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Last night (June 9, 2002), Dean Malenko joined Get in the Ring Radio. The following are some highlights on the interview. If you would like to listen to the interview, check out AudioWrestling.com. A written transcript will be available at this site in the near future. Onto the highlights...
-Dean Malenko joined Get In The Ring Radio to talk about his transition to road agent. Malenko says it has gone smoothly, but after 25 years of actively wrestling, it was strange not going to the arenas with a pair of boots and tights, now he goes with a notebook and pencil. Phantom asks if Malenko has now had to don the dreaded suit, which Malenko replies he hasn't. Malenko always enjoyed being able to make 15,000 fans boo or cheer him, but now he lives vicariously through the young wrestlers he helps plot out matches for. So far, he's having a good time with it.
-Talk turns to the recent rumors of the return of the Four Horseman in the WWE. Malenko feels that fans have always remembered the group because it was the first real group of guys that jelled well together. Each member had their own strengths and added to the group in their own way. Dean feels the original was the best, and a few guys haven't panned out as well as thought, but feels whenever you had a leader like Ric Flair the group was going to get over. He had a great time doing his stint in the Horseman. Dean doesn't think that reforming the Horseman would be a good idea, and feels that the WWE should take a step forward and not back.
-Dean really enjoyed doing the promos with Perry Saturn when they went on the double date. Phantom enjoyed Dean's facial reactions to the outlandish things Saturn was saying. Dean feels like that comedic part of his personality was only allowed to come out in his last months as an active wrestler. He enjoyed the pre-tape stuff with Lita as well.
-Dean knows that the WWE will be putting more wrestlers into the Cruiserweight division in the near future. They are building the division slowly, and don't want to shove it down the fans throats too quickly. He knows that it takes 1 or 2 wrestler to really make a division click. He feels that the WWE has a great stable of Cruiserweights, mentions Jamie Knoble who Dean had a hand in training over the years. Billy Kidman, Tajiri are 2 other names of guys he thinks will bring the division to the forefront. Dean thinks the fans should give it time, let it saturate a bit and let the guys do what they do best, and it will catch on.
-Dean will never say never, but he doesn't see him returning to active wrestling in the near future. He feels that there are too many young guys that he needs to help get going, and doesn't want to take anything away from them.
-Dean has read the recent criticisms of WWE's product and feels that they are in a rebuilding period. Since the brand split, Malenko who is associated with Smackdown, feels that it will take a longer time to develop the younger talent. He hopes the fans will be patent with it, the decline in ratings and house show attendance was something that WWE expected. Malenko feels this is something that will end up being good for the wrestling business in the long term, once you develop a talent in the Smackdown brand and you program him in matches with everyone in that brand, then in say 3 years you could trade him to the Raw brand where he becomes a fresh commodity.
-Malenko feels that the recent name change to WWE was political bs. He feels the Wildlife Fund started the legal battle with the WWE for absolutely no reason, other then entertaining themselves.
-A caller asks why Malenko hasn't appeared on Tough Enough as a trainer yet. Malenko wanted to do it, but he was never asked to. Dean feels that doing the full show would be 5 weeks away from his family, but would love to do a guest shot on the new season.
-A caller asks where Dean's favorite place to wrestle was, and Dean jokingly answers Brick, New Jersey. Malenko then says he shouldn't joke he was born and raised in Irvington NJ. He answers seriously Japan, where fans really respect his style of wrestling. When asked what other languages he speaks, Malenko answers "a little Yiddish, I speak Viking...and a little bit of Carnie once in a while. Malenko then jokes about his time in WCW, more specifically the Spring Break Nitros and says, "does life get any better then wrestling in Club LaVilla in front of a pool?" . Malenko feels it was one of Eric Bischoff's crazy ideas, along with the Sturgis shows, that wasn't the right atmosphere for wrestling. When WCW originally went under, Malenko felt like it was bad for the business, and he felt bad for a lot of the people who were out of jobs. He doesn't want to make it sound like everyone who worked for WCW was incompetent, and puts over the promotions department and the behind the scenes production staff. Dean was there for 5 years, and it was the first opportunity he was given to show US wrestling fans what he was doing overseas for years.
-Malenko then talks about the Radicalz leaving WCW almost a year prior to when the company went under. He had sort of "I told you so" attitude about it, that they were able to jump off a sinking ship. Unlike the other guys who left, Dean had a hard decision to make- he was older than the others and wasn't 100% sure if the WWF would want to pick up someone who was 40 years old (which he was at the time). Although Dean felt that he could have always gotten work in Japan, he wouldn't be making near the amount of money he had made in WCW. He's glad it worked out, adds that Eddie Guerrero was last to join the quitting contingent in WCW. He had walked into the dressing room where they were talking, and Eddy said "What's going on?" to which Dean replied "we're quitting", then Eddy said "I'm in!" to which they all went to the office to quit.
