On the January 31st edition of Monday Night Raw from Pittsburgh, PA, the world was introduced to The Radicalz. Malenko, Benoit, Saturn, and Guerrero took ringside seats during the opening bout on Raw (New Age Outlaws vs. Al Snow and Steve Blackman), but quickly got involved themselves. The Radicalz quickly befriended Mick Foley, but eventually turned on him to get their �official� contracts with the World Wrestling Federation. Malenko had his first official match with the WWF when he teamed with Benoit, Saturn, HHH, and X Pac. They took on and defeated the team of Cactus Jack, Rikishi, Too Cool and The Rock.

Dean Malenko had is first pay-per-vew match with the World Wrestling Federation at No Way Out on February 27th. Malenko teamed with Benoit and Saturn to take on Too Cool and Rikishi, but Malenko and company were on the losing end of the stick.

Malenko became the first member of the Radicalz to win WWF gold when he defeated Essa Rios in East Rutherford, NJ on March 13, 2000 to become the Light Heavyweight Champion.

Malenko vs. Scotty 2 Hotty

Malenko teamed with Eddie Guerrero and Saturn at WrestleMania on April 2 in hopes of gaining a pay-per-view win, but the team was defeated by Too Cool and Chyna. Malenko lost the Light Heavyweight title to Scotty 2 Hotty in College Station, PA on April 17, 2000. Later in April, Malenko got his first WWF pay-per-view victory in a big way at Backlash. Malenko scored the victory over Scotty 2 Hotty and in the process earned the title of Light Heavyweight Champion.

On May 21, 2000 at the Judgment Day pay-per-view, Malenko, Saturn, and Eddie Guerrero faced each other in a Triple Threat European title match. Eddie Guerrero was the victor in this one.

In the end of May, Malenko took the Godfather up on his offer to have a couple of his ladies. Malenko walked down the aisle with two ladies at his side, until October.

Malenko in the WWF

On October 23rd during Raw, Dean Malenko made the save for Chris Benoit against Road Dogg. After the match, the two men raised their hands together. Shortly thereafter, Saturn aligned himself with Benoit and Malenko. On November 2nd, the final piece of the reformed Radicalz came together when Eddie Guerrero joined the group.

Since then, The Radicalz have aligned themselves with HHH and have reeked havoc on the World Wrestling Federation. Together at the Survivor Series on November 11th, The Radicalz defeated Billy Gunn, Road Dogg, K-kwik and Chyna in a Survivor Series elimination match.

On December 2, 2000, Eddie Guerrero and Dean Malenko teamed up against Chyna and Billy Gunn at the UK PPV, Rebellion. The Radical duo lost, but got back on the winning track 8 days later at WWF Armageddon.

At Armageddon, Dean Malenko, Perry Saturn, and Eddie Guerrero defeated the team of the Hardy Boyz and Lita when Lita tapped out to the Texas Cloverleaf. This was part of a storyline that began on the November 27 edition of Raw, where Malenko was trying to lure Lita to him and away from the Hardyz.

The storyline with Lita continued throughout December and January, even though Malenko was injured for a short time. The end came on February 19, 2001 when Lita, with the help of Matt Hardy, defeated Malenko in a non-title match. Lita had challenged Malenko to the match during the previous episode of SmackDown.

Also in late February, the Radicalz once again starting to have troubles within. It started out with Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit feuding, with Malenko and Saturn trying to act as peacemakers. However, it soon became Guerrero, Malenko, and Saturn against Benoit. This even led to a gauntlet match on the March 8, 2001 edition of Smackdown. Benoit successfully went through Saturn and Malenko, but was stopped by Guerrero.

On March 13, 2001, in Anaheim, California, Malenko lost the WWF Light Heavyweight championship to Crash Holly in a match that WWF wrestler, Steven Richards, says is a classic. Incidentally, Malenko had held the title one year to the day. Yet even though he is no longer champion, Malenko still remains one of the best, if not the best, wrestlers to ever grace a squared circle.

