Editing Dean Malenko (section)

=== Early career (1979–1994)===
Malenko was born into a wrestling family, and his father [[Boris Malenko]] was a prominent wrestling figure. He started out as a referee in the [[Tampa, Florida|Tampa]] area and even worked briefly as a referee for the [[WWE|WWF]] in the mid-1980s. He has wrestled all over the world and has spent much time wrestling in Mexico and Japan. He wrestled with his brother [[Joe Malenko]] from 1988 to 1992, forming a [[tag team]] working in Puerto Rico, Japan, and Australia until his brother retired. On January 24, 1992, Malenko defeated "The Superstar" for the Suncoast Pro Wrestling (SPW) Southern title in [[Palmetto, Florida]]. Malenko defeated [[Jimmy Del Ray|Jimmy Backlund]] for the ICWA Light Heavyweight title on March 12, 1992, in Tampa. Then, Malenko teamed with his brother losing to [[Ricky Steamboat]] and [[Nikita Koloff]] at [[Clash of the Champions XIX]].