Appearing in major motion pictures such as The Fifth Element, Little Nicky, Jackie Brown and even The Dark Knight, Tom Lister has been around Hollywood for many years, starting his acting career in the mid-1980's. Lister only stars so early in this list because he - strangely enough - fell into pro wrestling by playing a wrestler in a film. In 1989, Vince McMahon was eager to make a splash on the movie industry, and thus both he and Hulk Hogan contributed heavily to 'No Holds Barred', a marketing ploy designed to put further eyes on the wrestling division of Titan Sports, the World Wrestling Federation. The film didn't do too badly at the box office, pulling in over $16 million throughout the main run. Playing the character of the evil heel Zeus, Lister put so much into the role that he was brought into the WWF, for a short run which included teaming with Randy Savage to face Hogan and Brutus Beefcake at Summerslam '89. Later, in 1996, a similar run followed in WCW, where Lister was dubbed 'Z-Gangsta'. Mainly known for his acting career, it's fascinating to think of somebody becoming a wrestler by acting as one - incredibly, this nearly happened years later with Mickey Rourke, who played Randy 'The Ram' Robinson in The Wrestler, nearly being booked to face Chris Jericho at Wrestlemania.
Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.
