Sylvester Stallone Reveals His Heart Nearly Stopped After Co-Star Dolph Lundgren Hit Him So Hard in ‘Rocky IV’

Sylvester Stallone recently revealed that Dolph Lundgren hit him so hard in Rocky IV that the massive punch nearly stopped his heart.

The actor, known best for playing Rocky Balboa, spoke to an audience at the Cannes film festival and recounted the moment his co-star almost inadvertently killed him, per a report from THR.

Stallone explained that after Lundgren — who played Ivan Drago in the film — landed the punch, he quickly had to be taken to the intensive care unit of a local hospital.

While the incident was likely one at the time, in hindsight it somewhat serves as evidence that Drago killing Apollo Creed — played by Carl Weathers — in the film was really not that much of a stretch of the truth.

Stallone is actually in Cannes to promote the final film of his other iconic franchise, Rambo. The 72-year-old recently finished Rambo V: Last Blood, which comes out later this year.

While speaking to the Cannes crowd, Stallone opened up about the Rambo films and addressed the notion that the films have some kind of political overtones.

“I’m almost like a political atheist,” he admitted. “[Rambo] was never supposed to be, by any means, a political statement. It became one. … I don’t think I’m smart enough. That’s not my strength. I’m not a political animal. I never have been. I don’t want to be. I’m just a storyteller. But, oh my God, once Reagan said, ‘I saw Rambo, and he’s a Republican!’“

At this point, Stallone jokingly dropped the microphone and his head in a manner to suggested he was exasperated by the notion that Rambo has a clear political affiliation. He then went on to reveal the same about Rocky.

“He’s not not a political animal,” the actor said. “Boxers just use the flag of their nation. They’re not saying, ‘We’re better than you.’”

Near the end of his time on stage, Stallone shared what he has on the horizon beyond Rambo V, saying that he working on producing a TV adaptation of his film Cobra.

He also shared an idea for a next Rocky film, saying that he thinks it would be interesting to feature an undocumented boxer in the franchise. “That could be different,”he said of the idea. “You throw him out of the country and into another world.”

Rambo V: Last Blood is scheduled to open in theaters on Sept. 20.