Posted in: Column of the Month February COTM - 'The Whole Damn Column' by Eric Conners
By sheepster
Mar 15, 2003 - 9:08:25 AM
NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: Every month, the Columnist of the Month contest is held in the LOP Columns Forum. The winning columnist gets to have one of his columns posted on the main page. This month, we have Eric Conners and his column, The Whole Damn Column.
Eric Conners back with the 35th edition of the Whole Damn Column.
Wow, so this is the main board, eh? Thanks to everyone who voted for me this past February, and everyone who's reading, you should really check out the forums, as Dredg is probably the best overall writer down there with the "So Called Column," but look out for The Monkey's column, "The Eyes of the Monkey", and Skorpio's column, "The Fifth Column." And, let’s not forget all the other awesome writers we have down there as well.
But, like always every fifth column is a history column, where I look at a certain person’s career, wrestling accomplishments, personal life, and just about everything they have accomplished in the ring. So far, I have done a history on Edge, Chris Benoit, and Eddie Guerrero, and got great feedback from them, so therefore, this has become a normal part of my columns.
Who’s for today though?
Today, I am going to divulge into the career of the man known as the Iceman, Dean Malenko folks.
But, let’s start at the beginning.
THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF DEAN MALENKO’S WRESTLING CAREER AND LIFE
Dean Simon was born on August 4, 1960 in Tampa, Florida, and son to the famous Boris Malenko. Dean was born into the wrestling business as he was a second generation wrestler, as his father, Boris, had been known as one of the biggest heels ever to come across the states in his time. Not only that, but he taught at a very renowned wrestling school as well, which Dean would take over in the early 90’s after his father’s death.
So, it was understandable that his father would teach him the trades of the business, and he and his brother Joe, were tutored by his father throughout his teenage years, and even in his early days, showed signs of being a very technically sound wrestler.
He wasn’t a big wrestler either, as he only stands at 5’9 and weighs a little over 200 pounds, but he proved time and time again, that height or size doesn’t matter in wrestling, as has many other men in his time.
Now, let me warn you beforehand, it is very hard to find a good amount of information on Dean’s career from his wrestling debut in 1979 to 1990. But, early in Dean’s career, he
trained and wrestled with Ken Shamrock, still learning new things about the wrestling business.
Although Dean made his debut in 1979, he didn’t really make a name for himself until 1985, where he worked in the U.W.F. (Universal Wrestling Federation) for a couple of weeks from February 18 to March 3. UWF had great stars such as Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Osamu Kido, Akira Maeda, Nobuhiko Takada, and Kazuo Yamazaki. .
After his stint with UWF, he continued to wrestle in various promotions throughout the states and Japan winning his fair amount of gold in small promotions such as SPW and ICWA. He never really emerged again until 1990, where he and brother Joe emerged in All Japan Pro Wrestling when they wrestled at the AJPW Giant Baba’s 30th Wrestling Anniversary in September, losing to the British Bulldogs. He and Joe were a great tag team, as they couldn’t help but have great chemistry together considering they were brothers, and were both technically sound wrestlers. They emerged again the following September at the AJPW Budokan Hall when they defeated Mitsuo Momata and Saturu Asako, and in March of 92 he and Joe lost a shot at the All-Asian tag team titles when they were defeated by Dan Kroffat and Doug Furnas. One other thing to note as well is that Dean was featured in the PWI 500 for the first time in 1991 as well, ranking #250.
Their last great match in AJPW on June 5, 1992, where he and Joe were defeated by Yoshinori Ogawa and the Mighty Inoue.
He and Joe were making a name for themselves, and were invited to wrestle at WCW sponsored Clash of the Champions XIX in a tag team tournament to crown new NWA World Tag Team Champs in late June. This would actually be Joe’s only appearance in a big US promotion. It seemed as if WCW would be proud to have such a great team as the Malenkos in WCW, but they weren’t even hyped to be in the tournament, and the announcers didn’t even call them by their names, they were referred to as the Russian delegates, which must have been embarrassing for them. They jobbed to Nikita Koloff and Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, when Nikita hit his “Russian Sickle” on Dean.
