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For decades, wrestling promotions have used celebrities from film, sports, and television to boost ratings and sell tickets. One notable example of this was actor Tommy "Tiny" Lister or as he was known to wrestling purists, Zeus who WWE (then known as WWF) supposedly treated to 5-star hotels, a stipend, and a limo service, which caused resentment among talent in the locker room. "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, however, remembered Tommy Lister fondly on his podcast, "The Hacksaw Hour."
"I got along with Tiny, Zeus was a good guy," Jim Duggan said. "He carried a lot of heat, though. Imagine that, you know, guys working all the time, working in and out, day in, day out. Especially back then, all the time. Now we got the big show coming up, the big blow-off, and they bring in this movie star guy and he gets the big payoff and stuff."
While Jim Duggan clearly understood where his fellow wrestlers were coming from regarding Tommy Lister, he had a hard time blaming the actor for simply taking what was offered.
"In his defence, if you can get it, take it, brother, and they were giving it to him," Jim Duggan said. "He couldn't wrestle, but he wasn't there to wrestle. He was just there to look big and mean."
Tommy Lister's involvement with WWE began in 1989 when he was cast as the antagonist in the Hulk Hogan action vehicle "No Holds Barred." He would go on to make several appearances for the company, taking both the name Zeus and his goals of defeating Hulk Hogan from his character in the film. He would wrestle four matches in WWE, with his final appearance coming at the 1990 Royal Rumble. He wouldn't enter the ring again until 1996 when he wrestled as "Z-Gangsta" for WCW in what turned out to be his final match. Tommy Lister passed away in 2020.
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