10 Uplifting Wrestling Moments To Cure Your 'Mania Hangover
5. The Revenge Of Dean Malenko
Dean Malenko was so stoic that he called himself the Iceman. The man was a fabulous technical pro wrestler, which often betrayed the extent to which he was adored by WCW fans.
In early 1998, he was embroiled in a feud with Chris Jericho, one which proved that Kevin Nash's infamous "vanilla midgets" barb was as birdbrained as it was counterproductive. Jericho excelled in what is correctly cited as the true launchpad of his career. He always knew how to wrestle; his hilarious denouncements of Malenko's sublime but dry persona proved that he could entertain, too.
He lambasted Malenko, the "Man of 1,000 Holds," by insisting that he knew 1,004. It was cracking stuff, but Malenko was a far better foil than is often remembered.
In the two months prior to Slamboree 1998, Malenko was absent from television. The losses suffered from the insufferable Jericho had become too much in the storyline. At that pay-per-view, he dressed as a masked luchador named Ciclope - a ruse performed so perfectly that nobody knew what was up - and won a number one contender's battle royal for Jericho's Cruiserweight crown.
The crowd went apesh*t went he unmasked. Malenko then kicked the life out of Jericho, who had poked fun at his dad's passing, in a low-key but no less outstanding moment of wrestling catharsis.