Joe Malenko
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| Ring name(s) | Joe Malenko Joe Solkoff |
| Billed height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) |
| Billed weight | 225 lb (102 kg/16.1 st) |
| Born | June 4, 1955 Tampa, Florida, United States |
| Resides | Tampa, Florida |
| Trained by | Boris Malenko Hiro Matsuda |
| Debut | 1977 |
| Retired | 1995 |
Joe Simon (born June 4, 1955 in Tampa, Florida) is a former professional wrestler best known under the ring name Joe Malenko. Malenko was born into a wrestling family, and his father Boris Malenko was a prominent wrestling figure in his own right. Dean Malenko is his brother.
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[edit] Wrestling career
[edit] Japan
Joe Malenko is most known for his stints wrestling in Japan. Joe began in the Universal Wrestling Federation (Japan) in May of 1985 for 13 days. One of his most well known matches in the UWF was his tag match with Super Tiger where they faced the team of Yoshiaki Fujiwara and Osamu Kido.
Joe would then team up with his brother, Dean, in All Japan Pro Wrestling to form "The Malenko Brothers". Joe would tour regularly with All Japan from February 1988 until May 1992. Joe quickly became noticed among smart fans for his smooth technical wrestling. Joe had two reigns as AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Championship. From late 1989 to early 1990, he teamed with Kenta Kobashi against the Can-Am Express (Dan Kroffat & Doug Furnas) for the AJPW All Asia Tag Team Championship. Joe's most memorable matches came in his match versus his brother, Dean and when they (the Malenko Brothers) faced the British Bulldogs (Johnny Smith and Dynamite Kid) during Giant Baba's 30th Wrestling Anniversary on September 30, 1990. Joe and Dean's only chance for the AJPW All Asia Tag Team Championships was against the Can-Am Express on March 4, 1992 in Tokyo, Japan.
[edit] North America
Joe Malenko made his only appearance in World Championship Wrestling in the year of 1992 during the Clash of the Champions XIX. He teamed with his brother to take on the team of Nikita Koloff and Ricky Steamboat in the first of round of a tournament held for the NWA World Tag Team Titles. "The Malenko Brothers" came up short, Dean was later brought back to WCW. Next Joe and Dean travelled to Puerto Rico to take part in the World Wrestling Council's 19th Anniversery show. They were defeated Steve Doll & Rex King, who at the time were the WWC Tag Team Champions.
Joe Malenko made his first appearance in Extreme Championship Wrestling on November 18, 1994. He once again teamed up with his brother, Dean, to take on the team of Sabu and the Tazmanic. They lost, but made a good impression on the knowledgeable Philadelphia fans. Dean Malenko continued to work ECW, but Joe mainly stayed worked on Florida ECW shows. He worked ECW's first run of Florida shows in 1995 against Stevie Richards (in Davie) and Osamu Nishimura (in Orlando). He drew with both.
When ECW returned to Florida in May, Joe was once again featured on the opening matches of the card. ECW made its first appearance at the War Memorial Auditorium in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida on May 5, 1995. Joe defeated local Florida indy wrestler, and acquaintance from his father's Tampa school, Soulman Alex G. The next night in Tampa, Joe defeated Miguel San Juan.
Joe Malenko is retired from wrestling and is a registered pharmacist in Florida.
