Mike Rotunda and Barry Windham were signed by the WWF in 1984. Once they joined the WWF, they were given a patriotic gimmick. "Captain" Lou Albano also became their manager.
The U.S. Express made their WWF wrestling debut on October 30, 1984, when they defeated the team of Mohammad Saad and Bobby Bass. On January 21, 1985, the U.S. Express beat the team of Adrian Adonis and Dick Murdoch for the WWF World Tag Team Championships. They would hold the titles for only two months before losing them to the team of The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff at WrestleMania when the Sheik hit Windham over the head with Freddie Blassie's cane allowing Volkoff to get the pin.
The U.S. Express became two-time Tag Team Champions when they regained the titles from Volkoff and the Sheik on June 17, 1985 in Poughkeepsie, New York on an episode of WWF Championship Wrestling. Their second reign would also last about two months before they lost the belts to The Dream Team (Greg "The Hammer" Valentine and Brutus Beefcake) in Philadelphia after Beefcake rubbed Lucious Johnny V's lit cigar in Windham's eyes, blinding him and getting the pin. The team broke up near the end of 1985 when Barry Windham left the WWF. They had their last match together under the WWF banner exactly one year to the day after they made their debut.
On the March 10, 2008 episode of WWE Raw, the U.S. Express made an appearance in a rematch from WrestleMania I against Nikolai Volkoff and The Iron Sheik. Before the match could begin, they were interrupted by Jillian Hall. She offered to sing for them before being given an airplane spin by Rotunda.