Dean Malenko

In September 1995, Malenko and Benoit joined World Championship Wrestling (WCW), where he continued to be a villain. Malenko came to be known in WCW as "The Iceman" Dean Malenko because of his cold, calculating demeanor and was also given the nickname of "The Man of 1,000 Holds". On May 2, 1996, Malenko defeated Shinjiro Otani for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship in Orlando. He held the title for two months, making successful defenses against the likes of Brad Armstrong, Rey Mysterio, Jr. and Disco Inferno before losing the title to Mysterio on July 8 edition of Nitro. He defeated Mysterio Jr. for his second WCW Cruiserweight Championship at Halloween Havoc 1996.
After a successful title defense against Psychosis at World War 3 1996, Malenko lost the Cruiserweight title to Ultimate Dragon (Último Dragón) at Starrcade 1996 where Dragón's J-Crown Championship was also on the line. Malenko defeated Dragón on January 22, 1997 edition of Clash of the Champions to win his third WCW Cruiserweight Championship. He would hold the belt for nearly a month before losing it to Syxx at SuperBrawl VII.
At Uncensored 1997, Malenko defeated former ECW foe Eddie Guerrero to win the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship.[31][32] After Malenko became US Champion, he turned into a fan favorite and began feuding with Four Horsemen members. At Spring Stampede 1997, he defended the US title against Horsemen member Chris Benoit in a match that resulted in a no contest.[33] After the Benoit feud ended, he feuded with another Horsemen member Jeff Jarrett. After a successful title defense against Jarrett at Slamboree 1997,[34] he lost the title to Jarrett on June 9, 1997 edition of Nitro after Eddie Guerrero interfered and turned heel.[35] Malenko eventually aligned with Jarrett and the two faced Benoit and Steve McMichael in an elimination tag team match at Road Wild 1997, where Benoit and McMichael won.[36] Shortly after, Jarrett and Malenko separated and had a match at Fall Brawl 1997: WarGames where Malenko was defeated.[37]
At World War 3 1997, Malenko participated in a 60-man, three-ring battle royal won by Scott Hall. At Starrcade 1997, he challenged Guerrero for the Cruiserweight Title but ended up losing the match. In mid-1998, Malenko engaged in a heated feud with Chris Jericho. To better Malenko's claims, Jericho boasted that he was "The Man of 1,004 Holds" and the two had a final showdown at Uncensored 1998 for the Cruiserweight title. After a long match, Jericho forced Malenko to submit in an angled Liontamer. After the match, the otherwise collected Malenko was left in an unusual fit of frustration. Gene Okerlund then confronted Malenko post match, aggressively citing his many losses in the past several months and asking where he would go from this point. Malenko replied simply, "Home," and would not be seen on WCW TV for two months.
At Slamboree 1998, Jericho held a Battle Royal for a shot at his Cruiserweight Championship. Malenko entered the battle royal dressed as masked wrestler Ciclope and won the match, revealing himself to the crowd following his win. Malenko went on to defeat Jericho for his fourth and final WCW Cruiserweight Championship, thus becoming the first-ever wrestler to win the Cruiserweight title four times. Malenko was stripped of the title, however, as he did not earn the title shot as himself. At The Great American Bash 1998, Malenko and Jericho faced each other in a match for the vacant Cruiserweight title. Malenko lost by disqualification, making Jericho the champion. At Bash at the Beach 1998, Malenko interfered in Jericho's title defense against Rey Mysterio, Jr. allowing Mysterio to pin Jericho for the title. The title was returned to Jericho, however, because of interference by Malenko. Malenko was fired in storyline, but returned at Road Wild 1998 as the special guest referee during Jericho's defense against Juventud Guerrera. Juventud won the match and the title.
