Epic Handshake

"Dillon! You son of a bitch."

In 1987, Arnold Schwarzenegger greeted Carl Weathers with what should have been a simple handshake in Predator. Instead, two veiny forearms collided in an arm-wrestling grip so aggressively masculine it became a cultural monument. The scene was pure '80s camp—two action stars flexing their way through basic human interaction.

The internet saw something deeper. By the 2010s, a watercolor painting of the handshake became the ultimate template for expressing unexpected unity. "Things that hate each other / The one thing they agree on." Rivals finding common ground. Enemies united by a shared enemy. The format works because the grip is so earnest, so committed, so beautifully absurd.

Carl Weathers left us on February 1, 2024. The man gave us Apollo Creed, Action Jackson, and a handshake that transcended its source material to become a universal symbol of finding common ground. The template lives on every time two opposing forces discover they're not so different after all.

Rest easy, Dillon. The handshake holds.