Sylvester Stallone Says Arnold Schwarzenegger Will Be Back

Sylvester Stallone, a close friend of Arnold Schwarzenegger, said he is sure the actor will be back on his feet after Schwarzenegger had open-heart surgery on Friday.

“Arnold’s a strong man. He’ll be back better than ever,” Stallone said as he left Rocky Friday in Beverly Hills.

TMZ asked Stallone if he would visit the Terminator actor in the hospital, and said he would if he gets a chance.

When asked if the two friends would ever give up smoking cigars, Stallone laughed.

“There are some things you just can’t give up – stogies and breathing,” Stallone said, adding that he “doubts” Schwarzenegger would give up smoking stogies.

“He’s doing great,” Stallone said. “He’s a brave man.”

Schwarzenegger will “absolutely” be back on his feet, according to Stallone.

Schwarzenegger had a catheter valve replacement at Cedars-Sinai hospital in Los Angeles on Thursday. TMZ reported that there were some complications, since the surgery was somewhat experimental. However, his doctors were prepared and Schwarzenegger had open heart surgery in a procedure that lasted several hours.

Daniel Ketchell, a spokesperson for Schwarzenegger, said the former California governor is in stable condition. He said the procedure on the 70-year-old was related to a 1997 procedure to replace a pulmonic valve because of a congenital heart defect.

“Yesterday, Gov. Schwarzenegger underwent a planned procedure at Cedars-Sinai [Medical Center] to replace a pulmonic valve that was originally replaced due to a congenital heart defect in 1997,” Ketchell wrote in a statement. “That 1997 replacement valve was never meant to be permanent, and has outlived its life expectancy, so he chose to replace it yesterday through a less-invasive catheter valve replacement.”

Ketchell continued, “During that procedure, an open-heart surgery team was prepared, as they frequently are in these circumstances, in case the catheter procedure was unable to be performed. We want to thank the entire medical team for their tireless efforts.”

Schwarzenegger’s first words after the surgery were “I’m back,” according to Ketchell.

Schwarzenegger and Stallone are close friends and have made four movies together. They both starred in the first three Expendables movies, as well as 2013’s Escape Plan.

However, Stallone once hated Schwarzenegger, as the two were competitors at the box office during the 1980s.

“We had a violent hatred,” Stallone told David Letterman in 2013. “Have you ever had that ever? Competition where you really had an arch enemy that kind of brings out the best in you. As Arnold would say, it really pushed you to accelerate.”