Rocky Balboa, a small-time Philadelphia boxer, gets a shot at the heavyweight champion Apollo Creed in 1976 and goes on to win and defend the title over five films, before one last fight in Rocky Balboa. The Creed films follow Apollo's son, Adonis, whom Rocky trains to a world title and a rematch with Ivan Drago's son. Creed III ends with Adonis, no longer working with Rocky, beating his childhood friend Damian Anderson and making peace with him.
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No. 01 · 1976 · Film
Rocky recap
In 1975 Philadelphia, Rocky Balboa is a 30-year-old club fighter who works as an enforcer for a loan shark. He has a crush on Adrian, the shy sister of his friend Paulie, who works in a pet shop, and he slowly wins her over. The heavyweight champion Apollo Creed loses his opponent for a bicentennial title fight and decides to give an unknown local a shot as a publicity stunt, and he picks Rocky, "the Italian Stallion", from a list. Mickey, the old trainer who runs Rocky's gym and has always written him off, offers to train him, and after an angry argument Rocky accepts. Rocky trains in the cold, punching sides of beef in Paulie's meat-packing plant and running through the city to the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The night before the fight, he tells Adrian that he cannot win, but that if he goes the distance, he will know he is not just another bum.
How Rocky ends
Rocky loses the fight on a split decision, but goes the full fifteen rounds, and all he cares about is Adrian. He knocks Apollo down in the first round, which no one expected, and both men are battered. When the bell ends the fight, Apollo tells Rocky there will be no rematch, and Rocky says he does not want one. As the decision is read, Rocky shouts for Adrian, who pushes through the crowd, and they embrace.
Post-credits scenes
No. There is no post-credits scene.
No. 02 · 1979 · Film
Rocky II recap
After the fight, both men are hospitalised. Apollo, stung by accusations that the fight was fixed, demands a rematch, but Rocky, who has a damaged eye, promises to retire. He marries Adrian and spends his fight money quickly, then struggles to find work: he flops at making TV ads because he cannot read the cue cards, is laid off at the meat-packing plant, and ends up sweeping the gym. Apollo taunts him publicly, and Rocky agrees to the rematch, with Mickey training him. Adrian, pregnant, does not want him to fight, and Rocky cannot focus. She collapses giving birth early to their son, Robert, and falls into a coma. When she wakes, she tells him to win, and Rocky trains hard, running through the city with a crowd of children behind him.
How Rocky II ends
Rocky becomes the heavyweight champion of the world, knocking Apollo out in the final round as both men collapse; Rocky gets up before the count of ten and Apollo does not. Apollo dominates most of the fight, and Mickey has Rocky fight right-handed to protect his eye until the last round. In the ring, Rocky tells Adrian on TV, "Yo, Adrian, I did it."
Post-credits scenes
No. There is no post-credits scene.
No. 03 · 1982 · Film
Rocky III recap
Rocky defends his title ten times and becomes rich and famous. He plans to retire, but the hungry contender Clubber Lang challenges him publicly and insults Adrian. Mickey admits he has been picking easy opponents to keep Rocky safe, and that Clubber will destroy him. Rocky fights anyway, training at a hotel while fans watch. Before the fight, Clubber shoves Mickey, who suffers a heart attack. Rocky is knocked out in the second round and loses the title, and Mickey dies in the locker room. Apollo Creed, who lost to Rocky, offers to train him in Los Angeles at the gym where Apollo started, to get back the "eye of the tiger". Rocky struggles with fear, and Adrian confronts him on the beach to make him admit it.
How Rocky III ends
Rocky wins back the title from Clubber Lang with a knockout in the third round, using Apollo's speed and letting Clubber tire himself out. In return for training Rocky, Apollo asks for a favour. After the fight, Rocky and Apollo meet alone in the old gym for a private third bout, and the film freezes as they throw their first punches.
Post-credits scenes
No. There is no post-credits scene.
