It only seems like a cheap tool to fill out the movies's runtime.
And it's also very unbelievable that the promoters would jeopardize the beloved world champion Rocky's health and let him be possibly injured (even though it's supposed to be a show, Rocky's struggle and suffering from the hands of Thunderlips seems very real).
Been awhile since I've seen it, but wasn't it set up as a charity event?
shareYes, but Rocky still has real pain, when Thunderlips slams him to the ground or hits his spine with his elbow. Rocky could have broken his hand and not be able to fight for a long time as a boxer.
shareHe was retiring...
shareHe announced it after the fight.
That doesn't mean he didn't already plan to retire before the match with Thunder Lips. Retiring isn't something people usually do spontaneously. They think about it for a while.
shareI don't think he'd happily risked an injury even if he's retiring.
shareFirst, Rocky thought it would just be a show, i.e., no risk of injury. Listen to what he said to Thunderlips at the start of the match. He said something along the lines of, "Let's give them a good show, first I'll chase you and then you chase me," while throwing light punches at his stomach.
Second, it was for charity. A point is made in the dialog that Rocky goes above and beyond for charity. Mick said to him something like, "You're wearing your anatomy out for charity! No one else does this much for charity!" Rocky replied, "Bob Hope would," and Mick said, "That's true."
Third, Rocky doesn't fear injury even when he knows it's for real, at least he didn't at that point in the movie. He insisted on fighting Clubber Lang even though Mick told him flat out, "You can't win Rock! This guy will kill you to death inside of three rounds!"
Again, my memory is a bit hazy... it was set up as a charity match and Rocky wasn't taking it too seriously as a fight. Wasn't he stage-whispering suggestions to Thunderlips to make the fight more entertaining for the crowd? Thunderlips though WAS taking it more seriously.
Plus, stage wrestlers know how to absorb hits and falls and make it look realistic. Thunderlips may have assumed -- wrongly -- that Rocky was somewhat knowledgeable about stunt wrestling. Or, he may have been applying just enough force to firmly prove that wrestling is the superior fighting style.
I DO remember the 'back breaker' that he delivers to Rocky... everybody in the theatre I was at groaned or gasped in shock.
Thunderlips started throwing everyone around and going on a rampage. That's part of the schtick of stage wrestling. I doubt that Thunderlips was really in a rage (he calms down pretty quickly after the fight), but Rocky didn't know that. Rocky sheds his gloves to get back in the ring, and was trying to do the right thing by stopping him. Yes, I guess he was risking his hands but I think he had bigger concerns at the time.
For reasons I don't understand, this film portrayed wrestling as a real fight as opposed to the physical soap operas they actually are.
shareAt the time, wrestling presented itself as real fights. They didn’t like movies that showed they were fake. Presumably, Hulk Hogan (and/or WWF) agreed on the condition that it look real.
shareWWF owner Vince McMahon Sr didn't want Hogan to do the movie and released him from his contract. It was McMahon Jr who bought him back shortly afterwards when he realised he had potential.
shareDid you miss the part where Thunderlips sarcastically said to Rocky, "It's all fake"? That's because, despite the common knowledge that pro wrestling is "fake," many of the wrestling moves still result in genuine impacts, and they can easily be delivered with more severity if the wrestler wants to. It's considered "fake" because it's scripted, but suppose you jumped into the ring with Hulk Hogan in his prime and there was no script. That's the scenario in Rocky III.
In other words, just because pro wrestling is scripted doesn't mean that pro wrestling moves can't be used effectively in a real fight. The fight in Rocky III was neither an actual pro wrestling match nor an actual boxing match, and they were both just winging it.
Makes sense, thanks for the reply.
shareNobody does more for charity than Rocky, except Bob Hope.
shareTo show the audience that Rocky was no longer 'hungry'.
Clubber Lange...that man was hungry.
Mick could see that, and knew the probable outcome of a match between the two.
There's always been a fascination about style vs style and this was a time when people still believed wrestling was real.
sharePro wrestling I believe was real until Vince McMahon took over his dads company and changed it to sports entertainment and he made Hulk the champion. But this film came out before that when it was a real, legit sport that was unscripted
shareI don't know, but it's a major highlight of the franchise.
sharePain
share