If Dean Malenko hadn't retired, do you think he would have been as successful...
 

...as Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit? Just a thought I had. Malenko was the man.

I don't think he would have, but he should have been. He was great but I think he lacked the size and the 'look' the WWE would want in a main eventer.

Well, if Rey Mysterio could hold the title...

But yeah, I guess fans didn't really get behind Malenko like they did with Rey. Remember that 007 gimmick? WTF was that all about?

Naw, the fact that Benoit ever got over on just pure athleticism and hard work is a miracle in itself in this business. I don't think Malenko has what Benoit and Guererro had. He could move, he knew a shitload of holds, but had little charisma from what I could see, and he is a rather small individual.

What if Jericho would have been behind him the whole time calling him Stinko Malenko? You think that would've helped?

Naw, it just would've elevated Jericho past the god status that he already has.

What if he had a belt that spun? Would that have helped?

Who would ever come up with such a stupid idea? I've had it with these ludacris hypothetical situations...

A spinning belt. Terrible.

What if he would've faked fucking a corpse? Is that more believeable?

Triple H once faked fucking a fake corpse. I don't think anybody has ever faked fucking an actual corpse.

So no, unbelievable.

What if The Radicalz had a cheerleader gimmick?

Then they would've been the Spirit Squad.

Is there any point to your incoherence?

What if he had a glittery storm trooper helmet and a wicked sweet entrance?

Alright. You win. FUCK.

Instant main eventer then.

:cool:

I knew there had to have been a hypothetical situation out there somewhere that would catapult The Iceman to legendary status.

Malenko was great in the ring. And was alright when he was 'The Iceman,' and 'Man of a thousand holds.' He could just be himself, which was a rather boring, but capable performer.

As far as being a champion type draw...probably not.

Chris Benoit was pretty boring too, though.

"The Shooter" Dean Malenko would have been great. If the WWE writers could have planed it right he could have won the IC title by "shooting" when he was "booked to lose." Spread that round the internet, and you have an instant star.

CHRIS BENOIT NEVER EXISTED!

I'm just saying if there WERE a guy named Chris Benoit who happened to win a World championship. :shifty:

Double Ho Seven. I forgot about that.

Bah, stupid Youtube embedding.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkmQ8ArN_yY

Unfortunately, no.

Malenko didn't have anywhere near the necessary mic skills, charisma, or "look."

Malenko would've been IC champ at best (and even that might have been a stretch).

If Santino Marella was an IC champ, Malenko definitely could've been.

If he were still around today, he'd probably be at about Chavo Guerrero status.

Stuck in cruiserweight hell? Come on, the guy's short, but he's not THAT short that he would be trapped there. I think he would have broken out and would be in the US division, sort of in Finlay-terriority.

He'd be wrestling Matt Hardy 4 times a month or so.

That sounds about right. Probably be jobber material for the next big thing as well.

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No, not even close. I honestly always liked Dean MUCH more than Benoit, and probably about equal to Guerrero, if I'm being honest, but that was just me.

He never would have been a main eventer in WWE. TNA I could imagine, but not WWE. He's not a big time promotion main eventer. IC at best, but even then I don't think he'd be a big name upper mid-carder. He was really great in the ring though.

I should Youtube him up and look for some Malenko 90s shit.

As much as I would have liked to see Dean get a ME spot he wouldnt have because of many of the reasons already listed. I believe Malenko was getting up there in age as well wasnt he?

Poor Dean, He was the only guy Lita turned down lol

I marked out 10 years ago when Malenko was chosen #1 in the PWI 500 in 97.

Malenko was never meant to be a World Champion or main eventer. Not even back in the old territory days when you didn't NEED the charisma and "mic skills" to get over and be a main player the way you need them today, Malenko has and always will be too small to be a main event star.

You can say "But Rey Mysterio" all you want, but that was a poorly booked underdog main event scene, where Mysterio (and the World Title, by default) looked like wet paper that could be easily punched through. It wasn't successful, and it would never have been booked any other way.

Mysterio has the fan base because a) he looks like a superhero so little kids love him and b) he appeals to the large Hispanic audience.

Malenko looks like a cross between a midget and a regular sized man. His legs are all stubby and awkward. And the man cannot talk.


So no, never in a million years.

Not everyone who is great in the ring is main event material. I think it's good enough for Dean Malenko to be remembered by smarks as one of the best wrestlers in the 90s.

He was too small by WWE standards.

Would he get over if he made a finlay like comeback? With his two friends dead, would he get the fans (and writers) sympathy push like Mysterio did?

Dean Malenko is kinky?

I think it would probably work but I get the impression he wouldn't want it - he seems pretty settled in his current role and is one of those you could picture having a job for life.

Malenko was working programs with Lita and Scotty 2 Hotty. No way he would have done better than this.

Working with Scotty 2 Hotty was the pinnacle of many people's careers.

Pinnacle of Dean Malenko for me was his feud with Jericho in WCW over the Cruiserweight Title.

That and all of his run in ECW

Stinko Malenko and his father Bore-us Malenko.

:y:

DAMN!

On-screen, anyway. ;)

Personally, I don't think Malenko would have been as successful as Chris Benoit or Eddie Guerrero. When The Radicalz first arrived in the WWE, Benoit and Guerrero got special attention, right from the start. It was obvious they were the ones the WWE most cared about, even if Dean was just as, if not actually more talented than both of them.

Since I smartened up as a wrestling fan, and went to check his WCW shit, I've really been a fan of Dean Malenko. He has almost a Samoa Joe quality to his matches, in that he doesn't look like he could be as agile or technically apt as he is.

Malenko would be able to make it in a TNA, or a ROH. His skills would speak louder there, and his kind of ironic charisma would shine through and be utilised much better. In the WWE he would be forced to dress up as Santa Claus, and reveal that he traced his lineage back to the North Pole.

If Dean Malenko decided to make an in-ring return, I think he would be treated much better than he was even in WCW. He would be pushed as someone comparable to Finlay, an upper-midcarder, put over as a former Horsemen and one of the greatest wrestlers of the nineties. I doubt even then he would be made World Champion, though. He might get to work a few tag team main events, and even get a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship in a Fatal Fourway Match on PPV.

The WWF didn't even want Malenko. They wanted Benoit and Guerrero and thought Saturn might be handy. They only got Malenko because all 4 stuck together. They also sent feelers to Shane Douglas before Malenko.

How old was dean when he retired? 59? Yeah, if he didn't make it by then, he wasn't going too.

Wait, so they wanted Shane Douglas? So, why was Douglas so intent on keeping the bridge burnt?

Fuck knows. They also talked with him before he went to WCW in 1999.

Shane Douglas is the dumbest person ever then. Sure, WW(F)E would punish him for a bit, then if he put up with it, he would have gotten pushed and still have good job today, instead of being some TNA bitch. Hell, he could have added something to the ECW crap.

So, basically, would be be dead? Yeah, probably. :shifty:

There were reports that Douglas had wanted to give WCW "another chance" to talk things out. The other four had their minds made up, though.

Believe it or not, I didn't really consider their deaths part of their success...unless you want to count the fact that Eddie Guerrero is now in the Hall of Fame, but that's another talk for another time.