10 Highest Grossing Movies Starring WWE Stars
4. Rocky III (1983) - $125,049,125
Featuring: Hulk Hogan
While the name Thunderlips sounds like a porn star, its actually the name that catapulted Hulk Hogan into super stardom. When Sylvester Stallone approached Hulk to be the villain in the next Rocky movie, Hogan jumped at the chance. He even quit the WWF when Vince McMahon Sr. told him if he did the movie, he wouldnt be welcomed back.
For Terry Bollea, hed wrestled for a few years and had moderate success, but it wasnt until Rocky III his theaters in 1983, that he became a household name. Followed by his return to the WWF at the end of the year, The Hulkster became one of the most beloved heroes in America.
Hogan spent the rest of his career trying to do a movie that would have even half the success of the Rocky movie. He and Vince McMahon worked together on No Holds Barred in 1989, which was only moderately successful, then Hogan would have two shots at making it on the big screen with Suburban Commando and Mr Nanny with both bombing at the box office.
With a failed TV series in Thunder In Paradise and a string of TV movies for TNT, Bollea has worked to replicate some of the success that the 1983 film gave him but sadly hasnt been able to.
To the public, hell always be Thunderlips and the most famous wrestler in the world. As far as legacies go, he could do a lot worse.