WWE Alum Tommy Lister Passes Away

Actor and WWE Alum Tommy “Tiny” Lister was found deceased at his Marina Del Ray, California apartment this afternoon. He was 62 years old.

Wrestling fans will recall that Lister appeared in the WWF’s 1989 wrestling movie, No Holds Barred. The movie starred Hulk Hogan and Lister played the character, “Zeus,” a monster heel. The movie inspired a “WWF feud” in late 1989 and Lister was given the ring name, “Zeus: The Human Wrecking Machine.”

During his stint with the WWF (now WWE), Zeus challenged Hulk Hogan and formed an alliance with Hogan’s rival, Macho Man Randy Savage. Together, they unsuccessfully fought Hogan and his partner Brutus the Barber Beefcake at the 1989 SummerSlam. He then formed an alliance with “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase for the company’s pay-per-view event, Survivor Series.

At Survivor Series, The Hulkamaniacs (Hulk Hogan, Jake “The Snake” Roberts, and Demolition) faced The Million Dollar Team (Ted DiBiase, Zeus, and the Powers of Pain). Zeus was eliminated from the match via disqualification and The Hulkamaniacs were the victors.

After Survivor Series, the feud between Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake versus Randy Savage and Zeus finally ended with a steel cage match on December 27, 1989 at the No Holds Barred pay-per-view event. Again, Hogan and Beefcake beat Savage and Zeus in what would be Zeus’s last match for the company.

Lister’s final WWF appearance was a promotional spot for the 1990 Royal Rumble. He also wrestled for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1996.

Tommy Lister also had a career as a character actor and had roles as the neighborhood bully, “Deebo,” in the 1995 film, Friday and its 2000 sequel and as President Lindberg in movie, The Fifth Element.

RIP.