History Headscratchers / ROCKY

** It's not explicitly stated that Rocky IV takes place right after Rocky III. While the implication is that it is, since he mentioned he was out getting punched when he comes home, it's vague enough that it taking place a few years later isn't an explicit contradiction. Maybe it could have been a sparring session with someone else.

** It's not explicitly stated that Rocky IV takes place right after Rocky III. While the implication is that it is, since he mentioned he was out getting punched, it's vague enough that it taking place a few years later isn't an explicit contradiction.

** It's not explicitly stated that Rocky IV takes place right after Rocky III. It could take place several years later and Rocky could have been coming home from something else at the beginning.

* Where is Rocky's Family? Rocky and Adrian are Italian Catholics a demographic known for huge extended families and yet the only relative we see is Paulie. Nobody even turns up for the wedding. When Tommy tells them about his abusive father Rocky replies that he's lucky Tommy had a father implying Rocky didn't. His mother probably died young and it's possible something happened to Adrian's parents too but Rocky and Adrian are young enough in the first movie for even their grands to possibly still be around. There should be a ton of cousins around if nothing else.

* Where is Rocky's Family? Rocky and Adrian are Italian Catholics a demographic known for huge extended families and yet the only relative we see is Paulie. Nobody even turns up for the wedding. When Tommy tells them about his abusive father Rocky replies that he's lucky Tommy had a father implying Rocky didn't. His mother probably died young and it's possible something happened to Adrian's parents too but Rocky and Adrian are young enough in the first movie for even their grands to possibly still be around. There should be a ton of cousins around if nothing else.

** It's not explicitly stated that Rocky IV takes place right after Rocky III. It could take place several years later and Rocky could have been coming home from something else at the beginning.

* What is up with Rocky's fighting style? This troper has only seen the first film, but he spends most of his fight against Apollo just getting punched in the face. A good chunk of the time, it doesn't look like he's even trying to avoid or block it.

** It's not explicitly stated that Rocky IV takes place right after Rocky III. It could take place several years later and Rocky could have been coming home from something else at the beginning.
* Rocky V: I get that Rocky's accountant stole all his money and left him penniless and his injuries forced him to retire, but we are still talking about (in-universe) the most popular athlete in the world (and probably the most popular person alive). All he would need to do is make a couple appearances and autograph sessions and he should be well on his way to recouping his lost fortune.
** Judging by Rocky II, I always thought Rocky was quite uncomfortable with the media-circus aspects of the fight game. He'd probably prefer to just be a coach, where he doesn't really need to be in the public eye and can still be fairly hands-on with the sport he loves, rather than being a pop-culture figure.
** ''Rocky Balboa'' does reveal that he had raised enough capital to open a restaurant. Perhaps a few public appearances was how he got funding.
*** Rocky's past as a loan shark's enforcer got revealed and he suffered a severe blow to his popularity which prevented him from doing public appearances. Like in real life, it seemed this initial scandal didn't actually affect his long term popularity. After it blew over, Rocky probably didn't have any serious financial issues thereafter.

* How long do you think it took Stallone to grow that sweet-ass beard during Rocky IV's training montage?
** Depends on the person. Everyone's hair grows at different rates. It's possible it could have taken just a week to get that long.
** If I may, human head and facial hair grows at a rate of about six inches a year. Thickness of the hair affects how it looks as it grows, making some seem to grow beards faster than others.

* Remember Paulie's robot from ''Rocky IV'', which he got from Rocky as a birthday present? It was able to give coherent responses and could process what it saw. How exactly did Rocky's suppliers pull off this level of artificial intelligence?
** RuleOfCool applies, though it's entirely possible there's a person remote controlling it (perhaps a live-in maid) and it's a glorified RC car.

*** Rocky's past as a loan shark's enforcer got revealed and he suffered a severe blow to his popularity which prevented him from doing public appearances. Like in real life, it seemed this initial scandal didn't actually affect his long term popularity. After it blew over, Rocky probably didn't have any serious financial issues thereafter.
* When Rocky was punching Clubber during a clinch, was that even legal? Don't get me wrong it's still awesome, but isn't something like that against the rules in professional boxing?
** In a clinch, you have to assume that you are free to hit the opponent and they are free to hit you unless/until the ref tells you to break. Some refs will give an order to break very quickly, but technically the rules are to encourage the fighters to work and continue fighting as long as their hands and arms aren't being constrained by the opponent. In a real match the clinch you mean (I'm assuming you're talking about the final round of the second match) might well prompt a referee to call a break and separate the fighters because one of Rocky's arms is pinned between Clubber's arm and body, but since the ref hasn't called for them to stop punching and break, both Rocky and Clubber are free to pound away.