Editing Chuck Wepner (section)

== Portrayals and inspirations ==
* [[Sylvester Stallone]]'s character Rocky Balboa and portions of the [[Rocky (film series)|''Rocky'' film series]] were inspired by the life of Chuck Wepner.<ref>"The Greatest Underdog Story Ever Told | Stallone On Making ROCKY"/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PISX0iaMsXc</ref> For instance, it was speculated that a scene from the 1982 film ''[[Rocky III]]'' had been influenced by Wepner's fight against Andre the Giant, as the movie features a match versus wrestler [[Hulk Hogan]] as "Thunderlips", who throws Rocky out of the ring.<ref name="ESPN Wepner Recognized" /><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUhGoY3h0fY  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/xUhGoY3h0fY| archive-date=December 11, 2021 |url-status=live|title=Thunderlips.wmv |date=July 2, 2010 |publisher=YouTube |access-date=November 20, 2012}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
* [[Liev Schreiber]] played the role of Wepner in a sports film, ''[[Chuck (film)|Chuck]]''.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Fleming |first1=Mike Jr. |title='Ray Donovan's Liev Schreiber, Naomi Watts To Star In Chuck Wepner Underdog Ring Saga 'The Bleeder' |url=https://deadline.com/2015/10/liev-schreiber-naomi-watts-chuck-wepner-ray-donovan-muhammad-ali-philippe-falardeau-1201568670 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151008193532/http://deadline.com/2015/10/liev-schreiber-naomi-watts-chuck-wepner-ray-donovan-muhammad-ali-philippe-falardeau-1201568670/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 8, 2015 |access-date=November 16, 2015 |work=[[Deadline Hollywood]] |date=October 7, 2015}}</ref>
* [[Zach McGowan]] played the role of Wepner in another sports film, ''[[The Brawler]]''.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Brawler (2018) |publisher=IMDb.com, Inc. |website=www.imdb.com|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5471472/ |access-date=December 28, 2018}}</ref>
*In 2022, a statue of Wepner was unveiled in [[Collins Park (Bayonne, New Jersey)|Collins Park]] in Bayonne.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://hudsonreporter.com/2022/11/03/bayonne-to-unveil-chuck-wepner-statue-in-collins-park/ | title=Bayonne to unveil Chuck Wepner statue in Collins Park | date=November 3, 2022 }}</ref> The project had been several years in the works.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nj.com/jjournal-news/2015/04/rendering_of_chuck_wepner_stat.html | title=Plans revealed for life-size statue honoring Bayonne Bleeder Chuck Wepner | date=April 13, 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nj.com/hudson/2015/04/rendering_of_chuck_wepner_statue_unveiled_at_bayon.html | title=Rendering of Chuck Wepner statue unveiled at Bayonne PAL dinner | date=April 12, 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nj.com/hudson/2018/08/the_22-year-long_process_to_immortalize_chuck_wepn.html | title='Real Rocky' Chuck Wepner honored with bronze statue -- and artist is doing it for free | date=August 23, 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/06/nyregion/rocky-chuck-wepner-muhammad-ali.html|title='Rocky' Has a Statue in Philadelphia. Now the 'Real Rocky' Will Get One in Jersey.|first=Corey|last=Kilgannon|newspaper=The New York Times |date=April 6, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://hudsonreporter.com/2022/04/22/enough-money-raised-to-bring-chuck-wepner-statue-to-bayonne/|title=Enough money raised to bring Chuck Wepner statue to Bayonne|first1=Daniel|last1=Israel|first2=Staff|last2=Writer|date=April 22, 2022}}</ref>