Dean Malenko

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

He is currently signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a senior producer.

He is best known for his time with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW).

He is also known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) as a wrestler and a road agent and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW).

Although never a world champion, Malenko achieved championship success in ECW, WCW and the WWF, winning 11 total titles across the three organizations.

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

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

He 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, Malenko defeated "The Superstar" for the Suncoast Pro Wrestling (SPW) Southern title in Palmetto, Florida.

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

Then, Malenko teamed with his brother losing to Ricky Steamboat and Nikita Koloff at Clash of the Champions XIX.

On August 27, 1994, Malenko debuted in Eastern Championship Wrestling (ECW) as a heel participating in a professional wrestling tournament for the vacant NWA World Heavyweight Championship.

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

Malenko became known as "The Shooter" and was given a gimmick similar to an Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter (due to his resemblance to Royce Gracie).

On November 4, 1994, he defeated 2 Cold Scorpio to win his first ECW Television Championship.

In the beginning of 1995, Malenko formed a faction called the Triple Threat with Chris Benoit and Shane Douglas.

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

A month later at Extreme Warfare, Malenko dropped the Television title to 2 Cold Scorpio.

On April 8 at Three Way Dance, he and Benoit lost the tag titles to The Public Enemy (Johnny Grunge and Rocco Rock).

In the summer of 1995, Malenko feuded with TV Champion Eddie Guerrero, culminating in a match on July 21 where Malenko defeated Guerrero to win his second ECW Television Championship.

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

The two continued to battle over the Television Title and fought a series of matches that led to them being offered a WCW contract.

His last ECW match was a two out of three falls match against Guerrero, which took place on August 26.

The match ended in a draw as the last fall had both men's shoulders on the mat.

This would be both men's last match in ECW and they both gave—and received—an emotional farewell to the fans.

In September 1995, Malenko and Benoit joined World Championship Wrestling (WCW), where he continued to be a villain.

Malenko came to be known in WCW as "The Iceman" Dean Malenko because of his cold, calculating demeanor and was also given the nickname of "The Man of 1,000 Holds".

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

He held the title for two months, making successful defenses against the likes of Brad Armstrong, Rey Mysterio Jr. and Disco Inferno before losing the title to Mysterio on the July, 8 edition of Nitro.

He defeated Mysterio Jr. for his second WCW Cruiserweight Championship at Halloween Havoc 1996.

After a successful title defense against Psychosis at World War 3, Malenko lost the Cruiserweight title to Ultimate Dragon (Último Dragón) at Starrcade 1996 where Dragón's J-Crown Championship was also on the line.

Pro Wrestling Illustrated named Malenko the #1 wrestler in the world in 1997, and he was inducted into the Hardcore Hall of Fame in 2015.

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

Multiple-time world champion Bryan Danielson said that his "number one guy, growing up, was Dean Malenko".

Malenko defeated Dragón on the January 22, 1997 Clash of the Champions XXXIV to win his third WCW Cruiserweight Championship.

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

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

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.

Following his retirement as an in-ring competitor, he worked as a road agent for WWE from 2001 until 2019.

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