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TMZ.com reported tonight that the death of actor Tom "Tiny" Lister Jr., known forever to WWF fans as Zeus, in December 2020 was due to heart disease. Lister passed away at the age of 62 after being found deceased in his apartment in Marina del Rey, California. He was declared dead at the apartment.
TMZ's report noted that while Lister had tested positive for OCVID-19, the official cause of death was hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.
In 1989, Lister was cast as Zeus, the massive, evil powerhouse villain of WWF's first-ever film No Holds Barred, starring Hulk Hogan. The film featured Hogan playing WWF Champion Rip, courted by a rival broadcast network to leave WWF and become their champion. When Rip rebuffs the offer, the network creates "Battle of the Tough Guys", a competing gritty underground fighting event that sees the maniacal Zeus arrive and become their champion. The unhinged Zeus challenges Rip and is ignored until he beats and paralyzes Rip's brother, setting up the big confrontation that plays out as the climax of the film.
Released on 6/2/89 in the United States (second to Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade), the film grossed $16,093,651 over a four week run.
To promote the film, Lister entered into the "real-world WWF" with the idea being that he was the character from the film come to life. Zeus would show up at WWF tapings menacing enhancement wrestlers and even appeared on The Arsenio Hall Show, in character, with Sherri Martel, verbally knocking Hogan and claiming to be the real star of the film.
This led to Zeus teaming with Randy Savage against Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake in the main event of Summerslam '89, where he was pinned by Hogan. While the movie promotion was done, there was still a home video release to push, thus Zeus was back,wrestling against as part of Ted DiBiase's team at the 1989 Survivor Series later that year against Hogan's team. After being disqualified and eliminated for refusing to release a chokehold on Hogan, Zeus was part of a backstage angle at the PPV where he and Savage attacked Hogan and Beefcake in the locker room.
That angle set up a special December 1989 WWF PPV titled No Holds Barred - The Match/The Movie featuring the film followed by a special steel cage match filmed at a WWF TV taping where Hogan and Beefcake defeated Zeus and Savage. While the match featured Beefcake and Hogan double-teaming Zeus to set up the finish, that was edited out to showcase Hogan convincingly winning the match. While there were rumors of Hogan vs. Zeus as a potential Wrestlemania match, if that was even a possible reality, WWF instead moved on in favor of Hogan vs. The Ultimate Warrior instead.
That was the end of Lister in the WWF, but he did work some independent bouts, including, most interestingly, several matches against Abdullah the Butcher for Carlos Colon's World Wrestling Council in Puerto Rico.
In 1996, Lister returned to pro wrestling for one night, billed as Ze Gangsta for World Championship Wrestling at WCW Uncensored 1996, part of The Alliance to End Hulkamania, featuring a myriad of Hogan foes that lost to Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan in a Doomsday Cage Match. He made two appearances, one to preview the bout and the PPV itself, before returning back to acting.
After pro wrestling, Lister returned to acting, where he may be best remembered as the bully Deebo in the great Friday trilogy starring Ice Cube. Lister also had a great dramatic scene in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight as a Gotham City convict who has to make a major moral decision in the midst of The Joker taking the city hostage. Lister appeared in countless films, television series and music videos over the course of his 35-year acting career.
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