IGN interviews Dean Malenko - May 2000
Posted by admin admin on Saturday, May 25, 2013
Under: WWF/WWE Interviews
Interview: Dean Malenko
Malenko talks about sports entertainment vs. wrestling, and his transition between the WWF and WCW
May 30, 2000
IGN Scoops held an internet chat session with Dean Malenko at Pillman Show 2000.
Q: If there was any advice you could have given yourself before you began your career, what would it be?
Malenko: Why the hell did you choose wrestling? No, to be honest nothing really. I've done everything I've wanted to do. My goal from the get-go was…I think I'm a little different from just about 99.9% of the guys in this business because I wasn't the wrestling fan, I wasn’t the guy with the posters on the wall, or grew up watching Sammartino or Hogan wrestle. I wasn't a wrestling fan. I wrestled amateur from the time I was 8 years old to the time I was 14. I enjoyed the technical part of wrestling and the competitiveness. When I injured my neck back in '77 I still wanted to be involved in wrestling, and still loved the moves and the thought process and the only way I could still do it was turning pro. Unlike guys like a Mick Foley or Brian Hilderbrandt for that matter, who ate, slept and drank it and their whole ambition was to be a pro wrestler, mine wasn't. I'm going to have a real easy transition when I walk away from the business. I'll miss the comradery that I have with the guys, and some of the great matches. But it's not a dream that I've had since I was a kid. I enjoy doing it and I'll keep doing it until it becomes just a job.
Q: Is there one match that you'd like to have before it's all done?
Malenko: A flaming, barbed-wire…. nah, definitely not Dean Malenko's style. I've been real fortunate in that I've been able to work with all the guys I've wanted to work with through the years. The only two things I'd like to do is work one more program with Eddy Guerrero and one with Chris Benoit because they're my two closest friends in the business. I respect them the most and I don't think there are two better guys in the business than those two.
Q: Your arrival brought the WWF Light-Heavyweight division back from the grave. How far does it have to go before it can reach the heights of WCW's Cruiserweight division in its heyday?
Malenko: To be honest I don't think it could ever happen. Collectively you had probably ten of the greatest guys in that weight class for one company. That was a real enjoyable time. I got to work with Rey Mysterio, Kidman, and of course Eddy who I've gotten to have many great matches with over the last 8 years. Not that there aren't guys out there who couldn't fill that spot. In order for that to happen the WWF would have to bring more guys in there. TAKA is really talented and Essa is really talented, but he needs a little more experience. The WWF just doesn't have the roster right now for the light-heavyweight division. Hopefully they'll want to turn that around and add some guys to the mix.
Q: Before your arrival the WWF was more focused on entertainment over wrestling. Do you think you have adapted to the WWF or have they adapted more to you?
Malenko: It's funny, I spent 12 years working in Japan and one of the main reasons I didn't want to work in the states was for the fact that I didn't think the promotions or the wrestling fans wanted to see the style of a Dean Malenko, or a Chris Benoit, or an Eddy Guerrero for that matter, and I always shyed away, not for lack of opportunities. But I think a lot has changed in the industry in the last ten to fifteen years. Size is one of them. The bottom line is that fans want to be entertained. There is a faction of fans out there who still want to see a good match. Take away all the glitz and the glamour and I think what we've added to the WWF roster is four guys that can wrestle. I think I've shown that in the last couple of PPVs. I'm not saying that the WWF really needed us, because they've been selling out buildings everywhere. But I think we've added a different dimension to the entertainment part of their show. One thing Vince McMahon told me right off the bat was the game is to be yourself. That's why they brought us in, because they believed in our talent.
Q: How has the transition to the WWF been for you?
Malenko: Easy. Only for the fact that I've been to so many different companies throughout the years and the one thing that Dean Malenko has always done in 20 years is wrestle. So it's been pretty easy. It seems like the work schedule is about the same as it was before, only I'm a little happier in what I'm doing now. I'll just keep having fun with it as long as I can.
Q: Several years ago you mentioned retirement after you became a father. Do you still think about that?
Malenko: That thought goes through my mind a lot, only because I'm on the road so much and I'm missing what my child does. Being a second generation wrestler I went through that with my dad and there were a lot of times in my life with things I did that my father wasn't around. But I also knew that this was his profession and his way of supporting his family. The business that we're in is not something that we're forced to do, it's something that we choose to do because we enjoy it. But in the same breath, it's not easy. Especially when you're leaving a family at home. After 20 years I've done everything that I've wanted to do and everything I've wanted to accomplish. There's nothing I can think of that's left. What still keeps me going now is just helping the younger wrestlers. The day that I walk away from the business I still want it to prosper. Because I'll still have friends in the business and I'll still want them to be successful. Anything I can do to leave my mark on the business by helping the young talent. There are too many guys who despite what the business has given them don't care about giving back. You forget as a human sometimes that we're employed by a company and this is a job that we do. If it wasn't for what we do and the people like Vince McMahon and Eric Bischoff giving guys opportunities to wrestle we wouldn't have the houses we live in or the cars that we drive or the food and education we give our kids. That's something I think the wrestling fan doesn't realize sometimes.
