Dean Malenko

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Dean Simon
Dean Malenko (cropped) .jpg
Data
Ring name Dean Malenko
Additions to names The Iceman
The Man of 1,000 Holds
The Shooter
height 172 cm
Fighting weight 96 kg
birth August 4, 1960
Tampa, Florida
Trained by Boris Malenko
debut 1979
retirement 2001

Dean Simon (born August 4, 1960 in Tampa , Florida ) is a retired American wrestler . However, he is better known under his former ring name Dean Malenko .

Simon is currently working as a road agent at AEW . There he works on the storylines and plans the various match processes.

Career

Beginnings

Malenko was born into a wrestling family. His father "Professor" Boris Malenko was a well-known wrestler in the Florida region. Originally, Simon wanted to be a wrestler and had no ambitions in the wrestling business, rather his father's lifestyle deterred him. However, a car accident prevented a career in wrestling.

His father, who ran a wrestling school, taught him professional wrestling together with Karl Gotch . In fact, Dean Malenko started his wrestling career as a referee in Florida. He was also active as such in the World Wrestling Federation in the mid-1980s .

In his early years, Simon appeared as Dean Sarcoff mainly in Japan, where he also formed a team with his biological brother Joe Malenko , at All Japan Pro Wrestling and later New Japan Pro Wrestling . However, Joe Malenko ended his career in 1992.

Extreme Championship Wrestling

In 1994 Simon made his debut for Extreme Championship Wrestling under his name Dean Malenko. There he was allowed to win the ECW World Television Championship from 2 Cold Scorpio on November 4, 1994 in Hamburg (Pennsylvania) and hold it until March 18, 1995. Dean Simon was allowed to win the Television Title on July 21, 1995 a second time when he faced Eddie Guerrero . A little later he had to give up the title to him. With Chris Benoit as a partner, he won the ECW World Tag Team Championship on February 25, 1995 . Malenko, along with Benoit and Shane Douglas, was part of an association called Triple Threat, modeled after the Four Horsemen .

World Championship Wrestling

In September 1995, Simon switched to World Championship Wrestling . He was part of a larger talent pool along with Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit who wanted to bring fresh blood to the WCW. Between 1996 and 1997 Simon was allowed to hold the WCW World Cruiserweight Title three times . In mid-1998 he was involved in a feud program with Chris Jericho , in which Simon was allowed to win the Cruiserweight Championship for the fourth time .

In September 1998 Dean Simon became part of the Four Horsemen , which at that time consisted of Ric Flair , Arn Anderson , himself and Chris Benoit . They were the main antagonists of the New World Order . In early 1999 he was injured at a house show the ankle and had to pause as a wrestler. However, he still appeared on promos as part of the Four Horsemen. After his return he won the World Tag Team Championship together with Benoit . In May 1999, the Four Horsemen disbanded as part of a Ric Flair storyline. Benoit, Saturn , Shane Douglas and he founded the Youth Revolution, which took action against Flair and his followers. This was followed by a feud against the renegade Chris Benoit and later against Billy Kidman and his stable, the Filthy Animals.

The last feud was against Jim Duggan , who wanted to take action against the "un-American" revolution. Simon was fired from the WCW in 2000.

World Wrestling Entertainment

After his release, Simon signed a contract with what was then the World Wrestling Federation . In the WWE he joined forces with Chris Benoit , Eddie Guerrero and Perry Saturn to form a stable called "The Radicalz". There he was allowed to win the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship twice , which he was allowed to hold for almost twelve months. Shortly after losing his title, Dean Simon retired from active wrestling.

He announced the end of his active career in 2001 during a WWE memorial broadcast in honor of Brian Pillman . However, from then on he had sporadic appearances on WWE shows, for example at a SmackDown tribute edition after Eddie Guerrero passed away. Today Simon works mainly behind the scenes as a producer and road agent . Today he is rarely in front of the camera. He had one last major appearance with Ricky Steamboat when a number of legends were attacked by the short-lived stable Nexus .

In 2010 he suffered a heart attack from which he recovered well.

In April 2019, Simon and WWE ended their collaboration after 18 years.

All elite wrestling

On May 24, 2019, All Elite Wrestling announced it had signed Dean Simon as Senior Producer.

particularities

Simon competed worldwide as a wrestler and spent a large part of his career in Mexico and Japan . Because of his technical skills he was nicknamed "The Man of a Thousand Grips". In addition, Simon was often referred to as "(The) Iceman" because of his cool demeanor. A special feature is his height of only 172 cm, which is quite small for a wrestler.

Daniel Bryan described Dean Malenko as a great influence, especially in his youth.

successes

  • 2 × WWF Light Heavyweight Champion
  • 1 × ICWA Junior Heavyweight Champion
  • Southern Title from Suncoast Pro Wrestling

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Dean Malenko . In: Online World of Wrestling . ( onlineworldofwrestling.com [accessed August 21, 2018]).
  2. ↑ Boris Malenko . In: Online World of Wrestling . ( onlineworldofwrestling.com [accessed August 21, 2018]).
  3. ↑ a b Where Are They Now? Dean Malenko . In: WWE . ( wwe.com [accessed August 21, 2018]).
  4. ↑ a b c The Doctor Chris Mueller: WWE Forgotten Legends 6: Dean Malenko . In: Bleacher Report . ( bleacherreport.com [accessed August 21, 2018]).
  5. ↑ a b c d Dean Malenko. In: accelerator3359.com. Retrieved August 21, 2018 .
  6. ↑ a b Dean Malenko . In: WWE . ( wwe.com [accessed August 21, 2018]).
  7. ↑ Update on Dean Malenko - Heart Attack Confirmed ›Wrestling News. Retrieved August 21, 2018 .
  8. ↑ Report: Backstage Agent Dean Malenko Leaves WWE | Fightful wrestling. Accessed September 7, 2019 .
  9. ↑ Post | AEW | All Elite Wrestling News, Videos & Events | Official website. Accessed September 7, 2019 .
  10. ^ Peter Rosenberg: Wrestling With Rosenberg: Daniel Bryan. June 18, 2012, accessed August 21, 2018 .
  11. ^ Wrestling Information Archive - Pro Wrestling Illustrated Top 500 - 1997. February 25, 2009, accessed August 21, 2018 .
  12. ^ Wrestling Information Archive - Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Top 500 Wrestlers of the PWI Years. March 15, 2008, accessed August 21, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Malenko, Dean
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Simon, Dean
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American wrestler
DATE OF BIRTH 4th August 1960
PLACE OF BIRTH Tampa (Florida)