Starrcast III Recap – Dean Malenko: Malenko – AEW Role, Leaving WWE, Eddie Memories, More

Dean Malenko took part in a stage show at Starrcast III titled “Malenko.” The show was hosted by Tony Schiavone.

Full highlights from the show are below.

– Malenko knew his dad was a wrestling star around 7 years old. Malenko has shakey hands and can’t hold the mic well. Schiavone stands and holds the mic while Malenko sits. “I feel like I’m talking to your penis.” Malenko talks about his early training with the likes of Tiger Mask.

– Malenko says being a ref in the WWF in the ’80s gave him a different outlook on the business. A lot of shower and sex jokes when talking about working with his brother.

– Malenko calls Paul Heyman “an innovator.” Says he told Heyman he wasn’t going to follow blood matches or dip his hands into glass. “I’m a wrestler.” Heyman respected that.

– When asked about teaming with Chris Benoit, Malenko calls it a “hard subject.” Calls Benoit a friend, but that’s as far as he’ll go. Says they had the same mindset during their careers. Calls Chris a great performer. “He was way ahead of his time. One of the best, ever.”

– Malenko calls his feud with Eddie Guerrero in ECW “the single most important moment” in his career because it got him noticed. Calls Eddie “special” and felt like Eddie’s older brother because Eddie didn’t always understand the business side. “Eddie could do everything. There’s not many guys that can do that.” Says he and Benoit knew Eddie would reach the top out of all three of them.

– Malenko says the Cruiserweight title meant a lot back then because “lightning struck” and it will never happen again. Calls the WCW cruiserweight roster “an all-star team.” Malenko tells the story of his first match with Rey Mysterio at Great American Bash 96. Says the whole locker room was applauding after the match. “There will never be another Rey.”

– Malenko talks about calling matches on the fly and feeling the crowd back then. Says it’s the same with promos today, how the wrestlers should go out there, talk, and read the crowd.

– Malenko praises Chris Jericho. Calls him a dear friend. “He’ll tell you, he’s the greatest.”

– Malenko jokes that he joined the Horsemen so he didn’t have to wrestle Mongo anymore.

– Malenko says it was easy to leave WCW, it was hard to call his wife and say he left six figures on the table from WCW. Says there were 20 guys lined up to quit WCW but only The Radicalz got to Bischoff’s door.

– “There was a bunch of guys that didn’t want to work with us for various reasons *cough* less talented *cough*” Says “talent” didn’t want Benoit and Eddie to get over because they couldn’t keep up with them.

– Says Vince took care of The Radicalz because he respected that they left WCW and took a chance by leaving money on the table. Says those that left WCW a year later when the company went under weren’t as fortunate. Says Riki Choshu offered him, Benoit, and Eddie a job anytime they wanted it if WWE didn’t work out.

– Malenko discusses knowing when he wanted to retire and transition to being an agent. “It was an easy transition.” Malenko wondered if producers made more money than an agent when WWE changed the name of the role.

– Malenko says AEW has given him an opportunity to re-start his career.

– “I respect Vince more than just about anybody I’ve ever worked with in the business,” Malenko says about Vince McMahon. Malenko talks about the compassionate side of Vince, telling the story of how Vince consoled him at Eddie Guerrero’s funeral.

– Malenko discusses why he left WWE. Says he wanted to spend more time with his kids and AEW’s schedule was a better fit.

– Malenko has no regrets about his career. Says it’s an exciting time for fans with AEW.

– “Vince had a wrestling. Eric just had a company.” Says Eric Bischoff was good to him, but doesn’t think WCW was a wrestling company.

– Malenko talks about coaching talent. Says some guys, you can just throw them out there and they’ll be fine. Other guys need more direction. Malenko wants to give guys in AEW the chance to succeed or fail and then tell them why it happened. Doesn’t want to hold their hand.

– Dean doesn’t want to be mentioned in the same breath as Barry Horowitz despite both being Jewish.

– Malenko is asked why he didn’t do more comedy on-screen since he’s cracking everyone up at the show. Says it was hard for him to incorporate that into his character. Didn’t care about “drawing a dime,” just wanted to wrestle. Says he and Brad Armstrong would have made a great team because their backstage and on-screen personas were so different.

– Malenko praises NJPW for being great to the super juniors. “They always had an influx of talent coming in. You always had an opportunity to steal shit from other people.”

– Malenko says his storyline with the Horsemen could have been done better. “It was kind of an honor, but you’ll never beat the original guys. It got watered down, like anything else. I didn’t like it because I’m not Tully or Barry.”

– Malenko is proud of The Miz. Calls him one of the hardest working guys in the business.

– In AEW, Malenko likes Kenny Omega, MJF (“He reminds me of Miz”), and Darby Allin (“He actually sells”)

– Malenko gets emotional talking about the WrestleMania XX closing scene with Benoit and Eddie. Says he and Benoit embraced after the match and Benoit said, “[The title] is just as much yours, as it is mine.”

– Malenko says AEW will stand out because guys will just go out there and work. “Don’t try to worry about competing with this company.” Just wants to see good matches.

– “The fans want to see more of a war than the companies do,” Dean says about the AEW vs. WWE war. Says Tony Khan isn’t thinking about putting Vince out of business. “I don’t see it as a war, but it’s gonna be. It’s hard to ignore. I don’t think we have to spend waking hours wondering how to put them out of business.” Says that’s happened before and asks how that worked out, referencing Bischoff’s mentality.

– Malenko calls his 2-out-of-3 falls match with Eddie in ECW the most important match between the two. But his favorite one was in ECW where they had been drinking and then showed up late, but had a great match.

– “Blazing Saddles” is Malenko’s favorite movie.

You can order Starrcast III through FITE TV.