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Former Senior Vice President of WCW Eric Bischoff worked hard to make the promotion stand out when compared to WWE during the 1990s, and one of the most successful things he introduced to the company was the legendary WCW cruiserweight division. Stars from all over the world flocked to WCW to produce some of the most exciting matches of the decade, but during a recent edition of his "83 Weeks" podcast, Bischoff explained why one man stood out from the crowd: "The Iceman," Dean Malenko.
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"There was a layer of intensity that was understated that made his intensity even more powerful to me," Bischoff said. "When he walked through that curtain, he's rubbing his wrists, he's looking around, and the camera sees his eyes, you'd look in Dean's eyes and you could allow yourself to believe Dean Malenko is getting ready for a fight. Might not think it consciously, but subconsciously as you're watching, because you're watching to escape, watching to get sucked into the characters, want to believe it's real, it's real as long as the people that you're watching give you a half-a** reason to believe it is. That's called performing...and Dean had that."
Bischoff explained that Malenko was the crown jewel of the division, comparing the "Man of 1000 Holds" to the Mercedes-Benz hood ornament as a symbol of excellence that everyone could recognize. Malenko went on to hold the WCW Cruiserweight Championship four times during his time with the company, including being the second champion in the title's lineage defeating the inaugural champion, Shinjiro Otani, on an episode of "WCW Worldwide" in 1996; this marked the first time the title had ever changed hands in a WCW ring as Otani originally won the title at a NJPW event two months earlier.
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Please credit "83 Weeks" when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

