The Italian Stallion might not have won the fight, but he got the girl, and in Rocky 2 Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) and Adrian Pennino (Talia Shire) get married after a hasty courtship. A lone wolf in Rocky, Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) kept mostly to himself on the streets of Philadelphia, where he went from chasing down delinquent clients for loan sharks to training for his big bout with Apollo Creed. While trying to see if he can go the distance he meets Adrian, a shy clerk at the J&M Tropical Fish pet shop, who captures his heart and gives him the strength to last 15 rounds in the ring.
Despite being an underused character in the Rocky movies, Adrian became one of the most important figures in Rocky’s life, appearing in six Rocky films. Before Adrian was killed off in Rocky Balboa, she went through an incredible amount of character development alongside her husband, transforming from a timid person in Rocky’s shadow to a strong-willed, resilient partner by his side. Rocky never thought he knew very much about life outside the ring, but the one thing he knew was never to let go of someone like Adrian, leading to a rushed marriage in Rocky 2.
Rocky & Adrian Were Together 4 Months Before Getting Married
Adrian found the soft-spoken boxer charming whenever he picked up turtle food, and with a little persuading from her brother Paulie, Rocky and Adrian started dating over the holiday season while he trained for his big fight with Apollo Creed. A Thanksgiving Day trip to the ice rink and a Christmas Day surprise (in which Adrian gives Rocky his dog Butkus) made it clear that they were getting serious. Rocky supports her standing up to Paulie’s verbal abuse, and she gives him the resolve to go round after round with Creed in their big fight which, though Rocky didn’t win, did end with Adrian declaring her love.
After Rocky sufficiently recovers from the fight, he proposes to Adrian at the Philadelphia Zoo, and given the wedding is the very next scene, it suggests that the engagement period was as brief as their dating history. From November 1975 until February 8th, 1976 when the pair got married in a modest ceremony, the entire courtship lasted about four months. While this might have seemed shockingly fast, Rocky might have died after the fight, and the only person he was thinking of while lying in a pool of his own blood was Adrian, which inspired him to honor what mattered most to him.
Why Rocky & Adrian’s Whirlwind Romance Makes Sense
Rocky and Adrian’s romance might have seemed fast, but for someone like Rocky its celerity made sense. Given what happened with Rocky’s parents and his lack of a supportive home life, he didn’t have a lot of opportunities, but he felt like boxing could change his circumstances, and Adrian could provide him with a family. Rocky knew what he didn’t know because his father had reminded him all his life he didn’t have the brains for anything but boxing, so when he knew how he felt about Adrian, he had to commit to her for life.
There’s an inherent sweetness to the candid innocence of Rocky and Adrian’s courtship. Every aspect of it is based on honesty and trust and exposing vulnerability, from Adrian letting Rocky bear witness to how Paulie treats her and accepting his help by letting her stay in his locker room, to Rocky showing her his humble living situation with his shabby apartment where his only friends are two turtles. The foundation of love that is built in the stark, sharp socio-economic world painted by Rocky and Rocky 2 survives on the strength of its gutsy fearlessness through all the highs and lows of the franchise.
