TSC Evaluation #69: Dean Malenko

[Lost His Smile]

8

THE ICE MAN. Professional in the squared circle.

His lack of mic work didn't matter to me since his ring work was . Putting a sibling in the Texas Cloverleaf was .

EDIT: fukk it. This thread has me rewatching Malenko/Eddie Starcade 97.

 

[Psychosis]

Malenko actually has a rare -5* match. Rated by B Alvarez tho.


Not sure why, Match looks crispy to me, ending was botched and Malenko leaves heated.


Malenko's creepsquad gimmick tho

 

[cozy carl]

:wwowjb:

 

[Nintendough]

A legit 9. He is the best in ring worker ever, period. Basically fell victim to being only 5'7. Looked like a psycho, pulled the quiet killer gimmick off flawlessly. He was perfection with a flaw, which was his height.

 

[Playaz Eyez]

The highest 7 you can give. Would probably be a fraction of a tier below guys like Bret Hart, Chris Jericho, and Chris Benoit if he was 6'2" 230 (due to me not really remembering any promos of his). One of the best in-ring technicians ever, had a no-nonsense style, and had two really nice themes (the Horseman one in WCW and the one in the WWF with that ladies man gimmick). Due to his height, he probably maxed out whatever ceiling he had. Even when he jumped to the WWF everybody already knew they really just wanted Benoit and Eddie and just took Dean and Saturn as a package deal. I also think that if he debuted today, he still would have a ceiling over him. He's peak would be Roderick Strong. Had a ton of good to classic matches with Rey, Jericho, Juvi, Saturn, Benoit, including tagging with Benoit, which were some of my favorite matches in WCW. Have very found memories of him.

 

[NkrumahWasRight Is Wrong]

One of the goat in ring workers. Had a shyt ton of moves and I've never seen him botch any. Had good power moves for a little guy and was a master of holds and submissions.

10 off that and the ciclope pop alone

Idgaf about his mic work or anything else.

 

[ChuckTaylor84]

Hell of a wrestler

I always enjoyed watching his matches

but his mic skills were ehh

I still give him an 8 though

 

[laughslikebig]

6 anything higher is bullshyt.

He could work, but thats about it. I really fault dudes like him for this bland, no personality era we in.

I loved him when i was a teen, but a 10 would put him with the rock, austin, eddie and that doesnt make a lick of sense.

 

[Metal Face]

'Nilla Midget

 

[Nintendough]

'Nilla Midget

Cac

 

[ManBearPig]

He gets an 8

 

[Riley Escobar]

:wwowjb:

Made sense he had an homage to a James Bond theme given his gimmick at the time

 

[AKM-95]

Dean was solid wrestler And he was technical wrestling master and he's one of the few smaller guys that could work bigger than his actual stature. He wasn't the best talker in the world but he managed to have great feuds any way. He gets a 7/10 from me.

 

[Heelish]

He epitomized the pro in pro wrestler. He wasn't the biggest, but he was tough as nails.

Exactly. He may have been short, but there was nothing vanilla about his style. The Iceman's facial expressions reminded me of my dad's Hell, Malenko looks just like him, but short.

I gave him a 9. The Texas Cloverleaf is my favorite submission.

 

[CM_Burns]

"Who are you gonna pay to see? Me or someone who's four foot?"-Sid Vicious on why he wouldn't sell for Malenko.

Really though he's a 7 to me. I could see an 8 or 9 too.

Charisma/star power- somewhat a vanilla midget, but his entrance and gear brings him up in this area. And his ringwork was strong enough for the gimmick to be believable, which is why he stayed over. With a strong heel to go against people really bought into him as the humble working man. 7

Ring- 9. Made stuff look about as real as it can. The Rey, Ultimo, Jericho, and Eddie matches in WCW were fire.

Mic- 5. Limited, but he stayed within his limitations well enough.