46 Facts About Dean Malenko

Dean Malenko is signed with All Elite Wrestling as a senior producer.

Dean Malenko is best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation as a wrestler and a road agent and New Japan Pro-Wrestling.

Dean Malenko has been described by commentators as one of the most underrated wrestlers of all time.

Dean Malenko was born into a wrestling family, and his father Boris Dean Malenko was a prominent wrestling figure.

Dean Malenko started out as a referee in the Tampa area and even worked briefly as a referee for the WWF in the mid-1980s.

Dean Malenko has wrestled all over the world and has spent much time wrestling in Mexico and Japan.

Dean Malenko wrestled with his brother Joe Malenko from 1988 to 1992, forming a tag team working in Puerto Rico, Japan, and Australia until his brother retired.

On January 24,1992, Dean Malenko defeated "The Superstar" for the Suncoast Pro Wrestling Southern title in Palmetto, Florida.

Dean Malenko defeated Jimmy Backlund for the ICWA Light Heavyweight title on March 12,1992, in Tampa.

Dean Malenko defeated Osamu Nishimura in the quarterfinals before he ended up losing to the eventual winner Shane Douglas in the semifinals.

Dean Malenko became known as "The Shooter" and was given a gimmick similar to an Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter.

On February 25,1995, at Return of the Funker, Benoit and Dean Malenko defeated Sabu and Tazmaniac for the ECW Tag Team Championship, making Dean Malenko a double champion.

Only a week later, Dean Malenko dropped the title back to Guerrero.

On May 2,1996, Dean Malenko defeated Shinjiro Otani for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship in Orlando.

Dean Malenko held the title for two months, making successful defenses against the likes of Brad Armstrong, Rey Mysterio Jr.

Dean Malenko would hold the belt for nearly a month before losing it to Syxx at SuperBrawl VII.

Dean Malenko lost the match after Eddie Guerrero inadvertently caused Dean Malenko to be hit with Guerrero's United States Title belt.

Dean Malenko then entered a feud with Guerrero, angry over the fact that he had caused him to lose his Cruiserweight belt and began to attempt to win the United States title from him.

Dean Malenko retained the belt at Slamboree on May 18,1997, by defeating Jeff Jarrett, but lost the title to him on the June 9,1997, episode of Nitro.

At World War 3, Dean Malenko participated in a 60-man, three-ring battle royal won by The Giant.

In mid-1998, Dean Malenko engaged in a heated feud with Chris Jericho.

Dejected and worn down, Dean Malenko replied simply, "Home," and would not be seen on WCW TV for two months.

Dean Malenko entered the battle royal dressed as masked wrestler Ciclope and won the match, after Juventud Guerrera shook his hand, and eliminated himself.

Dean Malenko then unmasked, revealing himself to the crowd following his win.

Dean Malenko went on to defeat Jericho for his fourth and final WCW Cruiserweight Championship, thus becoming the first-ever wrestler to win the Cruiserweight title four times.

Dean Malenko was stripped of the title as he did not earn the title shot as himself.

At Bash at the Beach 1998, Dean Malenko interfered in Jericho's title defense against Rey Mysterio Jr.

Dean Malenko was fired in storyline, but returned at Road Wild 1998 as the special guest referee during Jericho's defense against Juventud Guerrera.

In September 1998, Dean Malenko became a part of the final incarnation of Ric Flair's Four Horsemen faction.

At Bash at the Beach, Dean Malenko challenged David for the US title but lost the match.

Dean Malenko's last WCW match was a "catch-as-catch-can" match with Billy Kidman at Souled Out in January 2000.

Early on, Dean Malenko instinctively left the ring to regroup and was disqualified under the match stipulations because his feet hit the arena floor.

At Backlash 2000, Dean Malenko successfully defended the title against Scotty, thus ending the feud between the two.

Later that year, with Benoit having drifted away from the group, Dean Malenko engaged in a feud with Guerrero and Saturn which stemmed from Guerrero's on-screen relationship with Chyna and a number of losses suffered when working as a tag team with Saturn.

Around this time, Dean Malenko briefly became known as "Double Ho Seven", a parody of the fictional character, James Bond.

Dean Malenko even offered Lita a title match for his Light Heavyweight Championship, but under the condition that if she lost she would be obliged to go on a date with him.

Dean Malenko briefly feuded with Jacqueline and Ivory, who were disgusted by his lecherous ways.

Dean Malenko's third-last wrestling match took place at the 4th Annual Brian Pillman Memorial Show in August 2001, where he teamed with longtime friend Perry Saturn and defeated Raven and Justin Credible.

Dean Malenko appeared in the ring along with other WWE alumni during WWE Raw Homecoming on October 3,2005.

Dean Malenko was very sad since two of his close friends, Eddie and Benoit, both died, but said he was happy that they were together again.

Dean Malenko next appeared on the March 31,2008, episode of Raw to join The Four Horsemen and other WWE superstars in a farewell tribute to Ric Flair.

Dean Malenko made an appearance on the June 28,2010, episode of Raw congratulating Ricky Steamboat on his DVD release.

Dean Malenko appeared along the rest of the WWE roster after the April 23,2012, episode of Raw to celebrate John Cena's 35th birthday.

In November 2015, Dean Malenko was inducted into 2300 Arena Hardcore Hall of Fame.

On May 24,2019, All Elite Wrestling announced that Dean Malenko had joined them as a senior producer, which he makes occasional appearances on TNT since his last match on the December 27,1999, episode of WCW Monday Nitro.

Dean Malenko made an appearance in Philadelphia following the October 8,2021, edition of Rampage when Tony Khan called him out alongside Jerry Lynn, Taz and Chris Jericho to thank them for inspiring him.