‘It Began a Ten-Year Battle Royale’: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Who Had an Affair With Sylvester Stallone’s Ex-Wife, Almost Got Terminated by ‘Rocky’ Actor in the Most Unusual Way

The reel-life Terminator and Rocky Balboa never faced off. But the real-life actors, though enacting those iconic roles, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone, managed it albeit with a bunch of flowers. Fans saw them collaborating in movies like ‘Expendables’ and The Escape Plan. However, in the seventies, the two Hollywood Heavyweights romped the studies with an undisguised dislike for each other.

Their rivalry reached its tipping point during the Golden Globes ceremony in 1977.

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Released on 3rd December 1976 (United States), Rocky became a commercial and critical success story. Directed by John G Avildsen, Stallone penned its script basing his characters from the Muhammad Ali – Chuck Wepner fight.

The beginning; When The Italian Stallion got angry

Expecting a bucketload of awards, Sly Stallone felt offended when he saw The Terminator chuckling every time the former missed an award.

Recalling the day, Stallone said, “I’m going: ‘Who is this big guy?’ And he’s gloating and gloating [about Rocky not winning].” Eventually, Rocky won an award. “Finally, “It’s time for Rocky!”

Rocky won the Best Motion Picture award. Exhilarated, Stallone could barely curb the inner monsters, “I managed to grab this giant bowl of flowers “And heaved it in his direction. It had lilies and tulips… It began a ten-year battle royale. And I thought: ‘The gauntlet is down.'”

Thus began one of the biggest feuds of modern Hollywood. Sly, further adding, remembered Arnie ducking, saving himself.

But, the two tough guys remained at loggerheads for decades, barely able to stand each other; the rivalry also breached the work area.

Ivan Reitman’s Twins, released on 9th December 1988, had Arnie’s character, Julius Benedict, picking on Stallone’s Rambo poster.

Returning the favor, Sylvester knocked out an Arnie double in the 1989 release Tango & Cash. Stallone assumed the person was Arnold Schwarzenegger while enacting the role.

In John McTiernan’s The Last Action Hero, Schwarzenegger’s Jack Slater gave Terminator fans a shocker. The film showed a billboard advertisement in a video store with a Terminator 2 poster with Stallone in the leading role.

The reel-life fun extravaganza

But the actual slight was when they sought to usurp each other’s movie roles. On Jimmy Fallon’s show, Sylvester Stallone said that Schwarzenegger duped him into doing the ‘Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot.’ The film not only bombed at the box office but received a sharp tongue-lashing from the critics.

It fetched Stallone, co-star Estelle Getty, Golden Raspberry’s Worst actor, and actress awards. 

The Terminator confirmed the incident to Jimmy Kimmel, “I read the script, and it was a piece of s—. Let’s be honest. I say to myself, I’m not going to do this movie…Then they went to Sly, and Sly called me, have they ever talked to you about doing this movie? And I said, yes, I was thinking about doing it. This is a really brilliant idea, this movie. When he heard that, because he was in competition, he said, ‘Whatever it takes, I’ll do the movie.’ And of course the movie went major into the toilet.”

It’s a different matter that the two Hollywood icons continued their careers with a single-minded focus, winning worldwide accolades. These performers have always been and continue to be recognized as action movie royalty.

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Both actors have come full circle and are two of the closest friends and collaborators.