Dean Malenko

[6.0] "Great chain wrestling technician. Though that style is limited in its ability to simulate a physical struggle, I must say, he is fantastic at it. Nearly perfect at it. And that's incredibly admirable. But he also has almost no charisma."

[8.0] "It could be argued that Dean Malenko was quite possibly the greatest in-ring worker of all-time. What can't be argued was that he was such a boring and uncharismatic guy that he could have never reached any main event level in a major company, which is unfortunate for a guy with his abilities."

[8.0] "technical master, charisma vacuum. Malenko's in-ring work is damn impressive, his matches with Mysterio, Eddie Guerrero and in Japan, really stand the test of time. But he never had main event potential. It is no exaggeration that in-ring Malenko was Bryan Danielson before Bryan Danielson minus charisma."

[9.0] "Always annoying to see the "no charisma" remarks about Dean. His technical skill *was* his charisma, and if you can't understand how that could be appealing, maybe you don't appreciate the "wrestling" part of "pro wrestling" as much as you think you do."

[8.0] "The man of 1000 holds, simply one of the best technical wrestlers to step in the ring and do it. Unfortunately, where he excelled on the mat, he lacked on the mic."

[7.0] "Capable of a good match with just about anyone, Dean Malenko is probably best remembered for his time in WCW's cruiserweight division in the late 90s. Week in and week out, you were in for something good whether Dean was matched up with a luchador, or one of the division's breakout stars like Chris Jericho. His promo was basic as you can get, and definitely he was subpar on the mic, but that didn't keep him from being involved in some memorable angles. There are several bad matches you can find though that Dean wasn't able to salvage, including bouts against guys like Bret Hart and Curt Henning. Not much can be said of his WWF career; he wasn't involved in many memorable matches there. His ECW run has several good ones though, most notably against Eddie Guerrero. His success after retirement as an agent is worth mentioning as well, as he seems to have contributed to the business quite significantly in this regard. A for in ring work, C- for gimmick and D on the mic."

[6.0] "Clearly a talented technician in the ring, but so devoid of personality or charisma. He gave such little-dick energy, which perhaps as a heel could be worked into an angle, but never worked for me. A dependable worker, no doubt, but hardly a memorable one."

[9.0] "I love me a mat technician and Malenko's "Iceman" gimmick was well ahead of his time, even if it kind of existed as a way to cover his lack of charisma. I think he has just about the best career he could have had, given how exceptional of a workhorse he was and the fact he spent most of his time with mid-card belts in whatever org he was in. I do wonder how much bigger his start might've gotten in Japan if he had been in AJPW in 99-2000 instead of WWF."

[7.0] "Dean Malenko is absolutely ace, so smooth and technical and always made his opponent look a million dollars. Always crazy seeing his early work where he would fly too."

[10.0] "In Professional wrestling, theres some stuff that you need, you need a character, charisma, but for Dean, he didnt need that and all he did was wrestle his ass off, if u watch his matches he is truly one of the greatest technical wrestlers of all time, you dont need mic skills are even a character to get over in professional wrestling, Dean made it to where u dont need those things and that you can get over by anyway you can, having mic skills dont get you to the top. Dean is a wrestling legend."

[6.0] "Never understood the hype for him, he is a very good mat technician with nice holds and decent chain wrestling and does some great technical spots sometimes but that's about it as far as his input in matches go, his work often feels soulless and lifeless and don't have any real story either, in addition he has no charisma or mic ability, literally the single most plain worker I've ever seen, even worse than Bob Backlund, people confuse Dean Malenko the worker with Dean Malenko the character, one is supposed to be a great technician while the actual worker is just a very good technician with poor Philosphy behind wrestling."

"[8.0] Simply the most underrated wrestler of all time. A great WCW run with classics against the likes of Eddie Guerrero, Chris Jericho, and more. Fantastic technical worker overall."

