Sylvester Stallone shares what set Hulk Hogan apart in Hollywood during 'Rocky III'

The WWE star, who died July 24 at age 71, starred in a mix of action films, family comedies and reality TV hits that cemented his place as a true pop culture icon.

Hogan was rushed to the hospital after medics responded to a call from his Clearwater, Florida, home about a cardiac arrest.

"Because back in the day, the barbaric thinking was - wrestlers don't do movies," he said in 2017.

Stallone opened up about what it was like working with the young Hogan, who hadn't quite found his stardom in wrestling yet.

"When he was playing the character of Thunderlips, he hadn't quite got his act together. He hadn't gotten his voice and his presentation. So what you're seeing there is the really young Hulk Hogan at the very inception of his career as an actor and, of course, a superstar in wrestling."

Stallone noted it was surprising to him that he was never injured while wrestling on set with Hogan.

"Because when people say, 'Oh, wrestling's not real' - gravity is real," Stallone explained. "You have a guy 300 pounds landing on you, but he's breaking the fall. So he's actually hurting himself to protect you. And that's what a lot of people don't see. And you realize, he was so incredibly concerned about my welfare and not his own."

Stallone paid tribute to Hogan immediately following the wrestler's death.

"He was just at the beginning of his career," he continued. "He hadn't quite come into his own yet, so we got him at a point where he was enthusiastic."