No. 04 · 1985 · Film
Rocky IV recap
The Soviet Union sends a giant amateur boxer, Ivan Drago, to the United States, enhanced by science and possibly steroids. Apollo Creed, now retired, insists on fighting him in an exhibition match in Las Vegas, with Rocky in his corner. Drago beats Apollo to death in the second round, and Rocky, who did not throw in the towel as Apollo asked, is consumed with guilt. Rocky agrees to fight Drago on Christmas Day in Moscow, in an unsanctioned bout, without pay. Adrian at first refuses to support him. Rocky trains in a remote cabin in snowy Siberia with Apollo's trainer Duke and his brother-in-law Paulie, chopping wood and climbing mountains, while Drago trains with high-tech machines and injections. Adrian arrives to support him, and Rocky climbs a mountain peak and yells Drago's name.
How Rocky IV ends
Rocky knocks out Drago in the fifteenth round in Moscow and wins over the Soviet crowd. He cuts Drago early and the crowd turns, chanting Rocky's name. In the ring, Rocky gives a speech saying that if he can change and the crowd can change, everybody can change, and the Soviet leaders stand and applaud. Drago and his son return in Creed II.
Post-credits scenes
No. There is no post-credits scene.
No. 05 · 1990 · Film
Rocky V recap
Back from Moscow, Rocky is found to have brain damage and is told to retire. His accountant has lost all his money, and the Balboas move back to their old Philadelphia neighbourhood. Rocky reopens Mickey's old gym and takes on Tommy Gunn, a young heavyweight from Oklahoma who wants to be trained. Rocky pours everything into Tommy, neglecting his son, Robert, who is being bullied at school and drifts away from him. Tommy wins fight after fight, but the flashy promoter George Washington Duke lures him away with money and a title shot. Tommy wins the title, but the crowd boos him because he owes everything to Rocky. Stung, Tommy and Duke come to the bar where Rocky is drinking, to challenge him.
How Rocky V ends
Rocky beats Tommy Gunn in a street fight outside the bar, with Robert and the neighbourhood watching. Tommy punches Paulie, and Rocky, who cannot fight in the ring, takes him outside. Rocky wins after having a vision of Mickey. Duke threatens to sue, and Rocky knocks him over the hood of a car. Rocky and Robert make up and climb the art museum steps together.
Post-credits scenes
No. There is no post-credits scene.
No. 06 · 2006 · Film
Rocky Balboa recap
Rocky is in his late fifties, a widower who runs an Italian restaurant named after Adrian, who died of cancer a few years earlier. He visits her grave and tells stories to diners. His son Robert, a young executive, is distant and feels overshadowed by his father. A TV computer simulation shows Rocky in his prime beating the current heavyweight champion, Mason "The Line" Dixon, who is unpopular because he has never had a real test. Rocky reconnects with Marie, a woman he knew as a teenager, and her son Steps. Rocky applies for a license to box again, and Dixon's promoters set up an exhibition match. Robert begs his father not to fight, and Rocky tells him that life is about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. Robert quits his job to join his father's corner.
How Rocky Balboa ends
Rocky loses to Mason Dixon on a split decision, but goes the distance, and leaves the ring to the cheers of the crowd. Dixon breaks his hand in the second round, and Rocky knocks him down. Rocky waves to the crowd and walks out before the decision is read. He lays flowers at Adrian's grave and says, "Yo, Adrian, we did it."
Post-credits scenes
During the credits, ordinary people of all ages run up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and celebrate at the top, as Rocky did.
No. 07 · 2015 · Film
Creed recap
Adonis Johnson is the son of Apollo Creed, born from an affair after Apollo died. Mary Anne Creed, Apollo's widow, takes him in from juvenile hall and raises him in luxury, but Adonis quits his job to fight. He moves to Philadelphia and asks Rocky Balboa to train him. Rocky, who is retired and lonely, at first refuses, then agrees. Adonis falls for his downstairs neighbour Bianca, a singer with progressive hearing loss. After a win, Adonis's identity as Apollo's son is leaked, and the British world champion "Pretty" Ricky Conlan, who is about to go to prison, offers him a title fight on the condition that he fights as Creed. Rocky is diagnosed with cancer and refuses treatment until Adonis persuades him to fight it alongside him.