Dean and Joe would make an appearance at the WWC 19th Anniversary Show in August 92, where they lost to the WWC tag champs, Steve Doll, and Rex King.
NJPW
Dean would move on to New Japan Pro Wrestling, but this time, he wouldn’t be there with Joe, as Joe started cutting down his wrestling, and would eventually retire from wrestling at a full time- basis, and would become a pharmacist, occasionally working for shoot- wrestling groups in Japan.
Nevertheless, Dean would go on to have some great, great matches in New Japan. In November, Malenko had the first out of what would be great matches with Jushin “Thunder” Liger, and another great match the following night, when Malenko teamed up for the first time with someone he would encounter numerous times down the road, Chris Benoit, who at the time was known as the Pegasus Kid. They lost to Liger and Takayuki Iizuka. At the end of 92, Dean was once again in the PWI 500, ranking #309.
Dean participated in the Top of the Super Junior in May 1993, where Malenko had one of the best matches of his career with Eddie Guerrero and would win to advance, but couldn’t get by El Samurai in the semi-finals, and the Pegasus Kid would end up winning in the finals, defeating El Samurai. Dean may not have won it, but he wrestled his heart out, proving once again, he was a one of a kind, and he let his wrestling do his talking, which was something always seen in Japan, which makes it a much better place for wrestlers to shine.
Dean would go on to have some more great matches in NJPW, and would team up with the Ultimo Dragon to defeat El Samurai and the Pegasus Kid, and Dean got the pinfall on El Samurai he couldn’t get in the Super Junior. Dean ranked 150th in the PWI 500 when 1994 came around.
Dean would wrestle in the Super J Cup Tournament on April 16, 1994, losing in the first round to Gedo. Wild Pegasus (Chris Benoit) would go on to win that tournament as well.
That May, he wrestled in the Best of the Super Junior 94' which was held from the 26th of May to the 13th of June. Malenko didn't get too far though, and Jushin "Thunder" Liger would end up winning.
Malenko continued to shine in NJPW though, having great tag team matches with Brad Armstrong and Gram Hamada most notably, where he and Armstrong lost to Wild Pegasus and the Black Tiger in June, but he and Gram defeated Jushin Liger and El Samruai in August.
Malenko was sure making a name for himself in NJPW, and although Dean never got any gold over there, but he had some great matches over there with Jushin “Thunder” Liger, Shinjiro Otani, and El Samurai, showing that he was capable of pulling off great matches with the best of them, and could back himself up in the ring as well. Dean was a very technical wrestler too, as he never showed much emotions, and has never been known to be a mic guy, as he always tells his story in the ring, and that is what made him so damn good, as he got his wrestling over, not his personality, and you can’t help but respect that.
Dean made his first appearance in ECW in August of 94 in the ECW/NWA Title Tournament, where he defeated Osama Nishimura, but would end up losing to Shane Douglas.
Malenko would wrestle in the NJPW Junior Heavyweight Super Heavyweight Grade Tag League with Tokimitsu Ishizawa, but never got really far, and Shinjiro Ohtani and Wild Pegasus would end up winning though.
ECW
Paul Heyman came calling from ECW, as he recognized just how great of a talent Malenko truly was. Even though he wasn’t the most charismatic guy, Heyman played off that, and Malenko was given a gimmick where he was called “The Shooter”, a man who spoke little, but used his words in his matches, with quick moves, and always shooting on his opponents. Right off the bat, Malenko lived up to the name soon after legitimately hurting Taz's neck on a double piledriver with 2 Cold Scorpio.
He came in as a protector for his manager, Jason’s TV title reign. Soon after, he started a rivalry with the Tazmaniac, otherwise known as Taz. Keep in mind Taz was 100 times better then as he is now, as he was in great shape, and was a great talent, and not only that, he seemed to always cause some sort of pain on his opponents in the ring.
