Dean Malenko
Dean Malenko was born in Irvington, New Jersey, United States on August 4th, 1960 and is the Wrestler. At the age of 63, Dean Malenko biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, and networth are available.
At 63 years old, Dean Malenko has this physical status:
Dean Simon (born August 4, 1960) is an American retired professional wrestler best known by his ring name Dean Malenko.
He is currently a senior producer with All Elite Wrestling (AEW).
Malenko is best known for his time with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Despite being never a world champion, he has made international recognition in ECW, WCW, and the WWF, winning 11 total titles between the three teams.
In 1997, Pro Wrestling Illustrated named Malenko as the world's best wrestler, and he was inducted into the Hardcore Hall of Fame in 2015.
Dean Malenko, a five-time WWE world champion, said he was his "number one guy" who is on the rise.
Since retiring, he worked as a road agent for WWE for 18 years from 2001 to 2019.
Personal life
Simon is Jewish. He and his wife Julie have three children. Larrisa, the family's eldest, was born on December 25, 1997.
Simon suffered a heart attack in the second half of 2010, but Survivor Series brought him right back to work on November 21. After suffering chest pains, he was admitted to a hospital and later sent home from a WWE European tour in November 2013. Simon is living with Parkinson's disease.
Professional wrestling career
Malenko was born into a wrestling family, and his father, Boris Malenko, was a well-known wrestling figure. He began as a referee in the Tampa area and even spent a short time as a referee for the WWF in the mid-1980s. He has competed all around the world and has spent significant time in Mexico and Japan. Joe Malenko, his brother, wrestled with his brother Joe Malenko from 1988 to 1992, forming a tag team before his brother's retirement. Malenko defeated "The Superstar" in the Suncoast Pro Wrestling (SPW) Southern championship in Palmetto, Florida, on January 24, 1992. On March 12, 1992 in Tampa, Malenko defeated Jimmy Backlund for the ICWA Light Heavyweight championship.
Malenko debuted in Eastern Championship Wrestling (ECW) on August 27, 1994 as a heel competing in a national wrestling tournament for the vacant NWA World Heavyweight Championship. In the quarterfinals, he defeated Osamu Nishimura before losing to eventual winner Shane Douglas in the semifinals. Malenko began to be regarded as "The Shooter" and was given a gimmick resembling an Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter (due to his resemblance to Royce Gracie). He defeated 2 Cold Scorpio to win his first ECW Television Championship on November 4, 1994.
Malenko formed the Triple Threat team with Chris Benoit and Shane Douglas at the start of 1995. On February 25, 1995, the Funker, Benoit and Malenko defeated Sabu and Tazmaniac in the ECW Tag Team Championship, making Malenko a double champion. Malenko's Extreme Warfare, a month later, has dropped the Television show to 2 Cold Scorpio. Both Benoit and Intuit lost the tag titles to The Public Enemy on April 8 at Three Way Dance (Johnny Grunge and Rocco Rock).
Malenko feuded with TV Champion Eddie Guerrero in the summer of 1995, culminating in a match on July 21 where Malenko defeated Guerrero to win his second ECW Television Championship. Malenko renamed Guerrero only a week later. The two fought over the Television Title and won a series of matches that culminated in them being offered a WCW deal. His last ECW match was a two out of three falls matches against Guerrero, which took place on August 26. The game came to a draw as the last fall featured both men's shoulders on the mat. Both men's last match in ECW will be decided, and they will both give—and receive—a long-agoal to the fans.
Malenko and Benoit joined World Championship Wrestling (WCW), where he remained a villain in September 1995. Malenko came to be known in WCW as "The Iceman" because of his cold, calculating demeanor, and was also given the nickname "Man of 1,000 Holds." Malenko defeated Shinjiro Otani in the WCW Cruiserweight Championship in Orlando on May 2, 1996. He defended the title for two months, winning acquitous defenses against Brad Armstrong, Rey Mysterio Jr., and Disco Inferno before losing the trophy to Mysterio on July 8, 2008. At Halloween Havoc 1996, he defeated Mysterio Jr. for his second WCW Cruiserweight Championship.
Malenko dropped the Cruiserweight title to Ultimate Dragon (ltimo Dragón) at Starrcade 1996, where Dragón's J-Crown Championship was also on the line after a fruitful title defense against Psychosis at World War III (1996). Malenko won his third WCW Cruiserweight Championship after defeating Dragón on January 22, 1997 Clash of the Champions XXIV. He will keep the belt for nearly a month before losing it to Syxx at SuperBrawl VII. Malenko lost the match after Eddie Guerrero inadvertently pushed Malenko to be struck with Guerrero's United States Title belt.
