Billy Kidman vs Dean Malenko WCW Monday Nitro 12-02-1996

[akapbhan]

I always enjoy watch matches with Daen, Benoit and Angle. Great technical wrestlers. I do not watch the rest of the wrestlers matches much.

[Lonerx14]

you watched wcw to see some good matches, but you watched dean melenko if you wanted to fuck someone up

[skudzer1985]

Stinko Malenko! I never really cared for him, nothing against his fans, but his character never really interested me.

[C0NTR4l34ND]

@skudzer1985 Malenko, like Benoit, wasn't about character. He lacked charisma but made up for it in rarely-paralleled technical ability. The key to it was having him surrounded by personalities... Jericho calling him Deano Machino, and reading off a list of moves... Or Dean in the Four Horsemen alongside Flair and Arn.. that's enough personality for an entire roster, let alone a stable! Aaaand that's how you book a 'boring' character. :)

[flipgood89]

@C0NTR4l34ND ...I agree. I remember watching ECW as a kid and I was captivated by Malenko and Benoit's silent intensity....I was intrigued by what made them tick, as Heyman was able to use their lack of charisma to his advantage. If you give a "boring" guy good storylines and issues to work with, you can make him interesting

[Hierophant345]

This match is just REALLY great in today's standard, even if this is but one of Dean Malenko's "ordinary matches" in Nitro. This just CANNOT be compared to the pieces of shit John Cena keeps making in WWE pay-per-views. They exist under the different skies.

[C0NTR4l34ND]

@Hierophant345 WWE was never about wrestling, though, it was about cowboys & indians nonsense, hulkamania, and other lame characters. Any good wrestling that happens under a WWE roof is coincidental and a stroke of luck by putting 2 or more good workers in a ring together. It's certainly not the priority of their business... I don't care what anyone says otherwise... In short, look elsewhere for 'work rate.'

[ziggyrodgersymcmb86]

@C0NTR4l34ND damn bout timew someone tells the truth thank u cause very soon the wwe will fall

[manniman82]

@C0NTR4l34ND I agree with that to a certain extent but even the storylines are crap now. Today's WWE stars don't even have charisma to camouflage their lack of wrestling skills. Wrestling declined after WWE bought WCW and has been utterly garbage after The Rock left...

[hustleantw]

I enjoy watching some of the early WCW matches even though behind the scenes the company was going down the hole!

[lpcaycho6]

perfect plex by kiidman!!:D

[El2lk]

malenko was always my favorite cruiserweight growing up. epic matches with kidman, juvy, mysterio, jericho, benoit..among many others.

hell..malenko was so good he could put on an epic match fighting a piece of cardboard

[alcatrazzndahouse]

Dean Malenko was so underrated as a wrestler. This was a great match that is easily better than anything you see on wwe nowadays and if you ask me, Malenko should've won a world title during his career and if the wwe has any respect, they'll induct this man into the hall of fame soon

[mykeymayhem]

wcw should have pushed either dean or billy for the world heavyweight champonship

[foleynj86]

Billy Kidman what a lucky bastard got to marry Torrie Wilson even though they did get divorced. Too much of a good thing I guess

[Skibenno]

bring pls back the WCW <3 i miss the show -.-

[WeepForeverWorld]

Dean Malenko was one of the best.

[SexyMamacite202]

3:06 was a botch if you notice Dean didn't hit Billy but thrown a punch and Billy pretended to get hit!

[misterrightuk]

@SexyMamacite202 They said he ducked

[Din0might7]

Don't you just love Dean Malenko's persona. Walking straight to the ring with focus and intensity on his face. He's comes to fight and he came to win. He's not here to be dance around and be flamboyant. I'm glad that he hardly ever toke the mic, because that works perfectly with his character. And his character was perfect.

[sayanroy36]

@Din0might7

and that exactly was his undoing.

why guys almost as talented as him, like jericho, mysterio, eddie and ofcourse benoit went on to do greater things while did not.

