Sylvester Stallone spoke with Sports Illustrated this week to discuss his new film, Samaritan, and got on the subject of his love for professional wrestling. The iconic actor actually played a significant role in WWE history as Rocky III, a film he personally directed, helped introduce both Hulk Hogan and Mr. T to a worldwide audience. WWE would then turn around and have both men in the main event of the first WrestleMania in 1985.ย
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“I love wrestling,” Stallone said. “It’s all about getting swept up in the drama. There’s a passion for that world, big time. People like Bruno Sammartino, those are people that helped forge my personality and my outlook on life. Bruno, Gorgeous George, [bodybuilder/actor] Steve Reeves, [boxer] Rocky Marciano–especially Rocky Marciano. I love wrestling’s mythic qualities. I made my daughters watch wrestling–I wanted them to watch for the story.”
“I understand what goes into it. I hear people say it’s not real. Really? Gravity is real. Jumping off the top rope or having 300 pounds landing on you, that’s real. I feel the same way about action films. They’ve been submerged in sort of a dismissive sort of genre. Like, ‘Oh, it’s an action film.’ All I know is I’ve had maybe 31 operations due to action films, so I consider it very real. Wrestling, it has nothing to do with who’s scoring a touchdown. It’s entertainment. It’s not meant to be ‘The score is now 14–3.’ It’s a morality play, all about the drama. That’s what it’s all about.”
WWE returns to pay-per-view on Sept. 3 with the Clash at the Castle event at Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. The show marks the first major pay-per-view to take place in the United Kingdom since the 1992 SummerSlam event. Here’s the lineup for the show so far:
- Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre
- SmackDown Women’s Championship: Liv Morgan vs. Shayna Baszler
- Seth Rollins vs. Riddle
- Bianca Belair, Alexa Bliss and Asuka vs. Bayley, Dakota Kai and Iyo Sky
