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Hulk Hogan “was in a class of his own,” former “Rocky III” co-star Sylvester Stallone claimed.
Stallone recalled the experience filming the Rocky Balboa classic with Hogan in the new documentary about the wrestling superstar, “TMZ Presents: The Real Hulk Hogan.”
The WWE star, who died July 24 at age 71, starred in a mix of action films, family comedies and reality TV hits that cemented his place as a true pop culture icon.
Hogan was rushed to the hospital after medics responded to a call from his Clearwater, Florida, home about a cardiac arrest.
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Hogan made his acting debut in 1982 alongside Stallone in “Rocky III.” He portrayed the wrestling champion of the world, Thunderlips. In the film, Hogan took part in a major exhibition match opposite Stallone.
“He was so … I mean, I can get moody. He never got moody,” Stallone said about Hogan’s demeanor while filming. “He was always self-deprecating, loud, welcoming.”
He added, “When I first saw him, I said, there’s certain people … that have a light. There’s a glow. They just have it.”
Hogan previously revealed that he had actually been fired from his wrestling job for taking on the role in “Rocky III.”
“Because back in the day, the barbaric thinking was – wrestlers don’t do movies,” he said in 2017.
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Stallone opened up about what it was like working with the young Hogan, who hadn’t quite found his stardom in wrestling yet.
“When he was playing the character of Thunderlips, he hadn’t quite got his act together. He hadn’t gotten his voice and his presentation. So what you’re seeing there is the really young Hulk Hogan at the very inception of his career as an actor and, of course, a superstar in wrestling.”
Stallone noted it was surprising to him that he was never injured while wrestling on set with Hogan.
“Because when people say, ‘Oh, wrestling’s not real’ – gravity is real,” Stallone explained. “You have a guy 300 pounds landing on you, but he’s breaking the fall. So he’s actually hurting himself to protect you. And that’s what a lot of people don’t see. And you realize, he was so incredibly concerned about my welfare and not his own.”
Stallone paid tribute to Hogan immediately following the wrestler’s death.
“I had the pleasure of meeting this brilliant personality and showman when he was 26 years old,” Stallone wrote on Instagram. “He was absolutely wonderful and his amazing skill made ‘Rocky’ three incredibly special. My heart breaks.”
“He just came in, and you just knew that this guy had a glow about him. He was a force to be reckoned with,” Stallone later told TMZ.
“He was just at the beginning of his career,” he continued. “He hadn’t quite come into his own yet, so we got him at a point where he was enthusiastic.”
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