Malenko also got into a feud with Guerrero over the fact that he had caused him to lose his Cruiserweight belt, and he started to fight for the United States championship from him. The match between the two teams took place at Uncensored the next month, with Syxx's participation playing a role. The Cruiserweight Champion attempted to capture Guerrero's title but, unfortunately, the camcorder was not able to be with him at the ring. Malenko struck Guerrero in the back of the head with the camcorder, knocking the champion out and allowing him to pin Guerrero and win his first United States Championship. He held the thronee belt at Slamboree in 1997 by defeating Jeff Jarrett, but dropped the trophy to him on the June 9, 1997 episode of Nitro.
Malenko was engaged in a three-ring battle that The Giant won by a 60-man royal battle at World War III. He challenged Guerrero for the Cruiserweight Championship in 1997 but lost the match. Malenko became involved in a tense rivalry with Chris Jericho in mid-1998. Jericho boasted that he was "The Man of 1,004 Holds," and that the two competitors had a final showdown at Uncensored 1998 for the Cruiserweight category, assuaging Malenko's allegations. Jericho coerced Malenko to comply in an angled Liontamer after a long match. The otherwise collected Malenko was left in an odd fit of rage following the match. Gene Okerlund then confronted Malenko in a tense debate, blaming his numerous setbacks over the last few months and claiming where he would go from here. Malenko, who was confused and drained, replied "Home" and that he would not be seen on WCW TV for two months. Jericho began to scream in the ensuing two months, insulting Malenko's father and attacking Malenko's brother.
Jericho won a Battle Royal in 1998 for a shot at his Cruiserweight Championship. After Juventud Guerrera shook his hand and killed himself, Malenko entered the match as masked wrestler Ciclope and won the match. He was then unveiled, revealing himself to the audience after his triumph. Malenko won the WCW Cruiserweight Championship for his fourth and final WCW Cruiserweight Championship, making him the first wrestler to win the Cruiserweight title four times. However, Malenko was stripped of the title because he did not receive the title shot as himself. Malenko and Jericho met in a competition for the vacant Cruiserweight title at The Great American Bash 1998. Malenko was disqualified, leaving Jericho as the champion. Malenko intervened in Jericho's title defense against Rey Mysterio Jr., allowing Mysterio to pin Jericho for the title at Bash at the Beach 1998. The title was restored to Jericho, but it was infringed by Malenko. Malenko was shot in a storyline but he returned to Road Wild 1998 as the special guest referee during Jericho's defense of Juventud Guerrera. Juventud gained the match and the title.
Malenko became a member of Ric Flair's Four Horsemen faction in September 1998. They all disagreed with the New World Order (nWo), particularly Eric Bischoff. During this period, Malenko and Benoit defeated The West Texas Rednecks (Curt Hennig and Barry Windham) battling The West Texas Rednecks (Curt Hennig and Barry Windham). The Rednecks lost in the finals of a tag team tournament for the uncontested World Tag Team Championship at SuperBrawl IX. They did win the WCW World Tag Team Championship in 1999, but not before they defeated the Rednecks in a lumberjack match to win the WCW World Tag Team Championship. They lost the titles to Rey Mysterio Jr. and Billy Kidman two weeks later.
Malenko joined Shane Douglas' faction, The Revolution, after the Horsemen were eventually disbanded in May 1999 due to Flair's abuse of power. They feuded with David Flair, Diamond Dallas Page, and Chris Kanyon. Malenko was vying for the US championship at Bash at the Beach (1999), but lost the match. Throughout the year, the Rednecks, First Family, The Filthy Animals, and The Varsity Club all competed. Malenko's last WCW match was a "catch-catch-can" match with Billy Kidman at Souled Out. Malenko began to recover and was disqualified under match rules because his feet struck the arena floor early on.
Malenko signed with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and debuted on January 31, 2000 with the Raw Is War after being released from WCW the night after his last WCW match. Malenko made his first appearance in the crowd with the infamous Radicalz – himself, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, and Perry Saturn – all of whom had left WCW at the same time. Malenko, although not having as much success in the WWF, was a major player in the promotion's light heavyweight division. As part of The Radicalz, he had some success, along with Guerrero, Benoit, and Saturn. Malenko won his first Light Heavyweight Championship on March 13 of Raw Is War, defeating Essa Rios in his first Light Heavyweight Championship. In April 2000, he feuded with Scotty 2 Hotty, the newest challenger to his Light Heavyweight crown. On the 18th edition of Raw Is War, he lost his second WWF Light Heavyweight Championship to Scotty before winning his second WWF Light Heavyweight Championship from Scotty on April 27! Malenko defended the title against Scotty at Backlash 2000, effectively ending the contest between the two teams.
