Raymond van Barneveld talks about his legendary walk on: ''See a lot of myself back in Rocky III''
PDCTuesday, 26 December 2023 at 08:00
The song Eye of the Tiger has been intertwined with darter Raymond van Barneveld for years. The five-time world champion uses the song when he makes his walk-on to the stage during major tournaments.
The hit by the band Survivor was also used as the title song of the film Rocky III. ''I've always been a big fan of Rocky,'' Van Barneveld said in an interview with AD.nl.
The 56-year-old sees many things of himself in the film Rocky III. ''That he is through, that he becomes world champion, that he wins easily, that he is defeated, that his wife has to speak to him on the beach and he says: I'm afraid! Those are things I've actually experienced in my life.''
The character Rocky is played by Sylvester Stallone in the film series. Van Barneveld even met the actor once at a meet and greet in Birmingham, England. ''There I took a picture with him, which hangs in my living room."
Van Barneveld's finest walk-on was during the PDC's first visit to Ahoy Rotterdam with Premier League Darts. The video of that walk-on has been viewed almost a million times on YouTube. ''When I think back to that ... Goosebumps,'' Van Barneveld said.
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