How Creed ends
Adonis loses to Conlan on a split decision in Liverpool, but goes the full twelve rounds and earns his father's name. He knocks Conlan down for the first time in his career, and the crowd turns to him. Conlan tells him he is the future of the division. Back in Philadelphia, Adonis helps the sick Rocky climb the art museum steps.
Post-credits scenes
No. There is no post-credits scene.
No. 08 · 2018 · Film
Creed II recap
Adonis Creed wins the heavyweight title and proposes to Bianca. In Ukraine, Ivan Drago, the man who killed Apollo Creed in the ring, has raised his son Viktor as a fighter after his wife left him in disgrace, and the promoter Buddy Marcelle offers Viktor a fight with Adonis. Rocky refuses to train Adonis for it, and Adonis fights without him. Viktor beats him badly, but is disqualified for hitting Adonis while he is down, so Adonis keeps the title but is left injured and broken. He and Bianca have a daughter, Amara, who is born deaf like her mother. Rocky helps Adonis rebuild in a desert training camp, and they agree to a rematch in Moscow. Viktor, under pressure from his father, keeps fighting.
How Creed II ends
Adonis beats Viktor Drago in Moscow when Ivan throws in the towel to save his son. Adonis absorbs Viktor's power, breaks his ribs and knocks him down repeatedly. Viktor's mother leaves the arena, and Ivan chooses his son over victory. Afterwards, Ivan and Viktor are seen running together. Adonis visits his father's grave with Bianca and Amara, and Rocky goes to Vancouver to make peace with his son Robert and meet his grandson.
Post-credits scenes
No. There is no post-credits scene.
No. 09 · 2023 · Film
Creed III recap
Adonis Creed has retired as champion and runs a gym in Los Angeles with Bianca, now a music producer, and their deaf daughter Amara. Damian "Dame" Anderson, his childhood friend and once a promising Golden Gloves boxer, is released after eighteen years in prison. Flashbacks show that a teenage Adonis fled from a fight outside a liquor store that put Damian in prison. Adonis feels guilty and helps him, and Damian gets a shot against the champion Felix Chavez when Felix's opponent, Viktor Drago, is attacked by unknown men. Damian wins with dirty tactics and turns on Adonis, telling him he stole the life Damian should have had. Adonis's mother Mary Anne dies, telling him to face his past. Adonis comes out of retirement to fight Damian at Dodger Stadium, training with Viktor Drago.
How Creed III ends
Adonis beats Damian in the twelfth round and the two make peace afterwards. The fight is brutal and even, and in a surreal stretch the crowd disappears and the two men fight as if alone. After the knockout, Adonis admits that he ran that night when they were teenagers, and the friends make up. Rocky does not appear in this film.
Post-credits scenes
No. There is no post-credits scene.
Common questions
What is the Rocky & Creed story so far?
Rocky Balboa, a small-time Philadelphia boxer, gets a shot at the heavyweight champion Apollo Creed in 1976 and goes on to win and defend the title over five films, before one last fight in Rocky Balboa. The Creed films follow Apollo's son, Adonis, whom Rocky trains to a world title and a rematch with Ivan Drago's son. Creed III ends with Adonis, no longer working with Rocky, beating his childhood friend Damian Anderson and making peace with him.
Where did Rocky & Creed leave off?
Creed III (2023) is the latest. Adonis beats Damian in the twelfth round and the two make peace afterwards. The fight is brutal and even, and in a surreal stretch the crowd disappears and the two men fight as if alone. After the knockout, Adonis admits that he ran that night when they were teenagers, and the friends make up. Rocky does not appear in this film.
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