To start it off, Jason lost the TV title to 2 Cold Scorpio on November 4, 1994, but not even two hours later, Malenko defeated Scorpio for the belt. Before his feud with Taz could heat up, Taz had some backup with him, as he formed a partnership with Sabu.
Jason countered this by bringing in Dean’s brother Joe, and Joe and Dean would step in the ring against Sabu and Taz in a brutal, brutal match, as the Malenkos were, to put it bluntly, destroyed in the ring. That didn’t stop Malenko from ranking 191 in the PWI 500 at the end of 1994 though.
Although the ranking was great, none of that could overcome the fact that Dean’s father, Boris, passed away that past year. The whole wrestling world was saddened by the news, and Dean and his brother Joe, would take over their father’s wrestling school later that year.
Joe didn’t last long in ECW though, but he and Dean had one last match together in NJPW, teaming up to defeat Tokimitsu Ishizawa and Yuji Nagata in February 95.
When Malenko returned to ECW, he was quickly on the hunt for another partner, and he looked no further than the Crippler, Chris Benoit, who had earned his nickname, when he dropped Sabu on his neck, nearly ending the man’s career. But, they weren’t done yet. ECW champ, Shane Douglas would recruit them, and together, all three of them formed the Triple Threat, one of ECW’s most prominent groups of all time and they quickly made their presence known.
Sabu and Taz soon after won the tag team titles, defeating Public Enemy, but their celebration was cut short when Benoit power bombed Sabu and Rocco Rock through a table, letting them know he and Malenko wanted a tag title shot. The titles soon came their way too, as Malenko and Benoit won the titles shortly after giving Triple Threat all ECW gold, thereby making him the strongest stable in all of ECW, and making Malenko a double champ, as he was still the TV champ as well. That wouldn’t last long though for Malenko, as he soon lost the TV title to 2 Cold Scorpio.
Benoit and Malenko were on a rampage though, as they were great tag team champs, destroying all of their opponents. In April, Benoit and Malenko were in a three way dance with Public Enemy and Tazmaniac and Rick Steiner, as Sabu was recovering from some injuries. Malenko and Benoit would end up losing the tag titles in this match to Public Enemy but it was still a solid match, and Malenko wasn’t through with winning gold in ECW.
Malenko returned to New Japan for a short stint through the 23rd of June to the 13th of July. He wrestled in the League, but Wild Pegasus ended up winning it.
Triple Threat had seemed to have been done, as Benoit would soon after go on a Japan tour, and Shane Douglas was at WWF in his unsuccessful run as Dean Douglas, but Malenko still went on in ECW. He vowed to win the TV title from Eddie Guerrero, and together, had one of the best feuds for possibly either man, and ECW. They would wrestle on a nightly basis, and on July 21, 1995, Malenko defeated Guerreo in a great match for the TV title in Tampa, Florida, his home town. He would lose it a week later to Eddie, but it was a great homecoming for Dean in Tampa.
They continued to feud throughout August, and on August 26, 1995, they had one of the greatest matches EVER seen in ECW in my eyes, and quite possibly the best match of the 90’s, although that might be pushing it, but you have got to see this match people.
Not only that, but Dean was planning on leaving ECW after this match too, as he was heading to WCW, as well as Eddie too, as they were looking to start a cruiserweight division. Their match was a 2/3 falls match, with both men getting a fall, but ended up in a draw in the last fall. It was a great match with a great crowd, as they were screaming “Please don’t go” throughout the whole match. They wrestled their hearts out, and it was truly an emotional match for anyone who has ever witnessed it. Both men would get a standing ovation from the crowd after, and if any of you have never seen that match, I recommend you get off your ass and GET IT. Or, you can continue reading this, your choice.
