Sylvester Stallone, 77, reveals tearing pectoral muscle ‘off the bone’ during Rocky II training resulted in THIS ‘key’ change: ‘I was not stopping the movie!’ [Video]

17:03 EDT 22 Apr 2024, updated 17:08 EDT 22 Apr 2024

Sylvester Stallone wasn’t about to let a muscle injury keep him from another shot at his star-making role.

The Academy Award nominee, 77, revealed that he tore his pectoral muscle ‘off the bone’ during a training accident before filming Rocky II, which influenced a key plot point in the 1979 sequel.

He recounted the story to pal Arnold Schwarzenegger and Harvey Levin for TMZ Presents Arnold & Sly: Rivals, Friends, Icons, noting that the injury occurred while working with his and Arnold’s mutual trainer, the late bodybuilding icon Franco Columbo.

Stallone said that the ‘very eccentric’ Columbo challenged him to a bench-pressing competition one day. 

‘So, I go down, and it’s maybe only 200 [lbs]. I’m just warming up, and I hear a POW!’ he recalled, re-enacting the pain.