[Din0might7]

@sayanroy36 Lack of imagination from promoters was his undoing (If you can consider being really good at what you do, undoing?). Everybody is looking for the next Rock, or the next Stone Cold, or the next Jericho. There is only one Iceman Dean Malenko. I would watch a 100 Dean Malenko matches before I would watch one Batista match.

[eveque]

"Man of a thousand holds" The Ice man - Dean Malenko is awesome

[mikemizzy2113]

NEW WORLD ODORRR!

[lilgriff024]

hey look,,it's DEAN DINKO!!!

[HollywoodKendrick]

1000 holds is way too many....how can you beat someone like that?

[JoeBird76]

Epic

[Brooklyn1564]

What 8 titles did ultimo dragon hav at the time?

[elementskateboardsyo]

Great match. And i agree 100% Dean Malenko is without a doubt one of the greatest of all time.

[nworaven66]

Very lil emotion from Malenko. he could sure as hell bak it up in that ring. What a competitor the ice man was.

[Oriolez8888]

and thats the main reason he was never a mainstream world champion. He was pretty even to Benoit in skill, but Benoit had a ton of intensity and emotion in the ring. Dean was still the man, but i wish he showed some emotion .

[headhunterzmma]

Hands down, one the of greatest technical wrestlers of all time. It's a shame that more wrestlers aren't like him.

[Jontish316]

Nigel McGuiness (Aka Desmond Wolfe) is a good technical wrestler. Check him out in TNA

[headhunterzmma]

Nigel's awesome. I've seen him in ROH a few times. Seen him once in TNA. Very solid techincian and a lot of fun to watch.

[Chaseman1981]

dean malenko and billy kidman are 2 of my all time favorite cruiserweights. i seriously wish there were more wrestlers like dean malenko, i also wish dean malenko would come out of retirement for at least one more match.

[KodaRollins]

what is pre flock?

[SpookyHelder]

There was a group of wrestlers brain-wahsed by Raven called Raven's Flock, and that's where Kidman got more TV time, I suppose. He had an itchy gimmick.

[KodaRollins]

oh yeah. i vaguely remember that. i was only 4. but yeah. i remember .

[omgwtfbbq34]

now what order does it go in Kidman with like the tank top and shorts with long hair, the flock, and the douchey-looking short haired Kidman in tis vid?

[SpookyHelder]

Here in this video, I think, is Kidman originally. Then, he joined the flock and wore black and scratched himself and used the Seven Year Itch. I think he even wore black eyeliner. After the flock, he kept the jean shorts, got a tank top, and lost the eyeliner. This would last for the remainder of his WCW run, I think. In WWE, he cut his hair short, but I don't recall if he originally had it long and cut it closer to his heel run...

[RipperEagle96]

Pre Flock was Billy Kidman before he joined Raven's Flock in WCW. Raven mad it from ECW to WCW, and he enlisted Scotty Anton (Sick Boy) Saturn, Van Hammer, Lodi, and some others to be like a group of outcasts.

[RyanIsOffended]

Pre-Flock Kidman was such a douche.

[wwetnaraw08]

dean melenko was one of the greates wrestlers of all time

[miamimagicians]

@wwetnaraw08 This was a perfect match! Dean and Kidman both hit really tough moves, KIDMAN TOOK A VISCOUS POWERBOMB RIGHT ON THE FLOOR! OMG

[jagpgj]

Malenko and Kidman .For me ( with Rey Misterio Jr.) the best cruysweight in WCW ... and two great wrestlers .

[d731andre]

dean malenko should be in the hall of fame. half the time I watch wcw was becaus of malenko

[kanemura93]

Kidman is bumping hard here! At 3:06 Kidman ducks a punch to early so maybe Malenko is punishing him for it by almost dropping him on his head with the powerbomb on the floor

[CreamyBiceps]

Not a great match. Kidman was terrible. Dean worked hard but Kidman ruined the match.

