Chris Jericho vs Dean Malenko: One of WCW's Most Overlooked Feuds

When looking back at the history of professional wrestling, the main crux is almost always the rivalries between two feuding wrestlers or factions. From the classic rivalries between Bruno Sammartino and Larry Zbyszko to Ric Flair and Harley Race, Hulk Hogan and Rowdy Roddy Piper to Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock, Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels or John Cena and CM Punk, one can look at any particular point in history and tie it to a great rivalry. Through WWE’s revisionist history, they will tell you that one of the biggest faults that WCW had in its run was a lack of being able to build great feuds compared to their “superior product,” but doing so does a complete disservice to some great feuds.

Not including the Jim Crockett Promotion years, WCW did present some fantastic feuds over the years. The first that comes to mind is Sting versus the New World Order, possibly the greatest slow-burn feud of all time until politics and the lack of a tan caused it to be derailed entirely at Starrcade 1997. But there were several other great feuds that WCW presented, including Big Van Vader against Cactus Jack, Eddie Guerrero against Rey Mysterio, and Booker T against Chris Benoit. But one of the most under-the-radar and incredible rivalries in WCW was that of Chris Jericho and Dean Malenko.

Our journey begins back at the beginning of 1998. After struggling to find his footing and identity for the latter half of 1996 and most of 1997, Chris Jericho began to lose his cool, following loss after loss, usually accosting ring announcer David Penzer. With a newfound edge, Jericho would begin 1998 by defeating Rey Mysterio at Souled Out, taking advantage of a knee injury that Rey would be taking time off for following the bout. With his newfound vision and character cemented, Jericho was on track to begin one of the best years of his career (and given he has now been active for over 30 years, this says a lot.)

1997 was an interesting year for Dean Malenko. He was voted the Number One wrestler on the Pro Wrestling Illustrated Top 500, something usually reserved only for the top stars in the industry. Still, a successful 1997 which saw Malenko hold both the Cruiserweight and United States Championships, along with his exact style in the ring, it was well deserved. 

Before Jericho would find Malenko in his crosshairs, he would face off against Juventud Guerrera in a Mask Vs. Title match at SuperBrawl 1998, in which Jericho would win, causing Guerrera to unmask permanently, something heavily insisted upon by WCW head honcho Eric Bischoff (interestingly, one year later at the same event, Rey Mysterio would also be forced to unmask.)

Going into Uncensored, Chris Jericho was set to defend the Cruiserweight Championship against Dean Malenko. On the Thunder before the event, Jericho would cut a promo alongside Tony Schiavone wearing Guerrera’s mask and a Rey Mysterio shirt and offer Malenko a shot at the title, stating he would defeat him with his own Texas Cloverleaf finishing maneuver. Jericho would begin the match wearing the mask and shirt, attacking Malenko on the outside. Malenko would soon take control and lock Jericho in the Texas Cloverleaf, seemingly winning his fourth Cruiserweight Championship. Following the match, Malenko would unmask ‘Jericho’ to reveal it was Lenny Lane as Jericho attacked him from behind and locked in the Lion Tamer.

That Sunday at Uncensored, Malenko was granted his opportunity at the real Cruiserweight Champion Chris Jericho. Jericho would be triumphant in his victory, but the real story happened following the match. Mean Gene Okerlund would enter the ring to interview Malenko and berate him in an almost worked-shoot manner. In the end, Okerlund would finally ask Malenko, “Where do you go from here?” which came with a stunning answer from Malenko of “Home.” And from there, Malenko would vanish from our television screens.

Things would continue as usual for the now-Demo God as he would go on to successfully defend his Cruiserweight Championship and hone his new character, becoming one of the most exciting personas in all wrestling. On the March 30th episode of Nitro, Jericho would come to the ring and dedicate his match to the memory of Dean Malenko, with one of the first instances I can remember of hearing that he “took his ball and went home.” He would then tell Malenko how he had disappointed his father, the legendary Boris Malenko. Jericho would face Marty Jannetty in a quick match that would see him reverse the Rocker Dropper into the Lion Tamer for the quick tap-out. Following the match, Jericho would cut one of the most iconic promos ever, insisting that while Malenko was the Man of 1,000 Holds, he knew 1,004 and would happily list them.

