Corrected entry: To make the movie seem as authentic as possible, Stallone told the guy playing Bull not to take it easy on him when it was time for them to shoot the final scene of their match together. The guy laughed about the idea but still agreed to do so even though he warned Stallone that he may hurt him. Stallone, made him eat those words when he beat him for real. Everything in that scene is authentic except for close-up shots of their face that were done later due to injuries that both men suffered while the scene was being filmed. Stallone suffered a strained forearm while Bull Hurley's character suffered a dislocated shoulder. The cry from him that you can hear when Stallone is pulling his arm down at the end is the real thing. That's when it happened.
Corrected entry: During the Las Vegas arm wrestling tournament, Lincoln Hawk loses one match, but is still alive since it is in a double elmination tournament. This point is repeated over the PA. Hawk goes on to beat undfeated champion Bob Bull Hurley in the finals. But shouldn't Hawk have to beat Hurley twice, since it is a double elimination tourney?
Correction: In a normal tournament, Bull Hurley would have been disqualified for punching Hawks in the nose. Even though this was never announced in the movie, this would explain why Bull only loss the last match. He was beat twice. The first time was when he hit Hawks, the 2nd time was when his arm was brought down.
Hurley was only deducted 2 points for punching Hawk's nose, not DQ'ed - they did show the points taken away.
Correction: I don't know where you came up with Stallone beating Zumwalt for real. Not on his best day and with two Arms. Rick Zumwalt was a real arm wrestler. By the time they filmed the finals Stallone could barely pull. He did way too much, thinking because he trained all the time. It would be easy. Arm wrestling is an entirely different sport, and everyone in the beginning deals with unimaginable pain.
I tried to look up stories of Stallone actually beating Zumwalt. In all the stories from the people and wrestlers at the tournament, nothing is mentioned about it. Only that the punch from Zumwalt was real. There's only one source I found "10 things you didn't know about 'Over the Top'" by Tom Foster. The trivia entry is almost word for word copy of some the "facts" listed. However, Foster doesn't site any sources, quote anyone, or mention at all where he got this information.
Bishop73