-Dean used to travel with Perry Saturn when they both were actively wrestling, Malenko thinks that Perry will be back in a couple of months after having received a torn ACL. With the amount of injuries that WWE is facing, Malenko compares it to a MASH unit, to which Phantom replies "are you Klinger", Malenko then says"Excuse me while I pull up my panty hose." Malenko has seen serious injuries grow to a tremendous rate in the last 5 years. He feels like the bar is constantly being raised in the business, and guys are always trying to outdo each other. Added that to the fact that there is no time for guys to recoup, it becomes a numbers game as to not if but when someone is going to get injured. He feels that the injury list is really hurting the business, and there are some guys that are very hard to replace. Dean agrees with Phantom, that there are a lot of guys that aren't being utilized that are healthy such as Hugh Morrus and Chavo Guerrero, but feels that they can't just shove someone down the fans throats, it is a slow process to build new talent.
-Dean felt like his time as an active wrestler in the WWE was very enjoyable, but feels that they could have pushed the cruiserweights a little more. He always felt like when he was to leave active wrestling he wanted to be working for a company that respected wrestling which Vince McMahon does, unlike people he worked for in the past that he wouldn't mention by name.
-The creative team never really asks for the road agents input on storylines. They write it out and give it to the agents, who then work with the talent to help them execute it on air. Malenko won't 100% confirm that Paul Heyman has taken control of the Smackdown writing team, but does say he has a lot of influence on the show. He feels that the reason that Smackdown is recognized as having the better show of the two is that they have the younger guys who can move around the ring better. The brand also features guys who Dean would pay to watch like Lance Storm, Chris Jericho, Billy Kidman, etc nothing against the Raw brand.
-Talk turns to the plane flight from hell, Malenko wasn't on the flight, but talk about the incident has calmed down in the WWE offices. He agrees with he firings that occurred as a result of that flight, and that sometimes wrestlers forget that they are employees of Vince McMahon. It is the same thing as if an employee of IBM would get out of line, they would be fired. There had to be repercussions, or else the boys would do it all the time.
-Malenko is now close with Fit Finley and puts him over as great guy. He feels it is a real shame what happened to him in WCW, and that he isn't able to wrestle anymore. He doesn't understand why WCW would put a great pure wrestler, like Dave Finley, and put him in a hardcore match. The WWE recently came to Jacksonville, Florida where the incident occurred that ended Finley's career and reminded Malenko how that incident should have never happened.
(Credit: LordsofPain.net)
In the July 2002 edition of WWE Magazine, with Brock Lesnar on the cover, there is an article about the WWE Cruiserweight Division. As part of this article, Dean Malenko was selected to give his thoughts regarding the Cruiserweight Division�s top contenders. The following is what Malenko had to say:
On the WWE Cruiserweight Division: "The guys are so close, and that's what makes the division exciting to me. You've got six, eight, 10 guys in that division, and every time you match up two guys, you never know who's going to win. And you always get a really high-energy exciting match."
On Tajiri: �Tajiri�s the full package when it comes to the Cruiserweight Division. He brings everything to the table. He�s very precise in what he does, and very entertaining. He really fits into the mold and style of work in the Cruiserweight Division. I think he�s the one guy that�s really going to stand above them all when everything comes down in the division. I think he�ll be the one guy everybody�s going to key off on as the top guy.�
On The Hurricane: �He�s unique, in that he�s got a style of his own, but portraying a superhero. He does some very innovative stuff, while at the same time tying it into his character. He�s kind of hard to figure out, because you don�t know where he�s coming from or what he�s doing in the ring, and that makes him dangerous.�
On Funkai: �Funaki brings a different style, a Japanese style. He�s had a lot of experience working in that division overseas. I�ve wrestled against him; a great competitor, who gives you 100 percent every night he steps in the ring. He�s a real sleeper in the division, someone to look out for. Plus, I think he�s very entertaining.�
On Billy Kidman: �Billy�s very innovative and creative in his moves. I think he matches up with Tajiri better than anybody; they�ve had some unbelievable matches. The had some great matches together on the WWE�s SmackDown! Tour of Asia in March, which I think were some of the better matches over there. Billy�s one of the few guys in the division I�ve actually wrestling against, and he�s come quite a long way since I first met him five or six years ago. He�s another guy who will be a top competitor for the Cruiserweight title.�
On Chavo Guerrero, Jr: I was very fortunate to be with Chavo when he first started in the business. He�s come a long way; he�s really upped his intensity. Of course, he comes from a great bloodline and good stock in the Guerrero family. Chavo�s got a lot of fire to him. He�s one of the real high-flyers in that division.�
On Rey Mysterio, Jr: �When they talk about high-flyers in this industry � and there�s a lot of guys that fit that description � Rey is out there by himself. I always compare Rey to dancer Fred Astaire � Rey takes the art of aerial maneuvering and adds so much grace and style to it like no one I�ve ever seen. Rey is electric when it comes to the ring, and he does some stuff that�s just breathtaking. He�s a joy to watch and a joy to be around. He�s going to add so much to this division.�
In the same magazine, Dean Malenko pops up in the �Test Your I.Q.� section. The question is:
�True or False: Dean Malenko currently works as a WWE road agent.�
For more, pick up the July 2002 edition of WWE Magazine at your local newsstands.
In addition, according to OklaPro.com, Dean Malenko was working backstage at the WWE event in Tulsa, Oklahoma on June 3, 2002.
If you are looking for the May news, click the "May 2002" link below.