10 Wrestling Storylines That Don't Get Enough Love
6. The Man Of 1,000 Kicks To The Chest
Certain wrestlers exist as examples of unfortunate shorthand.
Marty Jannetty, an amazing babyface worker in his own right, is the cold take weaker link of a successful tag team. X-Pac, a genuine revolutionary, is known as the one WWE act who wasn't over in the year 2000. Dean Malenko meanwhile is the manifestation of the dry, flawless mechanic - able to generate praise and admiration, but unable to elicit genuine emotion. The mid-1998 incarnation of his Iceman character, however, thawed the Massachusetts crowd at the payoff of a superbly-told tale.
Jericho had Malenko's number at the onset of their rivalry, riling Malenko into frustration with his bratty boastings of knowing "1,004" holds in a probably unintended homage to Alan Partridge. Once Malenko, mentally gone, retreated physically from WCW, Jericho unleashed a personal onslaught at the expense of Malenko's family.
At Slamboree, a battle royal was held to determine the number one contender to Jericho's Cruiserweight Crown. The little-fancied Ciclope emerged victorious, after Juventud Guerrera, in on the fix, forfeited the match. Ciclope unmasked, revealing the furious visage of Malenko - who subsequently caved Jericho's chest in with a series of kicks ignited with brawling babyface fire as intense as the crowd reaction it spawned.
This was both wonderful long-form storytelling and a major indictment of the "vanilla midget" mentality that stymied so many careers.