Jericho: "Thank you. Thank you very much. You know, since I took care of Mr. Jannetty so quickly, I came prepared. Malenko, you claim to be the man of a thousand holds. But I counted and you know about sixty. But I know 1004 and I wrote them all down, here we go:

Hold 1: Armdrag

Hold 2: Armbar

Hold 3: The Moss Covered Three Handled Family Gredunza

Number 4: Armbar

Number 5: The Saskatchewan Spinning Nerve Hold

Number 8: Armbar

Number 9: The Shooting Star Staple Superpress

Number 10: Right Handed...

**Commercial Break**

Hold Number 712: Armbar

Hold Number 713: The Hisridhdsih

Hold Number 714: The Canadian...

Hold Number 723... whoah, I'm starting to get blown up here… The Jericho Screwdriver!

**Prince Iaukea comes to the ring**

Hold Number 725: The Super Blizzard

**Iaukea chases Jericho out of the ring, who picks up his roll of paper and leaves**

While Jericho is walking towards the entrance: I still got 204!"

Jericho would spend the ensuing months relentlessly bringing up and tearing down Malenko anytime he had a microphone. Continuing his reign of dominance as the head of the Cruiserweight division, a battle royal was set up for Slamboree in May, where the winner would face Jericho immediately following the match. In one of the absolute highlights of Jericho’s career, he would introduce every participant in the match in place of David Penzer and tore apart the competition, including calling El Dandy “the winner of the Lou Ferrigno lookalike contest” (and who is he to doubt El Dandy?!?) and telling Kidman he has some “calamine lotion for him after the show.”

The match would come down to Ciclope and Juventud Guerrera. They would stop battling and speak together, shaking hands and leading to Juventud jumping over the top rope and eliminating himself. As Jericho entered the ring, Ciclope would unmask to reveal Dean Malenko to what is legitimately one of the hugest pops in WCW history. I cannot urge you enough to go back and view this moment, as it is rare nowadays to get one such as this.

Chris Jericho surprised by Dean Malenko’s reveal at Slamboree. [WWE.com]

The two would engage in a brutal match, mostly by Malenko and see Dean victorious. This would be the peak of the two’s feud and undoubtedly the most significant moment. Unfortunately, the sloppy booking would rear its head as the following night J.J. Dillon, as the WCW authority figurehead, would reverse the decision and Malenko would be forced to vacate the title. The two would again meet at the Great American Bash that year to settle the score. As expected from the two they would have another great match, but Malenko would allow his emotions to take over after Jericho slapped him in the face and told him that he was “nothing, just like your dead father.” This would result in a disqualification finish.

A no-disqualification match would be booked for Bash At The Beach, but in the lead-up, to the match, a “No Physicality” rule was put in place. Jericho would continue to pry at Malenko with his insults, eventually insulting and insinuating that Malenko’s mother was unfaithful, causing Malenko to snap and beat Jericho down. He would be removed from the match and replaced by the returning Rey Mysterio. Malenko would cause a distraction allowing Mysterio to roll Jericho up and win the Cruiserweight Championship. Sloppy booking again reared its head, with the title reverted to Jericho and Malenko being “kayfabe” fired. He would return to put a final period on the feud as the special guest referee at that year’s Road Wild as Jericho defended and lost the Championship to Juventud Guerrera (interestingly also wrapping up their storyline from earlier in the year.)

In retrospect, this feud gave more layers to both competitors and was the best of their WCW runs. Jericho would move onto his ill-fated Goldberg feud and continue to run with his “conspiracy theorist” idea that began during the feud. Malenko would become part of the newly reformed Four Horsemen alongside Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Steve McMichael, and Chris Benoit. Both men are now considered absolute legends, and while Jericho was the more successful in the long run, I truly believe this feud was the most critical part of their WCW runs and helped establish both men in the eyes of all fans worldwide.