Touchy. Let's take out the hero bit, then. It seems they were not as much hands on as it was easy to assume. Sorry to have touched a nerve.
My innocent thinking, after watching the recovery profile, was that it was something not taught in a civilian UPT program. I suspect some pilots might have tried to resist the natural momentum of the a/c's pitch & roll. I too have enjoyed aerobatics in a multitude of a/c, and done what was possible in a B738 sim. Nothing like yours in the real thing.