[ddbjg]

Dean Malenko is so cool

[jaybo976]

shitty throwaway match!!!!!

[jaybo976]

lol he leap out over the top, lands on his feet, & phanton snaps one of the worst fake punches I've ever seen!!!!!

[thephantomplatypus]

lol, kidman looks like he's in high school. anyhow, pretty good match here.

[BobbyJules2nd]

Look at Billy Kidman's hair... lol.

[Davidovar34]

Great match. That brain buster at 4:52 looks devastating :)

[GhostlyPapaya]

are sprint, everyone does sprints. Look at ROH in 2002 and now. Hell, look at TNA's change.

Like i said, if you can't work a company's style, you shouldn't work for them. You can at least agree to that. The fact that Bourne wrestles an indy style, Mysterio worked a different style (as he is not 17 anymore) and still got over, and that The Brian Kendrick has a push shows that things are not as you say.

[KevFT]

There's a lot of factors that can go in to getting a push, such as being liked backstage, so I don't agree with that. I do agree that a wrestler should be flexible and be able to adapt their style, and I'm not defending that, simply saying that WWE makes it hard for some talents to break out. It isn't totally the wrestler's fault if he fails to get over in WWE, because for every situation Kidman "should've adapted to", I can say WWE should've worked to his strengths in order to make money.

[KevFT]

Plus, I don't think the "opportunities" a lot of guys were given were even substantial, which also attributes to their failure. Ultimo wasn't given the ball in WWE, nor Malenko, nor Kidman. The list is endless really. How many times has a wrestler seemed to be getting over bigtime, only to have the rug pulled from under him? Like Tazz in 2000, he's not going to get over being beaten repeatedly by Stone Cold. The jury is out on The Brian Kendrick. I want him to do well, but I don't have faith.

[KevFT]

And that lack of faith isn't in Kendrick as a wrestler, as I think he could get over and looks to be doing so. But just like Kidman, inevitabley the WWE-machine will kick in and he'll be another one on the list, where people say he "dropped the ball" or "didn't step up".

[GhostlyPapaya]

I think I agree. Are you saying that WWE shouldn't have hired someone that they couldn't utilize? I think it takes work on both sides.

There are many guys that are or aren't liked and make it or fail. You make you.

CHIKARA is so well booked. They are booked around their weaknesses. I guess any company could do that, but hey, to each their own.

The writers are majorly at fault for people not getting over in the last few years.

[KevFT]

I think the problem with WWE is they hire someone on the basis of how they are in another company. So for example, Taz in ECW. Then once they've got that wrestler, they change him from what he was, from what brought him to the dance, which in most cases highlights weaknesses, then wonder why it fails when it does. Their excuse in Taz's case was because they didn't believe a 5'9" badass would work, but as ECW, and then WWE even signing him in the first place proved, it can, and was the only...

[KevFT]

...reason Taz was a name in the first place. The same happened for Malenko here, as the Malenko in the video isn't anything like what he was in WWE. In WCW, he was a former U.S. Champion and even with his size, was credible. In WWE, he was nothing, and people say he sucked. So as you say, the finger of blame surely must point to the writers/bookers/whoever for the way he was utilized, and even though I believe wrestlers should be able to adapt, some simply can't and are who they are.

[KevFT]

I think the problem with WWE is they got guys like Kidman and Ultimo Dragon and wouldn't let them wrestle their style. In WWE, everyone has to wrestle "WWE-style", which makes it difficult for the midcarders to break out based purely on wrestling ability alone, and for guys with less personality, it makes it difficult. There is a famous story about some now-TNA guys having a trial with WWE, and being told off because their match was great, as it "upstaged" the main eventers (i.e. HHH, etc).

