Is Arnold Schwarzenegger Friends With Rival Sylvester Stallone Who Once Wanted to Strangle Him?

Arnold Schwarzenegger has enjoyed his star status since the early 80s. The bodybuilder-turned-actor rose to prominence with the release of cult classics like Conan the Barbarian and The Terminator.

Around the same time, another action hero was making his mark in Hollywood. The actor in question is none other than Sylvester Stallone.

The rivalry between Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone

Other actors, including Chuck Norris and Jean-Claude Van Damme, were rising the ranks during this period. However, they did not achieve the same prominence that Schwarzenegger and Stallone attained.

It is not surprising, given the 80s marked the golden age of action movies. In time, Schwarzenegger and Stallone would become mainstays in the genre. Naturally, it would lead to a lasting rivalry between the two stars.

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The action heroes would also sign up for similar roles, intensifying their rivalry. Moreover, the actors frequently tried to outperform each other in the movies. Schwarzenegger expressed the intensity of their rivalry during an interview.

The former Mr. Olympia said, “We were attacking each other in the press relentlessly. We called each other names and called out our weak points, and it was so competitive. It became so silly that all of a sudden it became a competition about who has the most muscular body.”

“Then he had to use bigger weapons. So then it was a competition of who had the biggest gun, and then who uses the biggest knife,” Schwarzenegger added.

This competition would lead them to a point where they were competing over trivial issues like uniqueness of kills, number of on-screen killings, and body fat percentage.

A transition in their relationship

The two stars would not stop at that. During an interview, the former Governor of California revealed that he once misled the Italian Stallion into signing a movie that he knew would be a box-office bomb.

Arnie’s plan to get Stallone to sign the movie would succeed, and the actor’s hunch would turn out to be true. When the movie came out, it received mostly negative reviews and performed poorly at the box office.

Reflecting on the incident, Stallone said, “Whatever he has done, he has accomplished, but I wanna strangle him.”

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However, both the actors have come a long way. They have not only put aside their differences but have become good friends since then. Moreover, they have acted together in blockbusters such as The Expendables franchise and Escape Plan.