Behind the Muscles: How Schwarzenegger and Stallone Finally Ended Their Epic Feud
Fantastic, another blockbuster-level Hollywood grudge to dissect. Arnold Schwarzenegger has finally sighed his way through the saga of the “nasty” feud with Sylvester Stallone, and surprise, surprise—it ended exactly the way every cliché-riddled gossip rag promised it would. In a recent People magazine interview (April 2024), the Governator confessed, “We hated each other,” spilling the tea on decades of silent treatments and red-carpet cold shoulders. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the rivalry kicked off in the early ’80s when both buff action stars vied for the same muscle-bound audience. Schwarzenegger felt upstaged by Rocky’s runaway success, while Stallone bristled as Conan and Terminator raked in box office gold.
Look, I don’t want to be the one to say it, but here we are—two former Mr. Olympias too proud to share a stage. They passed each other like ships in the night, each premiere and awards show turning into a peek-a-boo of avoidance. Public records from Variety in 1985 show Stallone declined Schwarzenegger’s invitation to the Conan II wrap party, and Schwarzenegger returned the favor by ghosting Stallone’s 1987 movie launch. I told you so: star power plus ego equals grade-A stubbornness.
But then, hold onto your protein shakes, redemption arrived courtesy of the Expendables franchise. Stallone extended an olive branch—in the form of a cameo offer for Expendables 2 (2012)—and Arnold couldn’t resist flexing beside his former rival. The pair met on set, exchanged more than just scripted dialogue, and realized they were better off as tag-team legends rather than antagonists. The Associated Press confirms their handshake moment went down in front of crew members who’d long whispered about the tension. People later reported Schwarzenegger joking, “It took an explosion of bullets to blow the ice between us.”
Of course, the faithful publicist spin tried to frame this as a deep, emotional reconciliation. But let’s call out the obvious nonsense: adults with too much fame and too many action figures don’t need hard feelings to sell toys—they just need bigger bangs. The moral? Even movie icons learn that grudges are a bad look—especially when profits are on the line.
So if you’re hoping for juicy sabotage stories, tough luck. This flick’s final act was basically two dudes shrinking their egos so they could play nice and rake in cash together. Did anyone expect a different outcome? No? Thought so. And that, dear reader, is why I keep my popcorn at arm’s length.
Sources: Celebrity Storm and People magazine, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Associated Press
Attribution: Creative Commons Licensed
