Pro Wrestling Chronicle

3.8.95 Dean Malenko vs 2 Cold Scorpio

This is from the ECW Arena with Joey Styles on commentary. Right in my wheel house as ECW was my home promotion as a teen living only an hour from Philly. I’d forgotten that “The Sexiest Man Alive” Jason was Malenko’s manager. How do you like my new suit? Killer!

This was maybe a week before Eddie Guerrero hit the scene. Scorpio is noticeably bigger then Malenko, but man was Scorpio in his prime during 1995.

They do an abbreviated chain wrestling sequence and head right into some wrestling striking. Scorpio is noticeably favoring his left ankle, which Styles says was injured the night before. Scorpio frustrates Malenko, though it was too subtle for the fit Malenko through on the outside.

I’d forgotten how fun the ECW camera work was. Scorpio keeps a headlock to the floor and back in. Something I love is Malenko sells the damage even after hitting a move to get out of danger. I guess I just miss people selling more. Crowd is into in, but not completely there yet. Malenko starts stomping on the leg. Fans are already to jump on a move that doesn’t really hit, so Styles acknowledges it. Decent work on a body part stuff. Dean always worked at his own pace, which I kinda dig. Scorpio sells it really well.

The crowd gets lost a bit as the action slows. Scorpio’s attempts at breaking free don’t elicit a big response. They weren’t hugely inspiring. I’d say this is two very talented guys having a second gear match. Malenko uses a low blow when he’s in trouble. Scorp come back sells the leg while hitting a moonsault that gets a two count.

This is where wrestling and Philly/NYC was during the mid 90s. Malenko throws the ref infront of a diving 2 Cold for a ref bump. The Fans pop huge for the great heel move. It doesn’t get heat, but it worked for its time because they weren’t accepting regular heel/face roles at the time, let alone a promotion that booked traditional roles.

Tazz comes in as a face and Taz-plexes Malenko, who was setting up for the Texas Cloverleaf (I love that submission, where has it gone!?). This came off clumsy and the crowd only popped because the move was brutal. He puts Scorpio on Malenko, but Malenko kicks out. So Taz does a Samoan drop, because at the time he was a island kind of guy. A bunch of other nonsense happens that basically builds up to the original three way dance. Scorpio wins with a roll up. Malenko is pissed at Jason.

Look, this is too convoluted and I only give it a pass because I loved this stuff at the time and still have a place for it. It’s not the execution of an angle I’d wanna see now. Fun for what it was. The wrestlers wrestled down to indy show level, but they are still pretty great doing that. 2 ½ and 5/10.