Rocky V is a 1990 American film that is the fifth film in the Rocky series.
Rocky V begins with Rocky and his trainer Tony "Duke" Evers in their dressing room after the Drago fight (Rocky IV). Tony praises Rocky for his victory, but Rocky, seen to be in some form of physical discomfort, asks Tony to summon his wife, Adrian. His hands are shaking, and he cannot make them stop due to the trauma, pain and fear caused by Drago. In addition to that, he keeps calling for "Mick", the name of his deceased former trainer.
Rocky returns home from the Soviet Union and is greeted by his son, Robert. At the following press conference, a crooked promoter named George Washington Duke (a parody of boxing promoter Don King) tries to goad Rocky into fighting the new #1 contender to his championship, Union Cane, in Tokyo. Duke sees this as a great opportunity with both Rocky’s managers Mickey Goldmill and Apollo Creed dead. With Adrian insisting on her husband’s retirement, Rocky decides, at least for the time being, not to take the fight with Cane.
Rocky, Adrian, and Adrian’s brother Paulie return to their lavish Philadelphia home to find out that Paulie had unknowingly signed 'power of attorney' over to Balboa’s accountant, who had, in turn, squandered all of Rocky’s money on bad business deals and disappeared (it is also revealed the accountant had not paid Rocky’s income taxes in 6 years). Now bankrupt, Rocky is forced to sell his house and auction all of his cars and belongings: the only thing Rocky does not lose is Mickey’s gym, which Mickey had willed to Rocky’s son (making it untouchable to the IRS). Rocky immediately decides to take the fight against Cane to earn money. However, years of fighting, especially the last one with Drago, have taken a toll on him and after a physical evaluation, it is determined that Rocky has suffered significant brain damage, and that he can no longer fight without further risking his health. Rocky is forced to vacate the championship (which Cane subsequently wins) and move back into his old working-class Philadelphia neighborhood, where he and the family must try to start their lives over again. Rocky begins training boxers at Mickey’s gym, Adrian gets her old job back at the pet store across the street and Paulie goes back to the meat packing plant.
Things start to look up for them when Rocky meets a hungry young fighter from Oklahoma named Tommy Gunn and takes him under his wing. Training the young fighter gives Rocky a sense of purpose, and he slowly helps Tommy fight his way up the ladder to become a top contender. Meanwhile, the new friendship results in Rocky paying little attention to Robert, who becomes withdrawn and angry. He eventually falls in with the wrong crowd at school, and as a result he begins acting out at home.
Tommy’s rapid rise through the ranks catches the eye of Duke, who uses the promise of a title shot and Tommy’s own resentment at being compared to his trainer to lure him away from Rocky. Duke pulls up outside the Balboa house with Tommy in tow, who has now been brainwashed into thinking that Rocky doesn’t have his best interests in mind. When Rocky tries to convince his friend otherwise, an ungrateful Tommy drives off in a huff, leaving Rocky for good.
As he watches Tommy’s car speed off into the night, his head suddenly pounds with nightmarish flashbacks of his fight with Drago. When Adrian attempts to comfort him, Rocky’s frustrations finally boil over. He confesses that his life had meaning again when he was able to live vicariously through Tommy’s success. She reasons with him, telling him that Tommy never had his heart and spirit – that it was something he could never learn. When this realization hits him, an emotional Rocky embraces his wife and they begin to pick up the pieces. After finding Robert hanging out on a street corner, Rocky apologizes to his son, and they mend their broken relationship.
On January 1, 1990, Tommy wins the heavyweight title by knocking out Union Cane in the first round, but is booed by protesters during the fight and is hounded by reporters after the fight: they tell him that Cane was nothing but a paper champion (indicating that Cane was named champion after Rocky vacated the title) with a glass jaw and that the public would never consider Tommy the real champion because he didn’t win the title from Balboa. In the hallway Tommy is very upset about being called "Rocky’s robot"。 Duke, sensing an opportunity, tells Tommy that he needs to fight Rocky man to man and settle once and for all who is the best.
Duke and Tommy show up at a local bar to goad Rocky into accepting a fight; Rocky initially declines but after Tommy hits Paulie, Rocky agrees, however he insists on a street fight then and there. Despite Duke’s warnings to "fight in the ring", Tommy accepts the fight.
Despite gaining the upper hand early in the fight, Rocky is eventually beaten down by Tommy and is seemingly out for the count. His head once again pounds with hellish visions of the fight with Drago, and with visions of Mickey’s burial. He then has visions of Mickey and hears his old mentor’s voice saying "I didn’t hear no bell!" and urging him to go "one more round". Rocky gets back up and with Robert, Adrian, Paulie, and the whole neighborhood cheering him on, utilizes the street fighting knowledge from his days of collecting for a loan shark to defeat Tommy, using various tricks to trip Tommy, tie him up and finally knocking him into the grill of a bus with a final blow. After the fight, Duke commends Rocky and tries to appeal to him, but Rocky has heard enough. Duke threatens to sue if Rocky touches him, but after a brief hesitation, Rocky punches him in the gut anyway, knocking him onto the hood of a car. The crowd cheers as the bankrupt Rocky shrugs and asks "Sue me for what?".
Rocky and Robert meet up the next day at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Rocky gives Robert the Rocky Marciano cuff-link given to him as a gift from Mickey. They make their way to the museum, Rocky says "I love most everybody". The film ends with a shot of Rocky’s statue looking out over Philadelphia.
There is some question as to whether the film takes place right after the Drago fight or over a period of several years. The Drago fight was in 1985 and Tommy Gunn wins the title in 1990. Some have speculated that Rocky could not return to the United States immediately after the Drago fight, as a result of recuperating from the fight.