WCW
Dean would enter WCW, looking to win the new cruiserweight title, a title contended between wrestlers 230 pounds or less. He would go on to have some great matches there, and was looking to give some pride to the title, as when the NWA had tried a cruiserweight division, it was always looked at as a title for jobbers, with such people as Lazer Tron and “Dowtown” Denny Brown holding it. WCW even gave him a moniker to go by- “The Man of 1,000 Holds”, a gimmick handed down from old British NWA star, Les Thorton, when cruiserweights actually meant something. He was a breath of fresh air too, as WCW fans were used to the wrestling styles of Hulk Hogan, Lex Luger, and the Giant, to name a few, and the fans immediately caught on to his technical skills. He even resumed his ECW feud with Eddie Guerrero one night on Nitro, although the match would be cut short due to time restraints.
Before he would get a shot at any titles though, he and new WCW wrestler, Chris Benoit teamed up on a few occasions throughout the fall of 1995, but had very little success.
Malenko seemed on the path to success though as 1996 rolled around, as he was ranked #21 on the PWI 500, and defeated Alex Wright in January at Clash of the Champions XXXII. He even wrestled a man known as Mr. J.L. (now Jerry Lynn) at a dark match at WCW Uncensored.
CRUISERWEIGHT GOLD
In March, WCW restarted the cruiserweight title, and a tournament held over in Japan was held, with Shinjiro Ohtani defeating Wild Pegasus, (Chris Benoit), on March 20.
Dean was making his presence known in WCW, once again letting his wrestling do all his talking, and on May 2, 1996, Dean got his first taste of gold within WCW, as he defeated Shinjiro Otani in Orlando, Florida for the cruiserweight title, and Dean would start making his mark in WCW very fast with that title, putting on great technical cruiserweight matches, and turning the Texas Cloverleaf into one of his trademark moves.
After a Slamboree victory over Brad Armstrong, Malenko seemed intent on not putting his cruiserweight title on the line until Rey Misterio challenged him. As you all know, Rey Misterio is one of the best cruiserweights of the 90’s and later, and is an amazing wrestler.
Before that would happen though, Dean went to Japan again, to wrestle in the Best of the Super Junior 96’, but Eddie Guerrero, going under the alias, Black Tiger, would end up winning the league.
When Dean returned to WCW, a match with Rey was signed. There was no real drama to the storyline, just a man wanting what another man wants. Hell, there was no need for any type of drama or “sports entertainment” for any of Malenko’s feuds, as he has clearly shown over the years, he doesn’t need sports entertainment to succeed in the ring, as the ring is his mouthpiece.
After a great match at Great American Bash, Malenko walked away with the cruiserweight belt. He defended it constantly throughout the summer, defeating Disco Inferno at Bash of the Beach. But, a rematch with Misterio seemed inevitable and that was exactly what happened at WCW Clash of the Champions XXXIII in August, as Misterio defeated Malenko for the cruiserweight belt, ending Malenko’s first reign as champ.
As you all know, the red hot nWo angle was running wild in WCW, and ratings were enormous at the time. Big time names and new storylines were the biggest headlines in WCW, but WCW constantly relied on the cruiserweights to open up their shows with hot fast paced matches. Malenko was doing a great job in that role, as his name was starting to mean something in WCW, and he started out a lot of shows for WCW to get the crowd riled up.
Malenko wasn’t done with the cruiserweight belt though. Before he got his rematch with Misterio though, he went on to have what I call, a forgotten classic at Hog Wild 96 with Chris Benoit. Although he lost, they had a great technical match which the crowd loved, and both men got great ovations in the match.
Malenko got his rematch at Halloween Havoc, where he defeated Misterio for his second reign as cruiserweight champ.
He would go on to have some great cruiserweight battles throughout the rest of 1996, defeating Psichosis at World War 3. At Starrcade, Malenko dropped the belt to Ultimo Dragon in a great opening match. Don’t know why, but that match is a personal favorite of mine. At the end of 1996, Malenko was #13 in the PWI 500, continuing to raise after every year.
