While other WCW "cruiserweights" gained more success and are better remembered (Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, Rey Mysterio, etc), Dean Malenko may very well be a better technical wrestler than any of them. Hell, Dean Malenko may very well be a better technical wrestler than anyone to ever step into a wrestling ring. When Malenko jumped from WCW to the WWF as part of The Radicalz, he didn't get much of the publicity. Guerrero, Benoit, and even Perry Saturn looked like they could be big stars for Vince McMahon's company. Malenko looked like he would fade into the background quickly. While he wouldn't go on to become a main eventer, he was easily one of the best light heavyweight wrestlers the company had during its brief time having a WWF Light Heavyweight Title, including a title reign that was nearly a full year in length (the longest non-joke reign in the title's history, second only to Gillberg's reign from November 1998 to February 2000). Like Tyson Kidd, though, Malenko was always underneath a glass ceiling, of sorts, due to his lack of charisma, which was even made fun of with his Double Ho Seven character, as he became a "ladies man" and went after women like Lita, even though he was pretty much the exact same Dean Malenko everyone had come to know.
Columnist/Podcaster/Director at LordsOfPain.net for nearly seven years, with nearly 2000 total columns written. Interviewed and/or involved in interviewing the likes of Tyler Black/Seth Rollins (twice), Diamond Dallas Page, Jimmy Jacobs, Christopher Daniels, Uhaa Nation and more.
