{"id":46987,"date":"2019-05-24T13:58:31","date_gmt":"2019-05-24T17:58:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=46987"},"modified":"2019-05-24T13:58:31","modified_gmt":"2019-05-24T17:58:31","slug":"dean-malenko-aew","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2019\/05\/24\/dean-malenko-aew\/","title":{"rendered":"The Iceman Cometh: Dean Malenko Joins AEW As Senior Producer\/Coach"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It was heavily speculated <a href=\"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/2019\/04\/25\/report-dean-malenko-quits-wwe\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">following his departure from the WWE<\/a> a few weeks ago that <strong>Dean Malenko<\/strong> was most likely bound for <strong>All Elite Wrestling (AEW)<\/strong>, and the rumors increased tenfold in the past few days when he was photographed with AEW owner <strong>Tony Khan<\/strong> and VP <strong>Cody Rhodes<\/strong> outside their private jet. But on Friday, AEW made it official. The former WWE, WCW and ECW Superstar has signed with AEW as their Senior Producer and Coach, joining a coaching staff that features <strong>Billy Gunn<\/strong> and <strong>Jerry Lynn<\/strong>, and acting as the Senior Producer backstage.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Welcome to the team Coach <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/DeanMalenko?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#DeanMalenko<\/a> is <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/AllElite?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#AllElite<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/9DxBKTVjzw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/9DxBKTVjzw<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AEW\/status\/1131972969788366848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 24, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong>Dean Malenko<\/strong> retired from active competition in 2001, just a year into his WWE career, following a lengthy career that included stops in WCW, ECW, <strong>New Japan Pro Wrestling, All Japan Pro Wrestling<\/strong>, and various NWA territories in the 1980s. He transitioned to a backstage role as a producer and road agent and left the company this past April after 19 years with the company.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-46950\" src=\"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2019\/05\/60669575_421539448425439_5473672442767474688_n-e1558667857675.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"338\" height=\"600\"><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Dean Malenko has been a massive force behind some of today&#8217;s biggest wrestling stars,&#8221; said Cody Rhodes in the press release today. &#8220;He&#8217;s never stopped being a major talent who was part of the ECW revolution as well as a fixture in the cruiserweight movement on Nitro. He&#8217;s kept an open mind to our world from Lucha Libre to Japanese pro-wrestling. He&#8217;s the perfect fit for our sports-centric mentality, and his experience will be invaluable to our team. Welcome Coach!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Stay tuned to the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/a>\u00a0for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Check out our other #AllEliteWeek articles for more AEW news heading into Double or Nothing this Saturday!<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/2019\/05\/20\/alleliteweek-quick-guide-to-everything-elite\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Quick Guide to Everything Elite (5\/20\/19)<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/2019\/02\/08\/all-inclusive-wrestling-nyla-rose-becomes-first-trans-wrestler-signed-to-major-contract\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>All Inclusive: Nyla Rose Becomes First Transgender Wrestler Signed to Major Contract (2\/8\/19)<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/2019\/04\/09\/joshi-freelancer-hikaru-shida-joins-aew\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Joshi Freelancer Hikaru Shida Joins AEW (4\/9\/19)<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/2019\/05\/13\/match-point-aja-kong-emi-sakura-yuka-sakazaki-vs-riho-abe-hikaru-shida-ryu-mizunami\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Match Point: Aja Kong, Emi Sakura &amp; Yuka Sakazaki vs. Riho, Hikaru Shida &amp; Ryu Mizunami (5\/13\/2019)<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/2019\/05\/14\/the-zebras-are-coming-aew-announces-three-referee-signings-more\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>The Zebras Are Coming: AEW Announces Ref Signings (5\/14\/19)<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/2019\/05\/15\/its-official-aew-signs-tv-deal-with-tnt-warnermedia\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>It\u2019s Official: AEW Signs TV Deal with TNT\/WarnerMedia (5\/15\/19)<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/2019\/05\/20\/alleliteweek-casino-battle-royale-the-buy-in\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Casino Battle Royale &amp; The Buy-In (5\/20\/19)<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/2019\/05\/21\/aew-debuts-first-match-hangman-page-vs-pac-video\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">AEW Debuts First Match: PAC vs Hangman Page (5\/21\/19)<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/2019\/05\/21\/alleliteweek-shawn-spears-tye-dillinger-enters-aew-casino-battle-royale-video\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Shawn Spears (Tye Dillinger) Enters Casino Battle Royale (5\/21\/19)<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/2019\/05\/21\/allelitewrestling-best-friends-hit-the-jackpot\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Best Friends Hit The Jackpot (5\/21\/19)<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/2019\/05\/22\/alleliteweek-the-young-bucks-and-the-road-to-aew-videos\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Young Bucks and the Road to AEW (5\/22\/19)<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/2019\/05\/22\/alleliteweek-dustin-rhodes-a-golden-opportunity\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Dustin Rhodes: A Golden Opportunity (5\/22\/19)<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/2019\/05\/22\/aew-championship-plan-announced\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>AEW World Championship Plan Announced (5\/22\/19)<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/2019\/05\/23\/cody-rhodes-aew\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Cody Rhodes Has Changed The Business in Three Years (5\/23\/19)<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/2019\/05\/23\/alleliteweek-strong-hearts-invade-las-vegas\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Stong Hearts Invade Las Vegas (5\/23\/19)<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/2019\/05\/23\/aew-cody-rhodes-tv\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Cody Rhodes Confirms AEW TV Will Be \u201cTwo Hours. LIVE!\u201d (5\/23\/19)<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/2019\/05\/24\/angelico-jack-evans-aew\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Ang\u00e9lico &amp; Jack Evans \u2013 Flying in Style (5\/24\/19)<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/2019\/05\/24\/the-final-hand-six-spots-remain-in-aew-casino-battle-royale\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>The Final Hand: Six Spots Remain in AEW Casino Battle Royale (5\/24\/19)<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/2019\/05\/24\/adam-page-hangman-aew\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Hanging on a Moment: The Adam Page Story (5\/24\/19)<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It was heavily speculated following his departure from the WWE a few weeks ago that Dean Malenko was most likely bound for All Elite Wrestling (AEW), and the rumors increased tenfold in the past few days when he was photographed with AEW owner Tony Khan and VP Cody Rhodes outside their private jet. But on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":649,"featured_media":44901,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4677,2,6],"tags":[4133,775],"class_list":["post-46987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aew","category-featured","category-north-america","tag-aew","tag-dean-malenko"],"modified_by":"Jamie Greer","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/649"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46987\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}