The ‘70s and ‘80s saw the rise of a new chapter of action movies in Hollywood. Aspiring faces such as Tom Cruise, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Sylvester Stallone brought in a wealth of talent and pulled crowds to the screens with their franchises of Top Gun, The Terminator, and Rocky, respectively.

Among these, the latter star and his tale of the iconic Rocky Balboa came across as a grounded and rise-to-fame storyline that captured the popular imagination.

Sylvester Stallone in a still from Rocky III | MGM Entertainment

In production for Rocky III, which began as early as 1979 ahead of a 1982 release, the Stallone starrer made crucial decisions and finessed each fine detail to perfection to keep the name of the franchise untainted. The course of actions saw tough calls being taken, axing some key moments entirely.

Surprisingly, one of those crucial decisions not only gave the film a beloved montage but…