10 Great Wrestlers Who Never Got Over In WWE

6. Dean Malenko

Dean Malenko
WWE.com

The wrestler’s wrestler, Dean Malenko was one of the most proficient technical wrestlers of his generation. The Iceman was the anchor of the WCW cruiserweight division, arguably the most important performer in that section of the roster. Rey Mysterio, Juventud Guerrera, Ultimo Dragon and all the rest may have done the flashy stuff, but it was Malenko who provided them with a solid base and a perfect dance partner.

Dean Malenko was an incredible technical wrestler, but a showman he was not. This was somewhat fine in WCW as the more old-school elements of the crowd were always going to appreciate a performer like Malenko, but the four-time Cruiserweight Champion was on a hiding to nothing once he made the jump to WWE. A strong start might have helped, but losing to X-Pac inside four-minute doesn’t exactly equal ‘strong start’.

Not even a brief run as ‘Double Ho Seven’ could save the day, although the writer responsible for that nonsense should probably hide in shame. Dean Malenko as a lecherous misogynist wasn’t the best idea. Anybody as a lecherous misogynist is a bad idea.

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Contributor
Contributor

Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.