Malenko at WMX7

Following losing the Lightweight title, Malenko has continued to align himself with Perry Saturn and Eddie Guerrero. In fact, at WrestleMania X-7 in Houston, Texas, on April 2, 2001, Dean Malenko helped Eddie Guerrero, who has since left the Radicalz, defeat Test to remain the WWF European champion. Unfortunately, himself, Malenko did not have a match at the 2001 WrestleMania.

Recently, Dean Malenko has been teaming with Perry Saturn on WWF television. The Radical duo defeated Crash and Hardcore Holly on May 5, 2001 at Insurrextion in London, England. Later in May, on the 20th, Malenko and Saturn participated in the Tag Team Turmoil match at Judgment Day. The duo was eliminated in the first round to the Acolytes.

The following month, on June 27th to be exact, Dean Malenko and Perry Saturn teamed up again for an Ohio Valley Wrestling event entitled "The Last Dance." OWV Superstars Brock Lesnar and Brian Keck defeated the visiting challengers Dean Malenko and Perry Saturn when Lesnar pinned Saturn.

News came on July 13, 2001 via Jim Ross on WWF.com that Dean Malenko is set to become a road agent and instructor for the WWF in the next few months. Mr. Ross went on to call Malenko "a superb teacher." At Pillman 2001 on August 9th, Malenko stated that he did not know if the match at Pillman would be his last, but that his in-ring career was coming to an end.

At the time of this writing Malenko states he has no plans to wrestle again, but has learned to 'never say never.' Regarding his in-ring career, Malenko has stated, "I did everything I wanted to do and probably more." Yet, he has also stated he would like to work with Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit one more time as well as wrestle in Japan again.

Currently, Malenko has been keeping busy sharing his knowledge with the young talent in WWE developmental camps as well as being a road agent for Smackdown.

Malenko at the Curtis Camp

In addition to working for the various promotions, Dean Malenko has also given back to the industry by participating in many tribute events. Malenko wrestled twice at the 2nd Annual Ilio DiPaolo Memorial on June 6, 1997, defeated Scotty Riggs at the 3rd Annual Ilio DiPaolo Memorial on June 11, 1998, and teamed with Chris Benoit to defeat Rey Mysterio Jr. and Kidman at the 4th Annual Ilio DiPaolo Memorial on June 13, 1999. Malenko has also been a part of the Brian Pillman Memorial Events in 1999, 2000, and 2001. In 1999, Rey Mysterio, Jr. and Konnan defeated Chris Benoit & Dean Malenko and in 2000, Eddie Guerrero and D-Lo Brown defeated Dean Malenko and Perry Saturn. Dean Malenko and Perry Saturn got back on the winning track at Pillman 2001 when Justin Credible (who tagged with Raven) tapped out to the Texas Cloverleaf. On November 29, 1998, Malenko teamed with Chris Benoit to defeat Chris Jericho and Eddie Guerrero at the Mark Curtis Tribute show in Knoxville. Malenko was a participant in the �Curtis Comes Home� tribute to Brain �Mark Curtis� Hildebrand on July 30, 1999 in Rostraver, PA as well. Malenko teamed with Chris Benoit and Shane Douglas to defeat Tracey Smothers, Tim Horner, and Chris Candido.

In perhaps one of the biggest measures of how big Malenko�s heart really is, after hearing of the passing of Brian Hildebrand, he wanted to find a way to pay tribute to his fallen friend. Malenko called Les Thatcher of the Heartland Wrestling Association with an idea of developing a fantasy wrestling camp for the fans to raise money for the wife of Brian Hildebrand, Pam. As a result, the 1st annual Mark Curtis Memorial Pro Wrestling Fantasy Camp was held in Cincinnati, Ohio on the day before the 2000 Brian Pillman Memorial Event. Dean Malenko, Chris Benoit, and Eddie Guerrero are just three wrestlers that gave up their day off to help the fans learn a few moves.