The Expendables Injury That Left Sylvester Stallone In Lifelong Pain
Kicking off in 2010, the "Expendables" franchise started with a fairly simple concept behind it. A bunch of Hollywood action stars of yesteryear band together to form an on-screen superteam. Leading the pack in all four films is Sylvester Stallone as Barney Ross, who takes the forces of evil head-on and does everything in his power to ensure his whole team makes it home in one piece. Unsurprisingly, the dangerous, high-stakes nature of the Expendables' missions leads Barney to get pretty banged up, which has sadly carried over to Stallone in real life.
In fact, Stallone revealed that he sustained an injury in the first "Expendables" movie that he has yet to recover from. On Paramount+'s "The Family Stallone," he explained that the injury stemmed from a fight scene involving himself and WWE legend Stone Cold Steve Austin — the actor behind villain Dan Paine — where he's thrown against a solid stone wall. "I'm doing take 10, take whatever, and I remember one slam, and I could actually feel one bang ... Steve knew ... I never recovered from ['Expendables']. After that film, it was never physically the same," he recalled (via People).
Not only has Stallone's "Expendables" injury led to plenty of pain, but it has also caused no shortage of family stress as well.
Stallone's family takes his injuries very seriously
Ultimately, Sylvester Stallone's "Expendables" injury resulted in both shoulders dislocated and a fractured neck. He had a metal plate inserted into his neck, and he required spinal fusion surgeries. As such, Stallone's enduring "Expendables" injury and the many surgeries required to somewhat improve his quality of life have raised concern among his family members. "It's very scary for our family every time Sly has to go through surgery, because you never know ... no one knows," Stallone's wife, Jennifer Flavin, said on "The Family Stallone" of her husband's all-too-frequent surgeries.
Stallone and Flavin's daughter, Scarlet, also touched on her father's medical history and the worry that has come with it. "It's really hard to see my father go through yet another painful operation. My whole childhood, he was in pain. He did everything he could to push through the pain and be present, but I couldn't imagine every waking moment you are just hurting," she said, giving her dad credit for doing his best to be a capable parent despite the physical challenges. Flavin also explained that her husband "tries to mask the pain, [pretending] like it didn't happen."
One can only hope that Stallone's injuries can be resolved in some form or fashion and that he can someday leave the pain of his "Expendables" stunts in the past.