30 Facts About Dean Malenko

Dean Simon was born on August 4,1960, and better known by the ring name Dean Malenko, is an American retired professional wrestler.

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

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

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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.

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

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.

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

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 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.

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

Dean Malenko first appeared in the crowd with the infamous Radicalz – himself, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, and Perry Saturn – who all made exits from WCW at the same time.

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'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.

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

Dean Malenko then 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 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 has 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.