Dean Malenko

Cast

Born

August 4, 1960 · Tampa, Florida, USA

Birth name

Shelly Dean Simon

Retired American professional wrestler best known for his work for ECW and WCW during the 1990s. He is the son of the late wrestling legend Boris Malenko. He debuted in Florida in 1979 and proceeded to work all over the world, particularly in Japan. He teamed with his brother Joe for years. He also worked as a referee, including on the January 4, 1986 (taped December 19, 1985) "WWF Saturday Night's Main Event." While wrestling in the Junior Heavyweight division for New Japan Pro Wrestling, became part of the "Holy Trinity" or "New Japan 3" with Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero and they would go on to have numerous matches for several promotions either as teammates or as opponents. Malenko arrived in ECW in 1994 as a heel. He defeated 2 Cold Scorpio (Charles Scaggs) for the ECW World Television Title in November and held it until Scorpio regained it in March 1995. Malenko defeated Eddie Guerrero for the belt and held it for a week in July 1995. Malenko, Benoit and Shane Douglas formed the Triple Threat at the start of 1995. Malenko and Benoit defeated Sabu (Terry Brunk) and the Tazmaniac (Peter Senerchia) for the ECW World Tag Team Titles in February 1995 at "ECW Return of the Funker" and held them until the Public Enemy (Johnny Grunge (Mike Durham) and Flyboy Rocco Rock (Ted Petty) defeated them and the Tazmaniac and Rick Steiner (substituting for Sabu, who had left the company) at "ECW The Three Way Dance" on April 8th. Malenko, Guerrero and Benoit left for WCW in September 1995, with ECW announcer Joey Styles explaining that it was due to something in their contracts with New Japan, which had a working relationship with WCW. He made his home in the Cruiserweight Division, and became known as "The Man of a 1000 Holds" and "The Iceman" for his stoic nature. At "WCW Uncensored" in March 1997, he defeated Guerrero for the WCW United States Heavyweight Title and held it until Jeff Jarrett defeated him in June. At "WCW Uncensored" in March 1998, WCW World Cruiserweight Champion Chris Jericho defeated Malenko. Mean Gene Okerlund asked Malenko what he was going to do, and he said he was going "home." Malenko promptly disappeared from TV with no word being given as to where he was and what he was doing. This led to a series of hilarious promos by Chris Jericho, including the "1004 Holds" one. At "WCW Slamboree" in May 1998, there was a Cruiserweight battle royal where the winner would get a shot at Jericho's title. The match came down to Juventud Guerrera (Eduardo Hernández) and Ciclope, which was surprising since Ciclope was one of WCW's less successful luchadores. Ciclope and Juvi shook hands, and Juvi promptly eliminated himself. "Ciclope" unmasked to reveal Malenko. Malenko proceeded to defeat Jericho for the title. Later that summer, Malenko started asking Arn Anderson about reforming the Four Horsemen, who had been disbanded since the NWO (Kevin Nash/Syxx (Sean Waltman)/Buff Bagwell (Marcus Bagwell)/Konnan (Charles Ashenoff)) had defeated them in the War Games match at "WCW Fall Brawl 1997: War Games" via Curt Hennig turning heel and slamming the cage door on Ric Flair's head while Benoit and Steve "Mongo" McMichael (Steve McMichael) were handcuffed to the cage. This was during the time that Flair was off of TV due to WCW boss Eric Bischoff suing him. On the September 14, 1998 "WCW Monday Nitro," the Four Horsemen returned. Arn Anderson and former Horsemen manager James J. Dillon brought out Benoit, Malenko, McMichael and the returning Flair to the ring. This led to another feud with the NWO. At "WCW Uncensored" in March 1999, Benoit and Malenko defeated Curt Hennig and Barry Windham for the WCW World Tag Team Titles. They held the belts for two weeks, losing them to Rey Misterio Jr. and Billy Kidman on the March 29, 1999 "WCW Monday Nitro." The Horsemen broke up once and for all in the Spring. Benoit, Malenko, Perry Saturn and Shane Douglas, making his surprise return to WCW after six years, formed the Revolution out of frustration with how they were treated by the company and how the older main eventers (Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Randy Savage, etc.) got everything they wanted. The group ended at "WCW Souled Out 2000," as Benoit, Malenko, Saturn and Guerrero left for WWE. Their group was named the Radicals. Malenko defeated Essa Rios (Jose Seldano) for the WWF World Light Heavyweight Title on the March 13, 2000 "WWF Monday Night Raw" and held it until Scotty 2 Hotty (Scott Taylor) defeated him on the April 17th "Raw." Malenko regained the title on the April 27th "WWF SmackDown!" and held it until losing it to Crash Holly (Michael Lockwood) on the March 13, 2001 "WWF Sunday Night Heat." On the May 22, 2000 "Raw," the Radicals (Dean Malenko and Perry Saturn) faced the Godfather (Charles Wright) and Essa Rios. During the Godfather's usual pre-match spiel, he mentioned Dean being "the Man of 1000 Holds" and that his hos knew "1000 positions" and that Dean could have any two hos he wanted. This led to Malenko adopting a new gimmick as a James Bond-styled ladies' man. This led to Malenko pursuing Lita (Amy Dumas), and a feud between the Radicals and Team Xtreme (The Hardy Boyz (Matt Hardy) and Jeff Hardy) and Lita), which would be Malenko's last feud before he retired in 2001. He has worked as a road agent for WWE ever since.