Contact fatigue is one of the most common failure modes for gear tooth, which is closely associated with the material surface state. In this paper, the specimens with and without pre-LSP treatment were subjected to rolling contact fatigue (RCF). The surface damage morphology/ characteristics and fracture morphology were characterized. The results showed that RCF life was improved from 5.37 × 105 to 9.04 × 105 cycles after LSP treatment. The main reasons are the effect of the work hardening and compressive residual stress induced by LSP. A smaller Kernel Average Misorientation value with pre-LSP treatment at subsurface after RCF, resulting in the increase of plastic deformation resistance and RCF life.