Joe Malenko

Photo by Dr Mike Lano (wrealano@aol.com)

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Irvington, New Jersey, United States

**Jody Simon** (born June 4, 1956) is an American former professional wrestler best known under the ring name **Joe Malenko**. Malenko was born into a wrestling family, and his father Boris Malenko was a prominent wrestling figure in his own right. Dean Malenko is his younger brother. He trained under Karl Gotch for 7 years, and is known by many, along with Yoshiaki Fujiwara to be Gotch's best student.

## Wrestling career

### Japan

Malenko is most known for his stints wrestling in Japan. Malenko began in the Universal Wrestling Federation (Japan) in May 1985 for 13 days. One of his most well known matches in the UWF was his tag match with Super Tiger where they faced the team of Yoshiaki Fujiwara and Osamu Kido.

Malenko would then team up with his brother, Dean, in All Japan Pro Wrestling to form "The Malenko Brothers". Malenko would tour regularly with All Japan from February 1988 until May 1992. Malenko had two reigns as World Junior Heavyweight Champion. From late 1989 to early 1990, he teamed with Kenta Kobashi against the Can-Am Express (Dan Kroffat and Doug Furnas) for the All Asia Tag Team Championship. Joe's most memorable matches came in his match versus his brother, Dean and when they (the Malenko Brothers) faced The British Bruisers (Johnny Smith and Dynamite Kid) during Giant Baba's 30th Wrestling Anniversary on September 30, 1990. Joe and Dean's only chance for the All Asia Tag Team Championship was against the Can-Am Express on March 4, 1992 in Tokyo, Japan.

Malenko is retired from wrestling and is a registered pharmacist in Florida.

On October 25, 2010, it was announced that Malenko would be participating in All Japan Pro Wrestling's World's Strongest Tag Determination League in November and December 2010 with partner Osamu Nishimura. The duo won twice and drew once in their eight matches in the tournament, finishing eighth out of nine in the final standings.

## In wrestling

* **Finishing moves**
	+ Cloverleaf, sometimes preceded by a double underhook powerbomb
* **Signature Moves**
	+ German suplex
* **Nicknames**
	+ "Suplex Machine"
	+ "Southern Shooter"

### Wrestlers trained

* Bart Vale
* Carl Greco
* Chris Champion
* David Adcock
* Haystacks Calhoun Jr.
* Kurt Beyer
* Manabu Nakanishi
* Marc Mero
* Mark Mercedes
* Maverick
* Paul Diamond
* Rey Ayala
* Sean Waltman
* Tarus

## Championships and accomplishments

* **All Japan Pro Wrestling**

* World Junior Heavyweight Championship (2 times)

* **Pro Wrestling Illustrated**

* PWI ranked him #**101** of the 500 best singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1993
* PWI ranked him #**276** of the Top 500 best singles wrestlers in the PWI Years in 2003

## References

1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 Wrestler Profiles: Joe Malenko . Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2010-02-08.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2006). "AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Title", *Wrestling Title Histories*, 4th, Archeus Communications, 371. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
3. ↑  (March 26, 2011) *I'm Next: The Strange Journey of America's Most Unlikely Superhero*. Retrieved on March 26, 2011.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 http://www.cagematch.net/?id=2&nr=1932
5. ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 5.12 5.13 http://www.cagematch.net/?id=2&nr=1932&page=14
6. ↑ http://www.cagematch.net/?id=2&nr=1932&view=awards#awards
7. ↑ Archived copy . Archived from the original on 2008-06-16. Retrieved on 2010-09-15.