Trivia: Melissa Leo plays Mark Wahlberg's mother in the film, even though in real life she's only 11 years older than Wahlberg.
Trivia: By open admission of one of the original artwork designer Akira "Akiman" Yasuda, the movie (known in Japan as "The Street Fighter") inspired at least 2 of the most iconic backgrounds of the game Street Fighter 2: it is really obvious when you watch the fight between Jim Henry and "the kid", on the docks with a boat in the background much like in Ken 's stage. The cage fight against Henry inspired also Zangief's stage. (00:19:30 - 00:47:50)
Trivia: Although they played mother and son in this film, Anne Revere was only ten years older than John Garfield.
Trivia: The Grand National sequence towards the end of the film combines filmed footage with real footage of the 1983 Grand National.
Trivia: Although Eileen Heckart plays Paul Newman's mother in the film, she was only six years older than Newman.
Trivia: The line the biker chick says in the beginning, "Say it ain't so, Rick" (after being disappointed in Wild Thing's clean cut look and using the word, cute), is from the legend of a kid saying "Say it ain't so, Joe" to Shoeless Joe Jackson when the White Sox were accused of throwing the World Series. Joe Jackson also played for the Indians before the White Sox.
Trivia: Prior to becoming well-known, Cheryl Ladd, Lynda Carter, and Lindsay Wagner tried out for the role of Rosa Rubinsky.
Trivia: During the filming, Charles Bronson did not speak to Elvis Presley off camera and avoided going near Presley as often as possible.
Trivia: Sylvester Stallone was about to hit some meat in an abattoir. This is part of how his character Rocky Balboa trained in the original Rocky. (00:47:00)
Trivia: At the end of the movie, Carney Lansford spits out chewing tobacco. In reality, they used black liquorice to obtain the same look without having to use the real thing.
Trivia: Will Smith won the Best Actor Oscar for his role in the film. However, his award was overshadowed by an altercation with Chris Rock earlier in the evening, which saw Smith slap Rock in the face after Rock made a joke about Smith's wife Jada Pinkett Smith (which Will initially laughed at). As a result, Smith was given a 10-year ban from the Oscars ceremony, and also lost consideration for upcoming film roles.
Trivia: Hulk Hogan claimed he was offered the lead role in this film, which director Darren Aronofsky has disputed. Randy the Ram appears to be partially inspired by Hogan, given he was a megastar in the 80's, has bleach-blonde hair and a tanned skin complexion, and occasionally calls people "brother."
Trivia: Throughout the movie, Kurt Warner wore jersey #13, but he is also known as jersey #10 for the St. Louis Rams in the 1999 play-offs.
Trivia: One of fictitious Texas State University's (TSU) opponents is Southwest Texas Bobcats (SWT), which was a real school. In 2003, SWT changed their name to Texas State University at San Marcos (they kept the Bobcat nickname). Eventually, when the other schools in the Texas State University System didn't change their names, "at San Marcos" was dropped and they are known just as Texas State University (TSU).
Trivia: The opening scene of the demolition derby cars is footage from the 1966 film "Fireball 500."
