Monster's past...Zeus

[FreedomOfMan]

Now, I dont plan on starting a series like this, but if it goes well, we'll see what happens.

Now the Monster of Past I want to talk about is....Zeus. Now, granted he started from the movie NO Holds Barred, but listen to how hated he was. Now this was due to hogan, but Zeus (Tommy as we know him today) knew how to feed off the crowd. I don't want to get into a bashing of eras here, but this proves that PG can make it without the Vulgarity that many seek, but I digress. The fans ate this up To.A.Tee!

Check this vid out: http://youtu.be/TodjPTM1oaA

Zeus was everything a monster heel gave you and he actually gave the impression he could Cripple Hulkamania. His skills on the Mic were good to say the least, and having a Mouth Piece like Macho King and Sherry definitely pushed him out.

This is how I believe a Monster Heel should be pushed, especially if he's decent if not good on the mic: he should have a partner thats adds to his charisma and manager to egg them both on, damn near instigating a riot by these two. But I post this to ask you guys this.

For those who remember Zeus, What do you think about him? Do you think if Tommy wanted to stay around, could Zeus have earned the Strap?

Could he have been a Hall of Famer?

Could he work in the AE or in todays era?

And how do you feel about mouthpeices being fellow tag team partners as opposed to just managers. Zeus had the benefit of both, but without them, I think his mic skills would have evolved from just grunts and screams as he could talk a bit.

 

[The Brain]

Zeus would have had to have really wanted it because after the No Holds Barred feud with Hogan he would have had to go away for a long time to train. Zeus was not a wrestler. He did not know how to wrestle at all. He was much more limited than Khali or whatever other guy you can think of that people say can’t wrestle. That’s why his entire offense was chokeholds and bear hugs. That’s also why he was paired with Savage. It wasn’t so Savage could be a mouthpiece. It was to have someone tremendously talented carry the workload to allow Zeus to participate in a good match. Otherwise it would have just been Hogan vs. Zeus one on one at SummerSlam. Savage and Hogan made Zeus look good. Savage by carrying the load in the ring and taking the punishment when the good guys needed the offense, and Hogan by selling like he was a human wrecking machine. I’m not saying Zeus had to go learn how to be Randy Savage, but he was going to have to spend a lot of time at least learning the basics if he had any chance of sticking around beyond the No Holds Barred publicity feud.

 

[JoonDaGr8One]

I almost forgot about Zeus, i think he could have been real good if he stuck to wrestling, he was a powerhouse of a man who could talk. He would have gotten better in the ring as time went on eventually, but i'm kinda glad he moved on to movies or else who would have played Debo in the movie friday?

 

[GameOver]

Tony ListerJr. aka Zues it's funny seeing in that role then watching him in his TV/Movie roles and thinking, ha ha thats the same dude and he isn't remotely mean

Zues woulda made a great heel if he had stuck around, but like Great Khali and alot of others he had no coordination and it obviously showed

and the only other issue i saw was that his character being imprevious to pain is silly and much like The Undertaker at some point they have to reveal a weakness and a human side and then he woulda nolonger been as impressive.

That and his breaking people's neck move. i mean common
His mic work wasn't awful, far better then trying to figure out what in the hell Ultimate Warrior was talking about lol

 

[CM Steel]

Zeus aka Deebo has turned his life over to the lord in Jesus Christ. So now he's appearing in some christian straight to DVD movies.

I still remember that role where he played the president in "The Fifth Element" with Bruce Willis. He really set the bar for the current president Barack Obama. And we can't forget his roles in the Friday movies as Deebo.

But in wrestling, Zeus will never be forgotton!

 

[dxparza]

I remember being about 7 or 8 when Zues showed up and went against hogan, I remember thinking 'that guy looks scary and he wants to destroy hogan, I like this guy' I truley believed it was the end of hogan and 'hulkamania'.. Sadly I was wrong. I do think he should of taken some time after the movie and trained for let's say 6 months to a year and maybe he would have had a decent run. But for a short time I was a big Zues fan. Could he have been in the Hall of fame?? Highley doubtful could he work in the AE and/or todays era?? Sure, there's always a place for monster heels .

 

[Inittowinit]

I dont know. Remember that was a different time when they brought in the stream of monster heels for Hogan to beat, ie Bundy, Akeem, Big Boss Man. He could of been but he reminds me of Batista, a big stiff who needed to be carried.

 

[bigbootydaddyV]

Zeus can still be a hall of famer and he should be imo. Obviously it'll depend on if hulks relationship with the E ever improves since his career is tied to hogans. He was very limited in the ring and he was obviously an actor, but he had the size and power to possibly be something in the ring (though as a previous poster said, no more than Khali). I think he could have been the best actor to end up in wrestling, but that's about it. This was one of my fav feuds since i was only 8 years old and so i thought it was all real at the time haha.

