Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone reflect on past rivalry

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone, the Hollywood action superstars of '80 and '90s, discussed the competition between them and their rivalry era in latest interview.

Schwarzenegger and Stallone appeared for a joint interview in the latest episode of TMZ Presents titled Arnold & Sly: Rivals, Friends, Icons, and reflected on their past rivalry, successful careers, childhood, and families.

Schwarzenegger shared how Stallone aided him in his career, saying, "There’s no two ways about that: He was very helpful in my career because I had something that I could chase," as reported by People Magazine.

The Rocky actor added that when Schwarzenegger "came along I was like finally, something to motivate me," adding, "Because he is, dare I say it, competition, a threat, whatever word you wanna use."

"As soon as I saw him it was like bang, two alphas hitting," continued Stallone. "If we walked into a party we’d be staring at each other for a few seconds and then ‘I gotta get that guy. He didn’t do anything wrong but he will.’ "

Schwarzenegger admitted he was "the one who started this whole thing by opening up my mouth, saying stupid things, being competitive."

Moreover, the two reflected on an incident at the 1977 Golden Globe Awards, when Stallone's Rocky won Best Film but Schwarzenegger claimed the Actor of the Year for Stay Hungry and in response, Stallone taunted Schwarzenegger by throwing flowers at him.

To this, TMZ's Harvey Levin said, “I thought [Stallone], when Rocky won best picture, you threw a bowl of flowers at him?"

"I absolutely did," replied Stallone. "He was sitting across from me, and I’m going, ‘He won best newcomer?’ No offense, but Rocky was a pretty good debut. And he’s looking very proud of himself and I didn’t think we were gonna win best picture."

"We win, and I lost it," he recalled with a laugh. "I literally went and picked up this entire bouquet of flowers and tossed them straight up in the air, sort of aiming towards his side of the table."

"And it all comes down, he’s sort of sitting there with the same kind of like ‘okay’. He just threw down the gauntlet kind of a thing, here we go," Stallon added.

Schwarzenegger chimed in and revealed his intention behind his ’okay’ was, “the beginning of a battle. Now I had to chase him."