Malenko engaged in a feud with Guerrero and Saturn later this year, after Benoit had drifted away from the organization, triggering Guerrero's on-screen romance with Chyna and a string of losses when working as a tag team with Saturn. Guerrero retained the WWF European Championship against both Malenko and Saturn during the feud on Judgment Day 2000. After a brief absence from television, Malenko returned to reform The Radicalz with Guerrero, Benoit, and Saturn. Malenko's brief appearance as "Double Ho Seven," a parody of James Bond's fictional character. The gimmick was born out of a match with The Godfather, who gave one of his female escorts to Malenko rather than wrestling him. Malenko accepted his opponent's bid politely. Malenko competed for the affections of Lita and feuded with her tag team, the Hardy Boyz, as a Double Ho Seven. He even gave Lita a championship match for his Light Heavyweight Championship, but under the condition that she could be banned from going on a date with him if she failed. Lita accepted and came close to catching Malenko by a few nearfalls during the match, but ultimately lost the match by submitting to his signature Cloverleaf.
In a match against the Hardy Boyz and Lita in early 2001, Malenko's rivalry with the Hardy Boyz and Lita raged, culminating in Lita pinning him (with some assistance from Matt Hardy) in a match on February 19, 2001 edition of Raw Is War. He also clashed briefly with Jacqueline and Ivory, who were disgusted by his lecherous ways. Since Crash interfered in a two-on-one intergender handicap match between Malenko and both Jacqueline and Ivory, costing him the match, a championship match with Crash Holly will begin. As the WCW/ECW Invasion storyline began in summer 2001, Guerrero and Benoit drifted away from the Radicalz for a few weeks before finally fading off television.
Malenko's third wrestling match took place at the 4th Annual Brian Pillman Memorial Exhibition in August 2001, where he teamed with longtime friend Perry Saturn and stunned Raven and Justin Credible. In what was Malenko's last match, he defeated Chad Collyer, disqualifying him in the WWF farm promotion, the Heartland Wrestling Association, in December. During WWE Raw Homecoming, Malenko and other WWE stars appeared in the ring with other WWE stars on October 3, 2005.
Eddie Guerrero, his close friend, died on November 13, 2005, and Malenko made a special appearance on the November 14 edition of Raw alongside Chris Benoit. Malenko appeared on SmackDown on Friday, embracing Chris Benoit and Triple H as a team unit. After the 2006 Royal Rumble, Rey Mysterio was seen congratulating Rey Mysterio on his Rumble victory. He appeared in a backstage segment watching Chavo Guerrero Jr. on Vengeance: Night of Champions in June 2007. On Monday Night Raw's Chris Benoit memorial episode, he talked about the life of Chris Benoit. Eddie and Benoit, two of his closest friends, died, but he was sad that they were together again.
Mstico (later known in WWE as Sin Cara) defeated Malenko in a tryout dark match before a television taping in San Jose, California, on February 27, 2007. In a farewell tribute to Ric Flair, Malenko appeared on Raw's March 31, 2008 episode to join The Four Horsemen and other WWE stars. He appeared on Raw's June 28, 2010 episode congratulating Ricky Steamboat on his DVD debut. The Nexus assaulted him and all of the others in the match. After the WWE's April 23, 2012 episode to honor John Cena's 35th birthday, Malenko appeared along with the rest of the WWE family. Malenko was inducted into the 2300 Arena Hardcore Hall of Fame in November 2015. Malenko appeared on Raw Tag Team Champions Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose's brief backstage appearance on September 11, 2017, where the two were briefly regarded as potential candidates for an eight-man tag-team match, but were quickly dismissed. Malenko appeared during the contract signing between AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura on Smackdown Live on June 5, 2018.
Malenko and WWE ended their working relationship on April 26, 2019. Malenko had been a road agent for them for the past 18 years. Pro Wrestling Insider would later reveal that he did not do something wrong; WWE was just in the process of cycling out some of the older agents, due to the recent signings of multiple new agents.
All Elite Wrestling (AEW) reported that Malenko has joined them as a senior producer, which means he appears on TNT occasionally since his appearance on December 27, 1999 episode of WCW Monday Nitro. Following the release of Tony Khan's film "The Old Fashioners" on October 8, 2021, he appeared in Philadelphia with Jerry Lynn, Taz, and Chris Jericho to thank them for inspiring him.