Malenko talks about sports entertainment vs. wrestling, and his transition between the WWF and WCW
May 30, 2000
IGN Scoops held an internet chat session with Dean Malenko at Pillman Show 2000.
Q: If there was any advice you could have given yourself before you began your career, what would it be?
Malenko: Why the hell did you choose wrestling? No, to be honest nothing really. I've done everything I've wanted to do. My goal from the get-go was…I think I'm a little different from just about 99.9% of the guys in this business because I wasn't the wrestling fan, I wasn’t the guy with the posters on the wall, or grew up watching Sammartino or Hogan wrestle. I wasn't a wrestling fan. I wrestled amateur from the time I was 8 years old to the time I was 14. I enjoyed the technical part of wrestling and the competitiveness. When I injured my neck back in '77 I still wanted to be involved in wrestling, and still loved the moves and the thought process and the only way I could still do it was turning pro. Unlike guys like a Mick Foley or Brian Hilderbrandt for that matter, who ate, slept and drank it and their whole ambition was to be a pro wrestler, mine wasn't. I'm going to have a real easy transition when I walk away from the business. I'll miss the comradery that I have with the guys, and some of the great matches. But it's not a dream that I've had since I was a kid. I enjoy doing it and I'll keep doing it until it becomes just a job.
Q: Is there one match that you'd like to have before it's all done?
Malenko: A flaming, barbed-wire…. nah, definitely not Dean Malenko's style. I've been real fortunate in that I've been able to work with all the guys I've wanted to work with through the years. The only two things I'd like to do is work one more program with Eddy Guerrero and one with Chris Benoit because they're my two closest friends in the business. I respect them the most and I don't think there are two better guys in the business than those two.
Q: Your arrival brought the WWF Light-Heavyweight division back from the grave. How far does it have to go before it can reach the heights of WCW's Cruiserweight division in its heyday?
Malenko: To be honest I don't think it could ever happen. Collectively you had probably ten of the greatest guys in that weight class for one company. That was a real enjoyable time. I got to work with Rey Mysterio, Kidman, and of course Eddy who I've gotten to have many great matches with over the last 8 years. Not that there aren't guys out there who couldn't fill that spot. In order for that to happen the WWF would have to bring more guys in there. TAKA is really talented and Essa is really talented, but he needs a little more experience. The WWF just doesn't have the roster right now for the light-heavyweight division. Hopefully they'll want to turn that around and add some guys to the mix.
Q: Before your arrival the WWF was more focused on entertainment over wrestling. Do you think you have adapted to the WWF or have they adapted more to you?
Malenko: It's funny, I spent 12 years working in Japan and one of the main reasons I didn't want to work in the states was for the fact that I didn't think the promotions or the wrestling fans wanted to see the style of a Dean Malenko, or a Chris Benoit, or an Eddy Guerrero for that matter, and I always shyed away, not for lack of opportunities. But I think a lot has changed in the industry in the last ten to fifteen years. Size is one of them. The bottom line is that fans want to be entertained. There is a faction of fans out there who still want to see a good match. Take away all the glitz and the glamour and I think what we've added to the WWF roster is four guys that can wrestle. I think I've shown that in the last couple of PPVs. I'm not saying that the WWF really needed us, because they've been selling out buildings everywhere. But I think we've added a different dimension to the entertainment part of their show. One thing Vince McMahon told me right off the bat was the game is to be yourself. That's why they brought us in, because they believed in our talent.
Q: How has the transition to the WWF been for you?
Malenko: Easy. Only for the fact that I've been to so many different companies throughout the years and the one thing that Dean Malenko has always done in 20 years is wrestle. So it's been pretty easy. It seems like the work schedule is about the same as it was before, only I'm a little happier in what I'm doing now. I'll just keep having fun with it as long as I can.
Q: Several years ago you mentioned retirement after you became a father. Do you still think about that?
Malenko: That thought goes through my mind a lot, only because I'm on the road so much and I'm missing what my child does. Being a second generation wrestler I went through that with my dad and there were a lot of times in my life with things I did that my father wasn't around. But I also knew that this was his profession and his way of supporting his family. The business that we're in is not something that we're forced to do, it's something that we choose to do because we enjoy it. But in the same breath, it's not easy. Especially when you're leaving a family at home. After 20 years I've done everything that I've wanted to do and everything I've wanted to accomplish. There's nothing I can think of that's left. What still keeps me going now is just helping the younger wrestlers. The day that I walk away from the business I still want it to prosper. Because I'll still have friends in the business and I'll still want them to be successful. Anything I can do to leave my mark on the business by helping the young talent. There are too many guys who despite what the business has given them don't care about giving back. You forget as a human sometimes that we're employed by a company and this is a job that we do. If it wasn't for what we do and the people like Vince McMahon and Eric Bischoff giving guys opportunities to wrestle we wouldn't have the houses we live in or the cars that we drive or the food and education we give our kids. That's something I think the wrestling fan doesn't realize sometimes.
In : WWF/WWE Interviews