Opinion
Chad’s Throwback Spotlight: Ricky Morton
Chad D. Aaron takes a look back at the career and influence on the wrestling business of WWE Hall of Famer Ricky Morton.
Chad D. Aaron takes a look back at the career and influence on the wrestling business of WWE Hall of Famer Ricky Morton.
There are accepted terms in wrestling nomenclature. Babyface. Heel. Mark. Work. Shoot. In tag team wrestling, another prominent one is Face in Peril. And the poster boy, the ultimate personification of that phrase, is Ricky Morton.
Morton started wrestling in the late 1970’s. He spent time in a number of southern territories, including Memphis, San Antonio, and Tri-State, the forerunner to Mid-South. He was often put in tag teams and quickly became popular with the fans due to his athleticism, and his teen heartthrob-like good looks. Paired with another young wrestler in Robert Gibson, The Rock & Roll Express was formed in Memphis, building on the success of The Fabulous Ones. Soon afterwards, they were sent to work in Mid-South, where in 1984, their legendary feud with The Midnight Express was born.
The Rock & Roll Express and Midnight Express sold out arenas all over the south, breaking box office records along the way and getting both teams noticed by the biggest promoters in the business. And soon enough, they were on the move again, this time to the NWA and Jim Crockett Promotions.
The success of the team skyrocketed in the Carolinas, winning the NWA World Tag Team Titles a number of times, including trading the titles with the likes of the Four Horsemen, The Koloffs, and old foes The Midnight Express.
It was here where the team, and Morton in particular, shined. With national television, the team got more exposure than ever before. Morton’s natural charisma stood out to the camera. Not only did the team get to look good on TV, Morton would talk almost every week. And here he really excelled.
He possessed the same wild eyes, intensity, and passion you would see from someone like Ric Flair. He also had the everyman southern drawl to go along with that, much in the vein of Dusty Rhodes. His blonde, spiked mullet and boyish looks made him as popular as anyone else on the roster, rivaling that of Rhodes, Barry Windham, or later on, Sting.
And his ring work was on that level as well. Despite the Rock & Roll still being a functioning tag team, Morton was given a main event spot across from Flair in the Spring of 1986. They worked great program back and forth. It allowed Morton to shine and allowed the tag team division reset after Ricky & Robert were on top for so long. Flair noted in his book working nine hour-long matches with Morton in a single week.
Now, I have mentioned Morton’s abilities a couple of times. The 1980’s had a slower, more deliberate style compared to modern wrestling. And in that time, Morton stood out. He was able to work fast-paced spots and showed real energy in the ring. He was believable, and the audiences got caught up in it every time.
And those reactions led to one of the things Morton is most known for. As previously mentioned, the Face in Peril spot has been around as long as tag team wrestling has existed. But Morton’s facial expressions, his smaller stature compared to most of his contemporaries, his connection with the fans, his fiery comebacks, they all led to the Face in peril spot becoming commonly known as “Playing Ricky Morton” He basically perfected the role. And once he got the hot tag to Gibson, they would clear the ring of the heels and the crowds would go crazy.
Eventually, the team got older and their run slowed down. The Rock & Roll Express floated around some, spending time in the AWA, doing some tours of Japan. Morton turned heel on Gibson in WCW for a short time, but it did not amount to much. The team bounced in and out of WCW after the buyout of JCP and worked for old rival Jim Cornette in SMW. A spot here and there for the WWF and early TNA seemed to wrap up their run.
They were featured in one of the Matt Hardy Deletion ‘matches’ in Impact and were honored with an induction into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2017. Then suddenly, kind of out of nowhere, the got one more run with the NWA World Tag Team Titles this past winter. Rock & Roll seemingly, will not die.
I believe that if you drop the 1986 version of Ricky Morton into the late 1990’s WCW Cruiserweight division, he could easily fit right in alongside Chris Jericho, Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio Jr., Billy Kidman and Dean Malenko. You could do the same with him in the Modern NXT and WWE rosters. His in-ring style could easily adapt to the current day and seeing him alongside similarly sized guys like AJ Styles, Daniel Bryan, Seth Rollins, and Adam Cole, he would not look out of place at all.
Morton’s legacy in wrestling is his perfecting the Face in Peril role. I believe The Rock & Roll Express were clear forerunners to other babyface teams with flashy ring gear, like the Hardys, The Naturals, Usos, and The Young Bucks.
Ricky Morton stood out in his prime. In an era where bigger was usually better, he succeeded with his athleticism and spirit. The fans were drawn to his good looks and top-level promos. It was a formula for sure, but a formula that worked then, and still works today. People usually credit the WWF with ushering in the era of the smaller, athletic wrestler in the mid 1990’s with Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels. But the groundwork for that was partial laid out for them in the mid 1980’s with Ricky Morton.
Until next time, watch some wrestling this week, stay safe, and never forget to #UseYourHead.
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Opinion
Chris King: The Wyatt Sicks’ Wasted Potential By WWE
Chris King takes a look at the WWE and their wasted potential of Uncle Howdy and the Wyatt Sicks faction.
Chris King takes a look at the WWE and their wasted potential of Uncle Howdy and the Wyatt Sicks faction.
