‘It was shocking to see Sylvester Stallone’… John Brzenk reveals the truth behind Over the Top

EXCLUSIVE: John Brzenk had an amazing experience on the set of Over the Top with Sylvester Stallone.

The popular movie depicts the greatest arm wrestler of all time’s famous victory, where he walked away with a white Volvo truck.

John Brzenk opens up about what really happened in Over the Top

Throughout his incredible career, John Brzenk earned an enormous following in the arm wrestling community. However, it wasn’t until Over the Top hit the cinemas that he became a globally recognised superstar.

The film captivated viewers far and wide, with fans still regularly popping in their DVDs to watch the action unfold. But what was it really like to compete in the competition?

In an exclusive interview with Sporf, the legend explained: “Over the Top was huge. They went to eight countries to find competitors. There were over 500 in Las Vegas, which was quite a bit back in 1986. Sylvester Stallone was associated with the movie. It was great for the sport. Because of Over the Top, a lot of European countries realised the sport existed and became fans and participants in the sport.”

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When asked if he kept the truck, Brzenk chuckled: “I did not. The short story is: I was a teamster with Western Airlines at the time, so the qualifier to enter that match was either you were a truck driver or a teamster member, and I happened to be a teamster member. I did not have a truck driver’s license, so I never got a chance to drive the thing.”

During the filming process, the American who had a cameo in the movie, had several opportunities to share the company of the famous actor.

The 61-year-old reminisced: “I got a chance to meet with him three times, once in New York; he came to a qualifier, and we talked a little bit. Then, I got the chance to see him do a scene at one of the studios in California, and then, of course, in Las Vegas, during the finals. It was quite shocking at my very early age to see a big star, who played Rambo and Rocky be involved in arm wrestling. It was awesome.”

John Brzenk makes big prediction for East vs West Armwrestling 24

Having cemented his status as an icon of the sport, there’s nobody on the planet better equipped to give their opinion on East vs West Armwrestling 24 than Brzenk. And from the main event between Oleg Petrenko and Michael Todd, to the clash between his friend, Todd Hutchings and Bogdan Stoica, the superstar is expecting exclusively entertaining showdowns.

He predicted: “There are a lot of hard-fought matches. All of these matches are super close. Whoever is doing the matchmaking did a fantastic job. There’s not going to be any one-sided matches. They’re going to all be long, hard-fought matches.”

Featured Image Credit: Getty/James Sweetnam