10 Wrestling Facts We Didn't Know Last Week (Aug 3)

6. Sting Only Knew Hulk Hogan From Rocky III

Hulk Hogan Rocky III
MGM

In the early-80s before he broke into the pro wrestling business, Sting was co-managing a gym with his friend in Southern California. The gig was well-suited to a body guy like him, and the Gold's Gym began attracting several big stars whenever they'd roll through the San Fernando Valley area.

Stars like the biggest of all them: Hulk Hogan.

Hulk was fresh off his appearance as Thunderlips in Rocky III, and (rather amusingly) that's the only reason Sting knew who he was. On Lilian Garcia's Chasing Glory podcast, the WCW icon admitted that others around him scratched their heads when Sting revealed he didn't know Hogan from wrestling at all.

In fairness, there was hardly any on TV in the local area, Hulk hadn't yet made his way to the WWF and the promotion's plans to expand nationally were in their infancy. To Sting, Hogan was just a jacked-up bodybuilder who had made a brief cameo in one of Sylvester Stallone's movies.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.