10 Wrestlers That Could Get A Good Match Out Of ANYONE
6. Dean Malenko
Popping the boys.
A phrase used by wrestlers and Great Men alike to describe the phenomenon of a person generating huge laughter from an in-joke or bout of silliness simply too obscure or oblique for the mainstream to manage. It's a skill Dean Malenko apparently had in spades, but one he couldn't translate to any of the main stages he wrestled on when the cameras rolled. 'The Man Of 1000 Holds' had arm-bars aplenty as per Chris Jericho, but lacked 'The Ayatolla of Rock And Rolla's incredible confidence on the microphone. Fortunately, he was so good, that it didn't matter.
Destined for big - but not massive - things as a result of this mixed skillset, Malenko instead improved upon what he was already excellent at and made them count double. Carrying WCW pay-per-views and Nitro tapings with spectacular technical classics, he did the same upon travelling North to WWE whilst 'Radicalz' comrades Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero hoovered up the headlines.
Many point to an April 2000 stone cold classic with Scotty Too Hotty as an example of his best work, but 'The Ice Man' had matches like that in him every night. He took good and made great, even if he rarely did so for himself.