[7.0] "One of the best technical wrestlers of his day. Always put on solid performances in the ring for ECW, WCW, WWF, & Japan. He is a guy that you can count on to put good matches for your show. Although he was very good in the ring, he just struggled in every other department. He wasn't the best at promo work, he lacked size, and he was approaching his late 30s by the time he was in ECW, WCW, & WWF. I do like his finisher, Texas Cloverleaf which looks very painful for every opponent to take."

[10.0] "When it came to making a persona work based on their strengths, I don't think there was a more believable performer than Dean Malenko in The Shooter/ Ice Man role. Because here is a guy that didn't show facials or emotion, didn't have any personality at all as a performer or on the microphone, and certainly didn't have the size going for him, but once the bell rang he could wrestle you move for move and hold for hold all day long as he had 1, 000 of them pun intended. He had the features and mannerisms to make the persona work too. I was always a fan of the slicked back hair with receding hair line, the five o'clock shadow beard, the way he'd cock his head side to side, and loosen up his wrists on the way to the ring. He kinda reminded me of Royce Gracie a lot when Royce fought in the early days of the UFC. He had that kind of aura and presence when he walked out. And one of the most memorable commentary lines of all time was for Dean Malenko. When predicting the World War 3 pay per view in WCW, Malenko was Heenan's pick, and that was met with radio silence for a few moments amongst the rest of the announcers. Nothing but high regards for Dean as a performer from me."

[8.0] "How much you enjoy Malenko is gonna depend on how deeply you value an entertaining gimmick, which he simply has never had. But Malenko is that rare case where it really doesn't matter to a lot of wrestling fans because of how freakishly amazing he is in the ring. Definitely one of the best mid-carders of all time as he undeniably revolutionized cruiserweight wrestling, but I think his successors like Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero took what he did to the next level."

[10.0] "Fantastic pro wrestler, one of my all time favorite performer in the ring. People call him boring or whatever, but no this guy is the good shit of pro wrestling. Just ring the bell, and you will get great matches."

[9.0] "Growing up and watching wrestling in the 90s, I had never seen anyone like Malenko. the way he moved, his move set, his technique, his size...he was amazing and unlike anyone else at the time, which was helped make him such a standout. While the bigger guys would get the prime spots, you know you'd see some incredible things when you'd get to see Malenko mixing it up with wcw's cruiser weights."

[8.0] "This dude was great. Whether he was teaming with Chris Benoit or feuding with Chris Jericho, he was the light in WCW during 1998-1999. He had some terrific matches with Rey Mysterio and could always pull a good match out of almost anyone. His run in the WWF was a bit of a letdown, as he was never positioned as well as he was in WCW, but he did manage to have a good run."

[9.0] "Very underrated guy, He was incredible in the ring for the early years, but sadly WWE didn't knew what to do with a gimmick, he lost his credibility, and he faded away, such a shame and waste, I used to like Dean Malenko, he could be a really great mid-card worker for ages."

[7.0] "One of the best talents in WCW in the late 90's. The only thing he lacked was size and personality but that didn't matter in WCW where they were more on ring work than character. When he came to the WWF in 2000, he faded into the background almost immediately."

[5.0] "Dean falls into a category of guys with me like Lance Storm, Christopher Daniels, and Alex Shelley, where what they do comes across as WAY too smooth. I often get the feeling watching them that they're doing a rehearsal of a particular routine (almost like a dance) and once they get to the actual performance they'll add in the "acting". Problem is this IS the actual performance, so I'm left cold because there's no sense of struggle. I think that's why I always enjoyed Benoit and am super into Bryan Danielson, because they make every little move feel like a battle with their opponent to just be able to pull it off. I can appreciate the athleticism of what Dean and his ilk are doing, but as storytellers they leave me cold even when the match structure is on point."

[7.0] "Technically up there with the best wrestlers we've ever seen. Extremely smooth with a wide offensive arsenal, good psychology. He was always going to struggle to be meaningful in an era that relied on angles and crash TV. He had some great matches in WCW but he was often held down by limited time in the ring or the commentators either being disinterested or outright burying the division. Haven't seen a great deal of his Japan work but I can imagine he fit in well there. Overall from my experience I enjoyed his brief ECW stint the most."

