Sylvester Stallone Comments On The Death Of Hulk Hogan

Sylvester Stallone and Hulk Hogan will forever be tied together in history because of their work together in the Rocky III film.

That project, in which Hogan played boxing champion Thunderlips, helped launch Hogan to superstar levels of popularity, which led to a sizzling hot Hulkamania run in the WWE and Hogan becoming a mainstream cultural icon.

On July 24, Hogan died at the age of 71 and the Rocky star had loving and respectful words for his former big screen co-star.

In an interview with TMZ for The Real Hulk Hogan documentary, Stallone said Hogan was in a class of his own.

"He never got moody. He was always self-depricating, loud, and welcoming. When I first saw him, I said, ‘There are certain people who have a light and a glow.’ They just have it. He was playing the character of Thunderlips, he hadn’t quite gotten his act together. He hadn’t gotten his voice and presentation. What you’re seeing there is the really young Hulk Hogan at the very inception of his career as an actor and superstar in wrestling"
Sylvester Stallone (h/t Fightful)

Stallone continued:

"We had to do a couple of weeks of him basically throwing me around, I don’t think I was ever injured which is amazing ... To have a guy who is 300 pounds landing on you, but he’s breaking his fall. So he’s actually hurting himself to protect you. That’s what a lot of people don’t see. He was so incredibly concerned about my welfare and not his own ... There will never be another guy like him. Hulk was in a class of his own."
Sylvester Stallone (h/t Fightful)

The complicated Hulk Hogan legacy

Stallone and others have come forward with kind words about Hulk Hogan, but the man left a complicated legacy behind. Hogan was removed from the WWE Hall of Fame because of racist remarks he made on a secret tape recording back in 2007.

It wasn't until 2015 when the public heard them for the first time.

Hogan attempted to apologize for those remarks and was brought back into the WWE fold and Hall of Fame, but the apology left a lot to be desired for many WWE fans.

Hogan's final WWE appearance was during this year's WWE Raw on Netflix premiere in January. Hogan hit the stage with Jimmy Hart and plugged his Real American Beer, but received a chorus of boos from the WWE audience.

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