You know, on a side note, what I find interesting is the tie in to this movie and kayfabe. The WCW movie for instance (which i did enjoy) broke kayfabe as it showed wrestling as obviously scripted and at the end tried to show it a little real, at the end.. NHB on the other hand made wrestling look real, in the movie the matches weren't scripted, but then by bringing Zeus into the WWF you wonder how'd they work in the movie if they are really enemies (ok this may have just been all in the mind of an 8 year old, but i think it's an interesting dichotomy nonetheless).

 

[KerryForrest]

Zeus. Man he scared me when I was a kid. Have NHB on tape and break it out every now and again. Botchomania has a great clip of Zeus wrestling Abdula The Butcher at some show somewhere. Hilarious! Zeus definitely needed some training to make it a a regular in the Fed. If he had focused on wrestling, I don't know about the HOF, except as a celeb, but a guy with his looks with some seasoning certainly would be compelling in any era

 

[sislater69]

As a kid, the guy was a straight up scary mother trucker. I remember a Survivor Series (1989, i think) where the guy just dominated Hogan and got himself DQ'd. Hogan spent the rest of the match selling a bad neck. If Hogan was willing to sell and job to him at that time, then sure he could have held the strap. No doubt.

As a HoF, it's doubtful. If he'd stayed around longer, won the strap, maybe go on to feud with other guys like Savage and Warrior then absolutely he would have been a potential HoF'er.

The guy couldn't wrestle a lick. But there have been many monster heels in the past that couldn't either so that wouldn't have held him back. He was the first guy I ever saw as a kid to pop straight up from a body slam, and that in the mind of a 7 year old, made him one mean son of a bitch that was without question a legit challenge to hulkamania and future wwf/e champ.

 

[Mustang Sally]

It's hard to categorize Zeus because he was different from everyone else who ever stepped in a wrestling ring. All the guys whom WWE had always hired were professional wrestlers. They had varying amounts of ability, experience and charisma, but they were all there to engage in contests with whomever was put in the ring with them. They all hoped for long, successful careers.

Zeus was none of that. The only reason he showed up at all was to fight Hulk Hogan and the only reason that happened was to capitalize on the "feud" that was alluded to in their stupid movie. Zeus wasn't a wrestler, he was an actor. Does anyone remember the movie "All the Marbles" with Peter Falk? The producers needed two women to play tag-team wrestlers. They debated about whether it was better to hire actresses and teach them to wrestle......or hire wrestlers and teach them to act. They chose the former, which was wise. The same formula was used with Zeus.

His match with Hogan was predictable enough (as were Hogan's matches with anyone back then), in that Hulk was hammering away at Zeus in the early part of the match.....and his mighty sledgehammer blows had no effect at all. Then, after he got up his head of steam at the end, his shots were suddenly able to take down the monster. In other words, the same stupid, timeworn routine followed in all Hulk Hogan matches in the 1980's.

Talk about cartoon characters in wrestling.....Zeus out-cartooned 'em all. But he served the purpose intended for him.

 

[Pedigree1]

I liked Zeus back in the day!! I am a little older than probably most people on here but thats not the point. Zeus was extremely limited in the ring probably even more so the Andre the Giant. Had Zeus went away to train for like a year or so he could have had a good run!! He was good on the mic and having mouthpieces like the late macho man and sherri helped him. Fans hated him because i think he legimately hated hogan in real life and it showed in their matches!! I wonder if Zeus had the training and was good in the ring where could he have gone???

 

[mrpops]

Ive been watching wrestling since...forever but i cant remember this "zeus guy"..... Sooooo i just used wikipedia and now i remember him and that no holds barred movie.

Um yeah...he sucked. Simple as that. He was only there to promote the movie. And he was HORRIBLE in the ring. I havnt watched the match in years, but i remember him sucking then and it will suck even more now to rewatch it. I dont think he wouldve succeeded at all. Hes completly forgetable.

If im right, this is the first time in 20+ years that "zeus" has ever been mentioned.....in ANY type of media........ LMAO.

Even shitty wrestlers like giant gonzales/lex luger get more talk then that no name 1 time shotter.

 

[daddyJ_t]

atleast he was better then david arquette. he wasnt there to jus sell the movie cause no one had heard of him until after the movie. he was brought in as a character who took jis role way too serious and really thought he could end hulkamainia. he wasnt jus a flash in the pan or he wouldve been gone after the savage tag match. but no he went on to i believe headline i think summerslam in the no holds barred cage match. i loved the guy and too bad i didnt see much of his wcw gangsta career but i think he could be inducted into the hof. i dont see why not, he had better contributions to wrestling then william perry or drew carey. with that movie and storyline, he helped wrestling not jus stay in the mainstream, but help it go a little father hollywood