[7.0] "While he is silky smooth, and has a ridiculously deep move/skillset - ultimately it feels like 98% of his matches are exhibitions with no ramifications (and sometimes it just looks like he's out there dancing with another cruiserweight). His most notable feud was with Chris Jericho, who MADE that feud (ARMBAR! ). Best opponent: BRAD ARMSTRONG! See also: Lance Storm and my insect analogy."

[8.0] "Dean Malenko is one of the best ever in ring, from his smoothness to making his opponent seem much better than what they were. I'm rating Malenko as an 8, because for the majority of his peak years, he wrestled for WCW and WWF, where to be a success, you needed a star look, charisma and mic skills, and Malenko had as much of those skills as you or me. I can guarantee Malenko would have been regarded as one of the greats if he stayed in Japan, where his flaws weren't emphasised nearly as much, but he didn't."

[8.0] "Great in ring wrestler- against cruiser weights in wcw, his matches with Rey and the other cruiser guys were amazing. Not believable against bigger skilled guys, well, just like most other smaller guys. He was not charismatic, but deserved better than being embarrassed in program with Lita etc, but thats wwf/e for you. Dean excelled as a pro wrestler, not as a sports entertainer.."

[8.0] "Looked like a kind of buff high school chemistry teacher, could wrestle like a buzzsaw. I really enjoy wreslters who work Malenko's style-- stiff work, great mat wrestling, good psychology. Unfortunately, he didn't have the look to be pushed as much as his in-ring abilities suggested he should be, but he's a consistently excellent worker."

[8.0] "Malenko was a wrestler, but his skills didn't seem to work that well in the "sports entertainment" world of wrestling. I don't remember many matches with him that I didn't enjoy, but I really can't remember much of his mic work."

[7.0] "A fantastic wrestler on the mat, extremely slick and capable of holding his own against techincal masters, or mixing it up with high-flying lucha style guys as well, sometimes mixing in both. It's very unfortunate that Malenko was around in the biggest boom period of wrestling where the loudest voices overtook everyone else, because he would have been a solid fixture in the Territories era before him, or been a workhorse darling after in the more workrate focused era of today. Sadly, he spent most of his time in the WCW undercard, having solid matches but not really getting anywhere, with the WWF being mostly the same. Ultimately it comes down to the fact that Malenko was a bad performer in the ring, meaning that he didn't really try to interact with the crowd, had little to no charisma or charm, and was very lifeless in terms of ring work. This might be due to wrestling a lot of his years in AJPW and NJPW, companies with very generous crowds that valued his methodical, technical work far more than Western audiences did at the time, which perhaps says something about his inability to adapt to that style. Regardless, Malenko is fondly remembered for being one of the top workers around back in the day, even if his ceiling was very obvious and not at all wide."

[9.0] "If you're a fan of in-ring storytelling, then there aren't many better than Malenko. He was a legend at WCW, and though he didn't find the same level of success at WWF, he still put on some excellent matches, bringing in a much more methodical, technical style that the wasn't seen often in the WWF during the mid-to-late 90s. Unfortunately, he arrived in the WWF at a time when the roster being injected with some serious talent, and he didn't have that extra something to help him stand out, such as the natural charisma of Guerrero or the intensity of Benoit. Still, he did help add some much needed quality to the mod-to-lower cards in the WWF, and his run as WWF Light Heavyweight Champion brought back a bit of prestige to the title after it had been turned into a joke with Gillberg."

[4.0] "One of the most lethargic, uninteresting, uninspiring nobodies in the history of wrestling. He was solid in the ring. He was like a 7/10. Promos? 0/10. Character work? A solid 2/10. Size? 3/10. Look? 3/10. Yet he has a higher rating than guys like Booker T. What the fuck wrestling fans."

[9.0] "One of the best in-ring talents ever, never pushed above the mid card because of him lacking any type of charisma or character but he did often get over with the crowds through his in ring ability alone. His mat work still holds up today and it? s a shame he? s not still active, seeing him lock up with some of the technicians that came after him would be a dream come true."

