WWF’s (now WWE) Attitude Era offered extreme forms of character gimmicks and aggression blended with performed violence. The era, as most fans of professional wrestling believe, was more fun and creative. Hulk Hogan was playing a bad guy gimmick around the time of Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky III leading him to star in the movie.
Hogan played Thunderlips in Stallone-directed Rocky III and the actor/director had a fight scene with the 302 lbs WWF giant Hogan where Stallone looked pretty insignificant before him. Hogan’s portrayal of the ruthless wrestler was definitely scary but it did scare Stallone in real time.
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Action God Sylvester Stallone Super Scared of Hulk Hogan
After being featured in Rocky III, Hulk Hogan whose real name is Terry Gene Bollea, had a few moves at his disposal to make his character look like a ruthless and powerful wrestler in the ring. The fight scene between the actor and the wrestler was impactful as the pro wrestler brought his moves and played it quite smoothly in the 1982 movie. However, by default, those moves were frightening. Revealing the moments on the Joe Rogan Experience Podcast, Hogan described Sylvester Stallone’s intense scare.
“Rocky III where I get thrown in the corner. I throw that straight-in punch to him, okay yea,h because he said ‘Oh I don’t want to get hurt.’ I said ‘you just stand there and don’t move.’ Well this straight-in punch, he goes ‘I’ve never had anybody throw a punch it looks like it was going to kill me.’”
However, although Hogan seemed brutal in the scene, in reality, he was far from hurting the actor. Hogan inherited tons of experience in pro wrestling and employed his tactics in the movie. “That was straight into his forehead, yeah, he [Stallone] goes ‘You didn’t even hit me.’ I said, ‘Well I’m not supposed to but I did make contact,” Hogan added. As Stallone was doing his own stunts, the fight scene would have been fatal if it wasn’t for Hogan.
Hulk Hogan is Still a Haunting Flashback for Sylvester Stallone
Featuring Hogan, 70, in a cameo manhandling Stallone’s Rocky Balboa was preferably a good idea as it only made the primary character look stronger. But Hogan’s very physical appearance was a nightmare for the Rambo actor. Stallone almost regretted doing his own stunts in the film as he put himself in the fight with the Hulkamania. “Another flashback and another reason why it’s not such a great idea to always do your own stunts!” Stallone once revealed on his Instagram sharing a photo of being manhandled by Hogan in the movie.
“I met Terry Bollea aka THUNDERLIPS aka HULK HOGAN In the very early 80s when I was directing Rocky III. AT 6 feet 7 and 295 pounds with 24-inch biceps! He was an amazing athlete! Incredibly powerful. I remember a violent move where he threw me into the corner , charged across the ring like an ENRAGED bull and leaped so amazingly high Above me,that his shinbone actually came down giant tree on my collarbone , and I tumbled to the floor. I was afraid to look at my shoulder for about 10 minutes … I said “don’t roll me over , don’t move me, ” because I was sure there was bone protruding through my upper chest ! Of course there wasn’t but I have never felt such a mind numbing pain from a massive hit before or since that day!”
Revealing Hogan’s strength, the 77-year-old star said that the former wrestler was unaware of his own strength. But he adored his nature saying he has been a great guy, a great friend, and his presence made the movie special. Rocky III was a huge success as it went on to earn $270 million at the box office on a budget of just $17 million.
Rocky III can be streamed on Netflix.
Source: YouTube.