1997 started off great as he defeated the Ultimo Dragon in his cruiserweight title rematch at Clash of the Champions XXXIV in January. The reign didn’t last long though as at Superbrawl VII he lost the cruiserweight belt to nWo member, Syxx. Malenko didn’t moan about it though, as he set his eyes on a bigger belt in WCW- the United States belt, which was held by his old buddy, Eddie Guerrero.
HEAVYWEIGHT CONTENDER
It didn’t take long for Malenko to get the US belt, as at Uncensored 97, he defeated Guerrero for the belt. The Iceman, another nickname for Malenko due to his lack of expressions, was a fighting champ too. At Spring Stampede, he and Chris Benoit fought to a no contest, and at Slamboree, he got Jeff Jarrett to submit in their US title match.
Jeff Jarrett got his revenge though, as in June, he captured the US belt from Malenko.
Despite that, throughout the rest of 1997, Malenko feuded with Horsemen, Chris Benoit and Jeff Jarrett, failing to get a shot at the US title at Fall Brawl against Jarrett. He competed in the World War 3 battle royal which was won by Scott Hall. He tried his luck in the cruiserweight division once again, as at Starrcade 97 in December, he got a shot at cruiserweight champ, Eddie Guerrero but was unsuccessful.
#1
It seemed as if Malenko was starting to lose a little momentum as he was once a US title contender, and was now stuck back in the cruiserweight division, which was the same case for Eddie Guerrero. But, hey what could they do, this is WCW we’re talking about.
PWI 500 obviously recgonized how great of a wrestler Malenko was as he was ranked #1 in their magazine! He was chosen over Stone Cold, Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, and Hulk Hogan, and he had never held the WCW championship once in his life! It was a great accomplishment for Malenko.
JERICHO
Maybe this should have been a wakeup call for WCW to push Malenko to the top, but instead he was still stuck in the cruiserweight division, as he started a feud that would last for the first part of 1998 with Chris Jericho, another wrestler who was succumbed to the backstage politics of WCW.
At first, their feud was just about Malenko getting the cruiserweight belt. But, Jericho started to make it real personal. After he defeated Malenko at Uncensored to retain his cruiserweight belt, Malenko stepped away from the ring, needing a few months off. Jericho starting taking shots at Malenko’s late father, Boris Malenko, getting major heat. He knew Malenko was on the shelf so he degraded Malenko every chance he got.
Well, at Slamboree, in a cruiserweight battle royal where the winner would wrestle Chris Jericho later on in the program, a masked wrestler named Ciclope won the battle royal only to unmask himself as Dean Malenko! I never saw it coming, and neither did Chris Jericho. After an emotional match with Malenko and Jericho, Malenko defeated Jericho for the cruiserweight belt, marking his fourth reign as cruiserweight champ, and dedicated the win to his late father, Boris.
At Great American Bash, the two stepped in the ring again, and after Jericho made the mistake of telling Malenko he was nothing, just like his dead father, Malenko went psycho on him, taking him outside the arena, an beating the crap out of him. Malenko got DQ’ed when he used a chair on Jericho, and it was later learned since before the match Malenko had vacated the belt to get in the ring with Jericho, the title would be awarded to Jericho.
They had some great brawls throughout the summer, and Malenko lost a “Last Chance” match to Jericho, where the stipulation was if Malenko lost, he wouldn’t get another shot at Jericho. Malenko ended up losing by DQ, but he got revenge when he was the special referee for Jericho’s cruiserweight title match at Road Wild with Juventud Guerrera, and with the help of Malenko, Juvy ended Jericho’s title reign, winning the belt.
FOUR HORSEMEN
Now that Malenko’s feud with Jericho was done, he became involved in trying to restore the Four Horsemen against the nWo. It led to Malenko having a great match with Curt Hennig at Fall Brawl 98, but ended in DQ when Rick Rude interfered.