[GhostlyPapaya]

oh please. "upstaged"? although i agree that there are many great wrestlers in tna, but guys like jericho, punk, and shelton can outshine 90% of the roster any day. there is a reason why christian and angle are boring in tna, but did classic stuff in wwe

[KevFT]

What would you call classic stuff exactly? Dancing around in a cowboy hat and spraying milk from a milk truck? Or just being called a CLB and being stuck in midcard feuds that lead nowhere, despite the fact we all wanted to see the much-hyped Cena/Christian feud? I agree WWE is more entertaining as a soap opera, and if their roster was allowed to wrestle fully, then they'd definitely put on better matches. But it rarely happens. And the story was about WWE main eventers (i.e. Big Show, HHH, etc)

[GhostlyPapaya]

No, I don't call that classics. I call Angle/HBK, ANgle/Guerrero, everything edge/christian did, and dozens of others that i don't have enough char count to type. you don't need to be main eventing to do great things. everyone in tna seems to main event, yet can't put on matches that you can remember after an hour. the so called greatest match of tna is a spot-fest three-way of utter bullshit between joe-daniels-styles. there is more to wrestling than hitting moves. wwe is bad but tna is trash

[KevFT]

This isn't a WWE vs. TNA debate. My argument was, and I quote, "everyone has to wrestle "WWE-style", which makes it difficult for the midcarders to break out based purely on wrestling ability alone, and for guys with less personality, it makes it difficult." My story about wrestlers upstaging the main eventers of WWE and being told off is fact, which is sad, because I bet it has happened to your Punk's and Shelton's too, not just the TNA guys in the story (who weren't even in TNA at the time).

[KevFT]

So to clarify, I'm not saying TNA is better than WWE or vice versa (though personally, I prefer watching TNA as it has a more "wrestling" feel), I am just saying some guys like Ultimo Dragon, Kidman, Malenko, etc, weren't allowed to be as big as they could've been in WWE. They got opportunities, but not with their own personalities and wrestling styles.

[GhostlyPapaya]

How do you know it was true?

Do you realize guys like Bourne and Kofi don't work "wwe-style"?

No one is allowed to wrestle their own style anywhere. There is a TNA style, an ROH style, a DragonGate style, etc. You basically do what the booker says. WWE bookers say "don't outshine the main eventers," makes sense. If you can't get over in WWE without going too far out the boundries and you have no charisma, you shouldn't be working there. A match is part of the show, the show is the product

[KevFT]

It was widely reported a few years ago and a couple of the wrestlers involved gave their opinions on it. As for your point, I disagree. Each promotion obviously has an overall style in terms of the product they produce, but in TNA, RoH, NJPW and pretty much everywhere else I can think of, wrestlers aren't bound to a particular style of wrestling. There's things that go over better with the crowds, but it's not law. In WWE, it's law. There's banned moves, they're told to work slow...

[KevFT]

...and I think being told not to do a certain move, or being told to completely change your style results in some workers not getting over. Like your Kidman's, or Ultimo's. If either of those guys have no place in wrestling's biggest company, there's a problem. The problem is the bookers, not the wrestlers themselves. It has nothing to do with "going too far out of boundaries". The best main eventer doesn't have to be the most talented, but I think there's a negative effect in taking away...

[KevFT]

...the exact things you signed the wrestler for in the first place.

[GhostlyPapaya]

You didn't sign on to be a wrestler to hit moves. If you can't get over unless you hit a particular move, you shouldn't be wrestling. "Moves being banned" like the SSP that Bourne still uses? THose same people that "reported" it cannot be trusted. ANything a wrestler says cannot be trusted. False reports and kayfabe'd or otherwise disgruntled worker's reports cannot be verified.

In any case, it's not that they are "told to work slow" but consistent with the roster. DragonGate matches...

[KevFT]

(continued...) I don't think Punk, despite winning the World Championship, can be considered a main eventer, and Shelton's never been in the main event scene. Jericho barely counts too, because although I'll agree he's main event material and has occassionally been used as such (like now), no doubt he'll be battling for the IC title again somewhere down the line.