It’s that time of the year again, folks; it’s unfortunate and downright awful that so many WWE superstars got released today. I’m not going to list all of them, but I am going to talk about one of my favorite factions,
The Wyatt Sicks. Nikki Cross, Joe Gacy, Erik Rowan, and Bo Dallas (Uncle Howdy) were something special. After Bo’s brother Bray Wyatt’s tragic passing, WWE felt like there was a hole that needed to be filled. Wyatt was one of the most creative and brilliant characters, and Bo would be taking over his brother’s concept and bringing it to life. In 2024, at the end of an incredible documentary highlighting Wyatt’s career and struggles, Bo appeared on the screen portrayed as Uncle Howdy. The last time Uncle Howdy was seen on-screen was at the 2023 Royal Rumble, where Wyatt defeated LA Knight in a Pitch Black Match. Howdy jumped off a structure onto Knight.
This post-credit scene sparked so much speculation and excitement that Wyatt’s brother would carry on his legacy and possibly debut the faction that was Wyatt’s concept. On the June 17th episode of Monday Night Raw, The Wyatt Sicks made their dramatic debut ,destroying the backstage area as well as “murdering” Chad Gable. It was such an iconic arrival for Howdy as he made his menacing walk from the back into the audience who were chanting “Holy Shit.” The Sicks and American Made (Chad Gable and The Creed Brothers) battled for months, with The Sicks being victorious. On the September 9th episode of Raw, The Sicks defeated them, with Howdy getting the win with Sister Abigail.
The following year, The Sicks would move over to Friday Night SmackDown, and it seemed like WWE had a plan in place. They would win the tag team championships from The Street Profits and start to look dominant. Now, what should have happened next is Howdy should have won the United States title. The Sicks could have held all the gold over on the blue brand, but it never happened. The Sicks entered into a never-ending feud with The MFT’s (Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa, JC Mateo, and Talla Tonga.) It started off exciting, and the WWE Universe was red-hot for their interactions.
After months of repetitive matches and The MFT’s stealing their lantern, the feud grew tiresome and boring. Even Tama asked Solo why they are still holding onto the lantern, as it was destroying them as a whole. Finally on the SmackDown before Mania, Tama
gave the lantern back to Howdy against Solo’s wishes. Please explain to me why both factions fought almost every single week instead of just having one final blowoff match at WrestleMania.
It should have been either a massive street fight or a falls count anywhere match on the grandest stage of them all. Instead, it turned into a meaningless week-after-week extravaganza that benefited no one. The MFTs won the rivalry, and The Sicks don’t even work for WWE anymore. This was the same criminalized creative process that Wyatt dealt with during his first run in the company.
We’ll never know how much of a dangerous force The Wyatt Sicks could have been in the WWE. For all their careers’ sake, I hope they stay far away from the company for as long as possible. Every superstar that was cut deserves better!
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Opinion
Chris King: Bloodline Saga: Is This the Right Call For WWE?
Chris King questions the WWE’s logic in setting up Jacob Fatu as the next challenger for World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns
Chris King questions the WWE’s logic in setting up Jacob Fatu as the next challenger for World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns
Roman Reigns is once again World Heavyweight Champion after his dominant win over CM Punk at WrestleMania 42. On the following night on Monday Night Raw, The OG Bloodline came back together as a well-oiled machine as The Usos stood side by side with Roman. With the WWE Universe asking who would be the first to challenge “The Tribal Chief,” Jacob Fatu shocked the world by answering the call.
Fatu is running hot after his impressive win over Drew McIntyre and feels like he is ready to become the new world champion. This bloodline segment ended Raw, and it picked right back up on SmackDown with even Solo Sikoa and the MFTs involved. This is now two shows that have been centered around The Bloodline saga, and it’s made me question whether or not WWE should be retelling this story.
The Bloodline (Roman Reigns, The Usos, and Solo Sikoa) ran WWE for over four years as Reigns’ henchmen, doing his dirty work to retain his title. Even though Roman has declared he doesn’t want Jey and Jimmy to serve him, it sure seems like WWE are spinning their wheels. Fatu could add a whole new chapter into the story, even if he’s not able to beat Roman at Backlash. “The Samoan Werewolf” could be forced to do the same thing as Jey did all those years ago and fall in line.
In my opinion, I feel like Fatu should be challenging for the Undisputed WWE Championship because that’s a title I feel like he should win. I understand standing up to your blood and trying to prove you’re the best, but I don’t think this is the right move. It feels like 2022 all over again, as The Bloodline is the central focus on both shows. If Fatu doesn’t win, what happens to all his momentum he’s been building over the last two years?
Why did WWE make this the best choice for storyline purposes? Why couldn’t creative have come up with a different challenger for Roman? There are so many other superstars that could challenge The Tribal Chief, such as Rusev, Bron Breakker, Gunther, or even a returning Sheamus.
I just can’t help but question WWE’s logic here, and it kind of reminds me of all the times The Shield reunited. Could WWE be pushing the same storyline too many times here? Could the WWE Universe get tired of this rinse and repeat cycle of The Bloodline Saga?
Are we about to see all the weekly episodes solely focused on The Bloodline again? Will it be cinema… Yes. Is there still money in The Bloodline… Yes. Was it the right call? That’s to be determined!
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