Franco Columbu, the Italian bodybuilding prodigy, and the legendary Arnold Schwarzenegger forged a close friendship. The two dealt with everything after meeting in 1965, sticking by one another through good times and bad. But they each brought unique personalities to the table.
If boxing was Columbu’s background, then soccer was Schwarzenegger’s. In spite of this, their shared love of ‘bodybuilding’ served as the foundation for their friendship. Here’s an intriguing anecdote, though: Columbu trained Schwarzenegger’s fellow Hollywood veteran actor, Sylvester Stallone, for the film Rocky II.
When Franco challenged Stallone to a bench press competition, the actor accepted, but not before the latter tore his pec off the bone. This is where things got tricky. The injury happened 1.5 months before Stallone was supposed to appear and helm the Rocky sequel.
Well, you must hear him discuss how he turned the tide of events!
Sylvester Stallone’s Brush with Serious Injury: The Making of Rocky II
In a recent vivid video shared by TMZ, Sylvester Stallone, 77, recounted the riveting tale of how a friendly challenge with Arnold Schwarzenegger’s best friend Franco Columbu went awry, and he ended up with a severely torn pectoral muscle. Schwarzenegger made it clear that Columbu was Stallone’s trainer for Rambo, which resulted in their continued collaboration before Rocky II.
Meanwhile, Stallone added:
“I gotta tell you about Frank. This guy here, he was very eccentric.”
According to Stallone, Columbu proposed a bench press competition. Despite knowing The Sardinian Strongman’s bodybuilding resume, Stallone agreed to the challenge. However, things got worse when Stallone tore his “Pec off the bone” during the competition, causing him excruciating pain:
“We’re working, and he goes, ‘Let’s have a competition with bench press.’ I said, ‘You won.’ He goes, ‘No, come anyway.’ So I go down, and it’s maybe only 200, and I’m just [warming up] and I hear, ‘Pow!’ I go, ‘Ugh,’ and I fall on the floor, and I’m going, ‘Ahh,’ and then Franco goes, ‘Let me see,’ and he jams his fingers. I’ve torn my pec off the bone. I mean, bad. I could hear it go rip, and he’s jamming his fingers then. I think I’m going to black out.”
Going on, Stallone described how he used his personal injury as a catalyst for a character choice that, looking back, did not really advance the plot:
“So I go home. I feel like my career is over. I’m supposed to start Rocky II — direct it, everything — in a month and a half. And I said I got to have this thing sewn up. Here’s the difference, and [Arnold] would have done the same thing. I can’t use this arm, so I’ll change it in Rocky; he’ll fight right-handed. Completely illogical, but I said ‘I’m not stopping this movie just for this’.”
In an attempt to reattach the muscle, the actor had a partially successful surgical procedure (per The Week). Well, Stallone put the entire film on the line for that “bench press” competition.
The Legendary Friendship: Franco Columbu and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Story
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Franco Columbu were rivals in bodybuilding competitions when they first met in Germany in the 1960s. After moving to the US to pursue a career in Hollywood at the request of Canadian bodybuilder Joe Weider, they went on to work together as bricklayers.
Columbu, who was formerly a boxer, participated in the first World’s Strongest Man competition in 1977 and finished fifth. He also won the Mr. Olympia title in 1976 and 1981. Up until Columbu’s death in 2019 (at the age of 78), he and Schwarzenegger remained very close friends.
The late Italian-American bodybuilder also starred with the 38th governor of California in flicks such as Conan the Barbarian, The Running Man, and The Terminator. The “devastated” actor, 76, even described his late friend as “my partner in crime” in a moving homage that was shared on the former’s Instagram.
“He was my favorite training partner four decades ago and he is my favorite training partner today”, said Schwarzenegger in 2016 (via YouTube).
Columbu also served as the Commando actor’s best man during his 1986 marriage to his former wife, Maria Shriver.
Rocky II can be streamed on Max.