[otherong]

You're right KevFT. But there's one thing that everyone is missing. The WWE isn't about wrestling. It's a billion dollar company that sells various products. Plain and simple. Those products, just like the products of any other billion dollar company are analyzed and boiled down to their marketability. It's the same reason why all Big-Macs taste the same. Is it a good burger? Maybe, maybe not. But they sell millions of dollars worth everyday of them. That's what matters.

[ABSINTHE2012]

I think Kidman had plenty of chances in WWE. It came to a point where he was too injury prone and didn't take advantage of his opportunity. He was a wcw guy but wwe had respect for his talent. He just didn't transition well to their style and didn't help out making his character more interesting. Same for Ultimo Dragon. Benoit, Jericho, Eddie and Mysterio are prime examples of those who transitioned well. Malenko, Regal and Finlay didn't have to change anything. Too bad they never got to feud.

[6Creeping6Death6]

Man, I miss WCW from this period.

[Marcusofdoom666]

Deano Machino

[Nik133]

Kidman was great man. Shame once he got to WWE he got too big for his size and started phoning it in. It was always a pleasure to watch Kidman wrestle every week on Nitro or Thunder.

[fabricioageitos]

Malenko is to old

[getodachoppa1]

Wow Malenko vs Ultimo that would be awesome. I miss Nitro :(

[subfighter316]

THE ULTIMATE DRAGON! Good job Tony.

[muscleslam]

I like to watch wrestling,not distraction crap.

[thisbetterwork00]

That brain buster that Malenko gives Kidman at 4:52 is one of the best I've ever seen. Dean is one of the greatest ring technicians of all time, shame he had no personality or bigger size, he could have been in bigger matches.

[caricaturd]

YOU CANT POWERBOMB BILLY KIDMAN!

[pjdbro]

I CAN...but only when I'm playing video games

[PinnacleOfPerfection]

did WCW ever do a match were there was no interference or no distractions lol

[DIMEDAN]

OMG its Sonny Onno,totally marking out lol,didnt he end up sueing WCW? Anyways this is why i use to love WCW great wrestling every week during its prime, I wish it still was around.

[oasisg9]

yeah he did sue them for like wrongful discrimination against asians or something like that it's weird cuz he was one of bischoff's best friends too.

[nuggetcrook]

like 123-kid.

[JoelChavez612]

Kidman looks like Tony Mamaluke here.

[pwool24]

dean malennko 1 of the best to never hold a wwe championship tital or wcw

[caricaturd]

well, he did get to hold the light heavyweight title - not that that means much

[Lomares23]

Billy Kidman is the best Cruiser in WWE and WCW.He wasn't a jobber never!!!

[missukw]

kidman was a jobber lol.

[WCWRULES4LYF]

doesn't everyone start out as a jobber? :\

[HVPhilips]

almost eveyone.Either that or the sqeaky clean up and comer

[eyeofthetiger415]

The brain is in the head!

wtf

[PunkOfTheIrish]

Matches Like Billy Kidman v.s Dean Malenko Make Me Miss The Old WCW Days

[JerrimeWilliams30]

Dean Malenka (one of my favs off all time)was a very organize type of wrestler. Very smooth and "by the book" type.

[wally316]

What the name Dean Malenko entires Theme? Anyone

no????? It's Bad Ass.

[northside80]

These two could have been the greatest.

[JerrimeWilliams30]

The greatest "techincal" wrestlers off all time.

[northside80]

You're right.

[thepaulminator17]

kidman with even shorter hair than he did late in his wwe career

[Sickvinius]

Malenko has had a great intro theme.

[jl2279]

Yes he did. One of my favorites.

[JerrimeWilliams30]

Yea! But I think Umaga theme song is the best!

[knoxville55]

when does kidman join the flock???send me the link if you know if plossible

[Sickvinius]

Late 1997, I think.