler turned promotor the legendary pat o'connor promoted, i know this cause i was there.

this was not an nwa card or an awa card.

it was an independent card.

[ReformedFatGuy]

I'm not doubting you (because I am not old enough to know for sure), but if that was the case, then why are they wrestling in an AWA ring with Japanese commentators?

[Vampirith]

The Bulldogs would have creamed morton and gibson. It was fantastic to see this, thanks for posting this, I've always been a fan of those two Brits.

[alanmercer23]

The British Bulldogs f'n rocked. They did our country proud.

[deconomou]

This is what I hated about old wrestling when I was a kid. Everytime a good guy faced a good guy or a bad guy faced a bad guy, it ended up in a draw. The Bulldogs were by far a superior tag team. Look at Gibson and Morton, I don't think they EVER hit the gym.

[Tonyrave]

Not a fair statement at all. British Bulldogs were on steroids!

[n5guy81]

thats what u call a dusty finish his promoting sucked

[ericwtrainor]

A Dusty finish is having the face seemingly win, but then having the decision reversed on some technicality so the heel comes out on top.

This seems more like two rival promotions letting their guys face each other with neither wanting to look inferior to the other promotion.

[redwonder]

Holy FREAKIN' crap!

[Lyle134]

Before watching this Match I never thought both of these Great Tag Teams met each other in Mortal Combat?

[PAULnjhc]

I actually ordered a videotape of this match from a full page ad in the back of PWI years ago. Never recieved it in the mail lol.... Thanks for posting this.

[StarSaber7]

Awesome! It's rare to see a match like this. As a wrestling fan, I really appreciate seeing things like this. I'm very big on old school and this was really cool. Thanks for posting!

[JuliusC1973]

The match has Japanese play by play and color commentary. If this match did take place in Kansas City Missouri, the match was shown by one of the Japanes promotions, probably either All-Japan Pro wrestling or New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Either way, this was as close as we would see to watching NWA World Tag Team Champions wrestle WWF World Tag Team Champions.

[TigerDriver91]

The match is from Kansas City, Missouri in 1988. Watch the start of the clip and see for yourself.

[theeValeTudo]

This is a match from New Japan

[JimBarbasol]

No, asshole.  1988, from the AWA.

[MachoMan16]

No need to swear asshole.

[t01880]

This is great! Hats off to you for posting this. I am betting this is from 1989-ish?

[mbren28568]

Awesome. Rock n Roll Express to this day is one of my two favs, along with Legion of Doom

[irishgoomba]

Thanks for putting up video

[JonahHexx]

Thanks for sharing this rare match with us.

[van76]

I've always wanted to see this as I heard about this

match at the time. This is considered a dream tag team

match from two of the greatest tag teams of all time.

I wish you can put up the entire match.

[skyhighedge]

thanks for posting this, great footage!

[brocausion]

Now this is what I call rare footage. Thanks alot.

[jacurutu3]

great footage,thansk for uploading this!