In September of 98, Malenko was involved in the reformation of the Four Horsemen with Chris Benoit, Arn Anderson, and Steve McMichael on Nitro. When Flair came out, Malenko joined the Four Horsemen. It was a great opportunity for Malenko, and he helped the Horsemen fend off the aging nWo. It was once said that Kevin Nash jokingly called Benoit and Malenko the “Vanilla Midgets,” as they were both small in height, and had no expressions about them. Too bad Benoit and Malenko are way better wrestlers than Nash can ever be, but who’s keeping track?
In January, he injured his ankle at a house show, which would put him on crutches and keep him out for a month. The PWI 500 ranked Malenko #35 for 1998, down from his #1 spot in 1997, but the blame can’t be placed entirely on Malenko on that one, as we all know Malenko could have been so much more in WCW.
LOOKING FOR TAG TEAM GOLD
When he returned, he teamed up with fellow Horsemen, Chris Benoit, and entered the tag team title tournament, and they made it to the finals at Superbrawl against Curt Hennig and Barry Windham, but to win the tag team titles they were going to need two falls to defeat them. Malenko got the first fall with the Texas Cloverleaf, but Windham used the tag belt to defeat them, giving Hennig and Windham the tag titles.
Malenko and Benoit would get revenge though and at the next PPV, Uncensored, they won the tag belts with the help of Arn Anderson in a lumberjack match to give Malenko some more WCW gold.
Around this time, the Four Horsemen returned to their cheating ways, as they became a little stale as faces, and in little time, all four men, Flair, Anderson, Benoit, and Malenko were heels.
Benoit and Malenko would lose the tag team titles to Rey Misterio and Billy Kidman at the end of March, with interference from Raven and Saturn. At Spring Stampede in April, Malenko and Benoit would end up defeating Raven and Saturn with the help of Arn Anderson, and turned out to be one of the best matches on the card in my opinion. Malenko was invited to wrestle at the 2nd Annual Brian Pillman Memorial Show in May, and he and Benoit lost a tag team match to Rey Misterio and Konann. At Slamboree, Malenko and Benoit got another shot at the titles in May at Slamboree in a triple threat title match with Raven/Saturn and the tag champs, Kidman/Rey Rey. Raven and Saturn would end up winning with the help of Kanyon.
REVOLUTION
Malenko and Benoit got sick of Flair catering to other wrestlers, most notable, his son, David Flair, who Ric awarded the US title. Malenko and Benoit left the Horsemen to go on their own. At Bash of the Beach, Malenko was screwed out of the US title against David Flair when Ric Flair hit him with the US title. Malenko and Benoit aligned themselves with Perry Saturn and Shane Douglas to form the Revolution. This group had the chance to possibly break out and be a HUGE heel stable within WCW, but just as expected, that never happened. Although Douglas, Malenko, and Benoit were all reunited since their “Triple Threat” days in ECW, the Revolution stable would amount to not even half of what Triple Threat did in ECW, but it certainly wasn’t the wrestlers’ faults.
Chris Benoit did finally get the US title off of David Flair though in August, and at Road Wild, Malenko, Saturn, and Douglas defeated the West Texas Rednecks, which consisted of Curt Hennig, Bobby Duncum (both have tragically died in the past three years, as most of you know) and Barry Windham.
On Nitro before the September PPV, Fall Brawl, Malenko and Benoit wrestled in a battle royal to determine a heavyweight contender, and when Malenko and Benoit were the last two left, they were on pace to have a great match, until that retard, Sid Vicious ruined their match. And to shit on Malenko and Benoit more, they lost CLEANLY to Hugh Morrus and Brain Knobbs at Fall Brawl. If you don’t know who Hugh Morrus is, he’s that big fat guy who the WWE miserably tried to push late last year as Bill DeMott. Let me tell you, he completely sucks. Don’t get me started on Brian Knobbs either. Even though malenko and Benoit redeemed themselves the next night on Nitro by winning a rematch, nothing could erase the PPV loss Malenko and Benoit suffered.
