Stallone breaks his neck during ‘Expendables’ shootNo doubt about it, 2009 was a rough year for action stars who suffered broken limbs, heart attacks, reoccurring injuries, mental breakdowns, and even death. Added to a growing list of casualties is Sylvester Stallone, 63, who revealed to FHM Magazine that he suffered a serious neck injury while shooting a fight scene with pro-wrestler Stone Cold Steve Austin in THE EXPENDABLES. “I haven’t told anyone this, but I had to have a very serious operation,” said Stallone. The operation involved the insertion of a metal plate in his neck.“Man, it was seven guys, kicking each other’s ass, one guy tougher than the next,” he said. “No joke, our stunt guys were begging for mercy.” Stallone also recalled a injury he suffered at the hands of another EXPENDABLES co-star, Dolph Lundgren, except this one happened years earlier while on the set of ROCKY IV. In that film, Lundgren played Ivan Drago, a Russian boxer whose lethal punches onscreen nearly turned lethal in real life. “I gave him orders to try to knock me out while the cameras were rolling,” Stallone said. “At one point, he hit me so hard on the top of the head I felt my spine compress. He then hit me with an almighty uppercut.“That night my chest and heart started to swell, and I had to be helicopter-ambulanced from my hotel to a nearby emergency room. I was told that Dolph had punched my rib cage into my chest, compressing my heart. If it had swollen any more, I would have died. After that, I was like, ‘Dolph, it’s only a movie, bro’.”