In September 1998, Malenko became a part of the final incarnation of Ric Flair's Four Horsemen faction.[45] They feuded with the New World Order (nWo), particularly Eric Bischoff. Malenko and Benoit also battled the West Texas Rednecks (Curt Hennig and Barry Windham) during this period. At SuperBrawl IX, they lost to the Rednecks in the finals of a tag team tournament for the vacant World Tag Team Championship.[46][47] At Uncensored 1999, however, they defeated the Rednecks in a lumberjack match to win the WCW World Tag Team Championship.[9][48] Two weeks later, they lost the titles to Rey Mysterio, Jr. and Billy Kidman.[49]Main article: Revolution (professional wrestling)After the Horsemen were finally disbanded in May 1999 due to Flair's abuse of power, Malenko joined up with Shane Douglas' faction, The Revolution, which was formed in July 1999.[50] They feuded with David Flair, Diamond Dallas Page and Chris Kanyon. At Bash at the Beach 1999, Malenko challenged David for the US title but lost the match. They battled many teams throughout the year including West Texas Rednecks, First Family, Filthy Animals and Varsity Club. Malenko's last WCW match was a "catch-as-catch-can" match with Billy Kidman at Souled Out. Early on, Malenko instinctively left the ring to regroup and was disqualified under the match stipulations because his feet hit the arena floor.[51]
After being granted his release from WCW the night after his last WCW match, Malenko signed with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and debuted on January 31, 2000 edition of Raw Is War. Malenko first appeared in the crowd with the infamous Radicalz - himself, Chris Benoit, Perry Saturn, and Eddie Guerrero - who all made exits from WCW at the same time. While not having as much success in the WWF, Malenko was a force in the promotion's light heavyweight division. Along with Benoit, Saturn, and Guerrero, he had some measure of success as part of The Radicalz. On the March 13 edition of Raw Is War, Malenko defeated Essa Rios for his first WWF Light Heavyweight Championship. In April 2000, he feuded with Scotty Too Hotty who was the new challenger for his Light Heavyweight title. He dropped the title to Scotty on April 17 edition of Raw Is War before he won his second WWF Light Heavyweight Championship from Scotty on April 27 edition of SmackDown!. At Backlash 2000, Malenko successfully defended the title against Scotty, thus ending the feud between the two.
Later that year, with Benoit having drifted away from the group, Malenko engaged in a feud with Guerrero and Saturn which stemmed from Guerrero's on-screen relationship with Chyna and a number of losses suffered when working as a tag team with Saturn. The feud led to a triple threat match at Judgment Day 2000 where Guerrero retained the WWF European Championship against both Malenko and Saturn. After a brief absence from TV, Malenko returned to reform The Radicalz with Benoit, Guerrero, and Perry Saturn. Around this time, Malenko briefly became known as "Double Ho Seven", a parody of the fictional character, James Bond. The gimmick was born out of a match with The Godfather, who offered one of his female escorts to Malenko instead of wrestling him. Malenko gladly accepted his opponent's offer. As Double Ho Seven, Malenko competed for the affections of Lita and feuded with her tag team the Hardy Boyz. He even offered Lita a title match for his Light Heavyweight Championship, but under the condition that if she lost she would be obliged to go on a date with him. Lita accepted and almost caught Malenko by a few nearfalls throughout the match, but in the end lost the match by submitting to his signature Cloverleaf.
Malenko's feud with Hardy Boyz and Lita continued in early 2001, culminating with Lita pinning him (with some assistance from Matt Hardy) in a match on February 19, 2001 edition of Raw Is War.[61] He also briefly feuded with Jacqueline and Ivory, who were disgusted by his lecherous ways. A title feud with Crash Holly would begin after Crash interfered in a two-on-one intergender handicap match between Malenko, and both Jacqueline and Ivory, costing him the match.[62] After holding the Light Heavyweight Championship for nearly twelve months, Malenko lost the title to Crash on March 18 edition of Sunday Night HEAT.[63] After both Benoit and Guerrero drifted away from the Radicalz, Malenko teamed with Saturn for a few weeks before quietly disappearing off television as the WCW/ECW Invasion storyline began in summer 2001.[62]