Exactly How Good Was Dean Malenko?

Legacy is a subjective game when it comes to pro wrestling.

Just about any statistic, achievement or prize can be spun if necessary to make a career seem bigger than it might have been. But for all the heights Dean Malenko might not have been permitted to scale during his in-ring career, his post-retirement CV supports his immense expertise.

He spent the better part of 20 years on the road with WWE as an agent, effortlessly applying his skills to helping others improve theirs - a far-from-easy role based on the countless others than didn't hold on half as long.

It's obvious that lifelong wrestling fan Tony Khan thinks highly of him too. 'The Man Of 1000 Holds' exists not just as a coach/backstage figure in AEW, but in the form of Serena Deeb - a successor to the nickname so fantastic that she might just have outstripped the originator. Recent signing Bryan Danielson once referred to him as his "number one guy" when he was growing up. Chris Jericho is just one of the powerful friends/fans he has aside from the owner, thanks to a career spent grafting his f*cking a*se off for every opportunity he received.

And that's exactly how good Dean Malenko was. Perhaps not the wrestler you'd be talking about after leaving a show every time (and especially not if you were leaving Slamboree 1998), but one you - and the wrestlers themselves - would be far, far worse off without.