Nevertheless, the Revolution started having internal problems as Benoit starting siding with Bret Hart, saying the Harts made him, not the Revolution. This didn’t bode well with the rest of the group, but Malenko stayed true to his long-time friend, Benoit against fellow Revolution members, Saturn and Douglas. Malenko surprisingly turned on Benoit though at Halloween Havoc, costing Benoit the TV title to Rick Steiner of all people. The Revolution would have a mini-feud with Benoit, but the real focus was on Benoit, who was actually in line for a push, which was formerly unheard of. The Revolution were no longer faces, and were now in a new direction as ruthless heels.
The Revolution, now down to three, began a feud with the Filthy Animals, which I thought wasn’t too bad of a feud. At Mayhem in November, Malenko, Saturn, and the Chyna wannabe, Asya teamed up to wrestle Kidman, Eddie Guerrero, and Kidman’s valet/girlfriend, Torrie Wilson. It was an elimination match and Kidman and Guerrero had problems with each other over who would help out Torrie when she twisted her ankle in the first few minutes of the match. All of this miscommunication led to Guerrero pushing Kidman into a rollup from Malenko, eliminating Kidman. Malenko wouldn’t last long though, as Guerrero would soon eliminate him, followed by Asya soon after. Saturn would get the win for his team, by eliminating Guerrero and Torrie.
The Revolution’s next feud was against the USA actually, as they declared themselves better than the whole country. Another Anti-American angle is what every wrestling company needs. They even went as far as to try to burn a US flag, but full fledged American, Jim “Hacksaw” Duggan came down with his trademark 2x4. The Revolution got the best of Duggan, and a match was signed at Starrcade. Duggan brought the Varsity Club with him, which consisted of Mike Rotunda, Rick Steiner, and Kevin Sullivan, otherwise known as Team Crap. There was a stipulation added to the match though, if Revolution lost, they would have to do sorts of janitorial duties for Duggan, whatever that may be, washing toilets, cleaning floors, I’m not really sure. But if they won, Duggan would have to forsake the USA.
But in a moment I found TOO funny the whole Club turned on Duggan at Starrcade, and the whole Revolution took out Duggan, winning the match. Duggan refused to run his mouth about America the next night on Nitro though, and the Revolution once again beat the crap out of him. The Filthy Animals came to the rescue though, resparking their feud with the Revolution. Hey, if you don't want to push them, just recycle feuds over and over again, eh WCW? Malenko closed out 1999 ranking #21 in the PWI 500, still a strong number.
The Revolution set their sights on the Filthy Animals leader, Billy Kidman. Kidman was put in different singles matches against all the Revolution members at Souled Out in January 2000, in what would be Malenko, Saturn, and Chris Benoit’s final WCW PPV. Kidman's first match was against Malenko in a "Catch as Catch Can" match where the first one to hit the outside floor first lost. Kind of like a battle royal, but you have to pin your opponent and there were only two wrestlers and you don't have to be eliminated just by going over the top rope. This match would be short though, as Malenko was portrayed as a moron as he went to the outside to catch a breath, and forgot the stipulation to the match, so therefore lost the match.
Soon after, as you all know, Malenko, Saturn, Benoit, and Eddie Guerrero left WCW, as they had differences in their contracts, creative differences, and of course, problems with how the whole company ran as a whole. All four were headed to WWF.
Remember, I wasn't here to write this for the fun of it, I just think Malenko really isn't given as much credit as he deserves. Words cannot be said as to how great of a wrestler Malenko really is. Who cares if he doesn't have the charisma or attitude as that of Rock or Chris Jericho, Malenko truly is one of the most underrated superstars of this past decade, and good luck to whatever you aspire to do Malenko.
Well, there's Part 1 of Dean Malenko’s career, and if you would like to read Part 2 of the rise and fall of Malenko's WWF in-ring career, just head over to the LOP Column forums to check it out which should be up in a couple of days. Seriously, everyone, you should all check out the forum as we have some EXCELLENT writers down there, and every columnist is only getting better by the day. Enough of my shameless plugs, I hope you all enjoyed this, so with that being said,
