Humongous Pop in WCW - Slamboree 1998

As mentioned in Chris Jericho's autobiography "A Lion's Tale", this is what Jericho, and many others, considered to be the loudest wrestling ovation, or "pop" of 1998, or WCW history in general.

At Slamboree 1998, an all-cruiserweight battle royal took place with the winner being awarded an immediate title shot against then-cruiserweight champion Chris Jericho. After Juventud Guerrera mysteriously eliminates himself, unlikely winner Ciclope starts to unmask, only to reveal himself as Jericho's old nemesis, the returning "Man of 1000 Holds" Dean Malenko.

Up until this point, Malenko had been out of action for an extended amount of time. During that period, Jericho insulted Malenko whenever given mic time, and went as far to insult his father, Boris Malenko, who had recently passed away at the time.

This is Malenko making his return and gaining a measure of revenge. He would eventually win this match and the Cruiserweight title.

"It was unreal. Loudest I had ever heard a crowd at the time, not just in Atlanta, but in my entire tenure as a wrestler. Even my debut on Raw wasn't too far ahead of the (Slamboree) pop". - Chris Jericho

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• WCW
• Chris
• Jericho
• Debut
• Dean
• Malenko
• Return
• Slamboree
• 1998
• NWO
• ECW
• WWE
• Shoot
• Cruiserweight
• Pop
• Horsemen

[flightsnhike226]

this is like a pin drop compared to austin and rocks pops back in the AE

[campKILLer]

@flightsnhike226 Austin and Rock never wrestled in an American Eagle. Austin did brawl in a grocery store, though.

[JoeFoShow95]

@campKILLer AE = Attitude Era

[campKILLer]

@JoeFoShow95 The sarcasm went over your head so hard I think it took some hair with it.

[DCEnigma]

What everyone is forgetting is that Austin and Rock were on TV every week, had video packages, cool theme songs and merchandise. Malenko WASN'T EVEN DIRECTLY INVOLVED up until this point. Jericho just made fun of him every week (without any help from the company, he did everything himself). They had zero help from the company (No video packages, TV recaps or anything) With all that in mind, this is a pretty awesome pop

[TheWavy87]

WCW is the greatest fanbase in pro wrestling.

[Kaynos]

My left foot has more charisma than Dean Malenko

[07Pince]

@campKILLer lmfaoooooo

[carrastealth]

This pop just goes to show how over Jericho was as a heel and how this feud was done so great that when Malenko finally came back that reaction was golden as was Jericho's.

[Johnny8242]

Dean Malenko should of been so much bigger than he was!

[JTDutch]

... Yeah, I've seen bigger pops in WWF/E but this one's pretty awesome. Good for Dean.

[Corsair857]

Is wrestling this good anymore? I have not watched in years. I remember this as a kid and about shit myself at home, so i can just imagine what it would have been like being there.

[Kerbalf]

Dean Malenko is a fucking boss

[yoyothriller]

Dean Malenko + Chris Jericho + Charles Robinson as referee = amazing. ~ Einstein's true equation.