[9.0] "Malenko is possibly one of the best of all time. His in ring skills were near unmatched and was what Drew Gulak is to 205 back in WCW except so much more. His lack of charisma held him back but would propel other cruiserweights after beating him, because he was just so Ice Cold. He played a perfect ? Final Boss? in the WCW cruiserweight division and could put on a spectacle with just about everyone as I have truly never seen him in a bad match. His grounding work with varying badass submissions was welcome and different in a crowd of pure high flyers. I wish I could give him the 10 because he? s simply one of my top five wrestlers of all time but his lack of mic work pulls it back."

[8.0] "One of the best parts of WCW's cruiserweight division. While most of the division were high flyers, Malenko brought a very welcome ground game & could work expertly with just about anyone. Not cut out to be a main eventer, but if a roster is comprised of 100% main eventers, then that's a fail. Awesome technical ability and an exceptionally memorable feud agains Jericho."

[8.0] "Malenko was a tremendous technical wrestler. One of the best during his time. But definitely lacked mic skills and charisma which is largely what held him back."

[8.0] "For his time, Dean Malenko was a great traditional style technical wrestler. Unfortunately, his size and lack of charisma limited his career opportunities in North America."

[7.0] "Dean Malenko is a very great technician, who just fishes in selling, he has a bit of trouble selling the shots and takes and is sorely lacking in charisma. Otherwise, technically, nothing to say. Very well used at WCW, underestimated at WWF."

[7.0] "Malenko could go. He was a killer in the ring, and maybe he had a ceiling because he didn't have great mic skills, but still he was able to get people into his feuds. The issue I had with Malenko started in late 99. He just started to unravel as a character and for 6 months he just stopped being the solid mid carder and started bringing down the show. Still, solid for years and only 6 months of bad story. The radicals, well... that was odd."

[7.0] "Known for his versatility, Malenko is a highly respected performer who's been used as a comparison for guys like Bryan Danielson and Zack Sabre Jr, but he never seemed to care about being anything more then an enhancement talent for others. In his mind he had no place for anything aside from the mid card, perhaps due to his size, look or charisma. He was a genius in ring but he couldn't connect with the general audience, and he seemed aware of this."

[7.0] "In my eyes, Dean Malenko is the greatest North American cruiserweight of all time. He could do it all technical and highflying. He has numerous classic matches as part of the Malenko brothers in Japan as well as against Guererro, Benoit, Mysterio, Jericho and many more. But in professional wrestling, you have to look at the whole package and Malenko was a black hole of charisma and personality which wasn't going to due him in any favors when he headed to the WWF. Still, Malenko was a one of the best in his prime and someone younger wrestlers should look at for technique."

[10.0] "Very underrated in the pro wrestling world. I always loved watching Malenko wrestle his opponents in many different signature moves. Such a very gifted wrestler because of his Father Boris. He could beat anyone small or big. Even though he started late in wrestling he was excellent anywhere went. If he was in Japan, Mexico, Germany or North America he was phenomenal to watch. He started to be come popular when in was in ECW, WCW and WWE. The sad part of his career was he was not given the heavyweight championship anywhere he went. I did not like it when he had intergender matches which ruined part of his career. Too bad injuries had plagued him. He broke many barriers for cruiserweight wrestlers and formed the cruiserweight division in WCW. When he went to WWE more cruiserweights came into WWE. He would become influences to Rey Mysterio, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, Tajiri, Paul London, Brian Kendrick and Daniel Bryan, etc. This man is the jack of all trades beating giants wrestlers, showing fans that size does not matter, perseverance, being a road agent and training wrestlers. He had trained Brock Lesnar, Ken Shamrock, Marc Mero, Molly Holly, X-Pac, Shelton Benjamin and Kane. That's why he is called "The Man of 1000 Moves. " One of the best wrestlers of all time in the world."

[6.0] "A personal favorite of mine, I loved watching him work. His approach was excellent. Had a great facial focus, but was obviously undersized. He had a very limited power game. While his matches were highly entertaining, and extremely technical, they were not very memorable. A good entertaining worker, high level card filler."

[10.0] "From the moment I first watched his entrance in the mid-90s I was hooked. He was a no-nonsense, all-business character that still had the mystique of being a dangerous badass you didn't want to mess with. Anybody going against him was in for a battle of wits and resolve. He's known for being a technician, but he had the power and agility to beat you anyway he felt like (especially the Luchador Cruiserweights). Not only were his moves precise and intense, but he had so many of them that virtually lived up to his moniker "The Man of 1000 Holds". After learning of his career in All Japan teaming with his older brother, it makes me wonder if he had to grow into the worker he was in ECW and WCW or if he toned it down for American viewers. There will probably never be a technical wrestler from America on television quite on his level."

[8.0] "The 'Iceman' persona contrasts oddly which went against his essence of true-blue babyface-ness similar to a ZSJ today. (It helps when one looks young. ) For those who say he can't express emotion watch his final match with Eddy in ECW. Afterwards, that's one of the most wrestler-fan symbiotic tokens of mutual appreciation there can be. He just didn't have the force of spirit to capitalize on what should have been a long babyface run. His feud with Jericho in '98 showed he could chase, but not hold. Is the same true for Sami Zayn? Anyway, he's a terrific competitor with a high-quality background and a litany of great matches throughout the 90's through his exciting encounter with Scotty 2 Hotty at Backlash '00."

[4.0] "The guy is extremely technical and I appreciate that, but he also feels very mechanical a lot of the time and rarely seems to have any urgency or intensity behind his action. I know his character is meant to be the Iceman, but damn if he doesn't look like he's just going through the motions a lot of the time. To say nothing of the non existent mic skills, character work, or, dare I say it, charisma... contract to a guy like Benoit, who at least conveyed a lot in the ring even if he often didn't on the mic. Malenko doesn't really have that going for him. Respect to his technical acumen, but that's not really enough for me."

[8.0] "Malenko was a wonderful technical magician to be sure, one of the best the sport has ever seen, but it's hard to overlook his utter absence of charisma."

[8.0] "Quite a hard man to rate. He may not have ever been world champion but there is no doubt he was a fantastic technician. Very much like Lance Storm in a sense of never being a top guy but instead a highly respected talent looking back. Can have a good match with anyone, from is matches with Eddie Guerrero in ECW which were phenomenal to a good match with Scotty 2 Hotty at backlash 2000 to matches with Benoit, Jericho and Mysterio. However his lack of Charisma did hold him back though his character did avoid this especially with when he was booked as the iceman, a man with no emotions but just goes out there and technically destroys anyone in the ring. A great pure wrestler."

[4.0] "The perfect definition of ''Vanilla Midget''. The body of a middle-aged father, good technical wrestling and the charisma of a butter knife. If he'd be around today, he would be IWC god and people would be rioting for him to be the World Champion. I'm not interested in seeing a guy do 1000 different locks in one match with no psychology/storytelling, and neither was any fan in Monday Night Wars, except a little hardcore fan minority."

[10.0] "A wizard on the mat, Malenko's technical skill made his matches a joy to watch. While he may have lacked in mic skill, with his wrestling ability and intensity, he didn't need it - it was more than enough to pull off his "Ice Man" gimmick, and often provided a counterpoint to the brash heels he faced. Had many classic matches with Eddie Guerrero in ECW and WCW, and his WCW feud with Chris Jericho remains one of my all-time favorite rivalries. It's a shame the turn-of-the-millennium WWF had no clue what to do with a lightweight wrestler who did his "talking" in the ring, but his previous work remains essential."

[9.0] "If he had any mic skills, I'd give him a ten. Despite what the retarded twelve year old that gave him a one said, Dean Malenko was one of the most brilliant ring technicians of all time. So many holds, so many counters, so quick on his feet. His matches with Eddie Guerrero (which took place over many years, promotions and countries) were among the best that ever took place."

[10.0] "One of my favorites! Wrestler from big letter "W". He does not need any gimmicks, mic-skills and something else. He is a good wrestler, GREAT wrestler and this fact don't need proof - try to see one of his serious matches, and you will understand, what I mean! 10/9!"