Lawrence J. Simon (June 28, 1933 – September 1, 1994), better known by the

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name or nickname used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons ...

Boris Malenko ( rus, Бори́с Маленко́, p=bɐˈrʲis mɐˈlʲenkə), was an American

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

and professional wrestling trainer. He is best known for his appearances with

Championship Wrestling from Florida Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF) was the corporate and brand name of the Tampa, Florida professional wrestling promotion, wrestling office existing from 1961, when Eddie Graham first bought into the promotion, until 1987, when it close ...

and Big Time Wrestling in the 1960s and 1970s as a Russian

heel The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower leg. Structure To distribute the compressive forces exerted ...

. He was the father of professional wrestlers Joe and

Dean Malenko Dean Shelly Simon (born August 4, 1960), better known by the ring name Dean Malenko, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a senior producer. He is best known for his time in the World Wres ...

Early life

Simon was born in Newark, New Jersey and raised in

Irvington, New Jersey Irvington is a Township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 61,176, an increase of 7,250 (+13.4%) from the 2010 Uni ...

. As a teenager, Simon competed at

amateur wrestling Amateur wrestling is a variant of wrestling practiced at Olympic Games, Olympic, Collegiate wrestling, collegiate, Scholastic wrestling, scholastic, and other levels. There are two international wrestling styles performed at the Olympic Games, fr ...

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

s. Before becoming a professional wrestler, he worked as a truck driver in the Garment District in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Professional wrestling career

Simon made his professional debut in 1955 as "Larry Simon", wrestling in the

Eastern United States The Eastern United States, often abbreviated as simply the East, is a macroregion of the United States located to the east of the Mississippi River. It includes 17–26 states and Washington, D.C., the national capital. As of 2011, the Eastern ...

. In 1957, he joined the

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

-based promotion Big Time Wrestling under the ring name "Crusher Duggan", winning the NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship later that year. On July 19, 1961, Simon unsuccessfully challenged Buddy Rogers for the

NWA World Heavyweight Championship The NWA World's Heavyweight Championship is a men's professional wrestling Professional wrestling championship#World championships, world heavyweight championship owned and promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), an American professiona ...

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

. In September 1961, Simon joined in the

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

-based

American Wrestling Association The American Wrestling Association (AWA) was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 until 1991. It was founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo. The promotion was born out of the Minneapolis ...

. He adopted the persona of "Otto Von Krupp", a German wrestler who wore jackboots and a

swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍, ) is a symbol used in various Eurasian religions and cultures, as well as a few Indigenous peoples of Africa, African and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, American cultures. In the Western world, it is widely rec ...

on his back. Simon formed a

tag team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establis ...

with

Bob Geigel Robert Frederick Geigel (October 1, 1924 – October 30, 2014) was an American professional wrestling promoter and professional wrestler. He operated the Kansas City, Missouri-based Heart of America Sports Attractions promotion from 1963 to 19 ...

, with the duo winning the

AWA World Tag Team Championship The American Wrestling Association (AWA) World Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling world tag team championship in the American Wrestling Association from 1960 until the promotion folded in 1991. History When the NWA Minneapolis ...

in November 1961, holding it until Simon left the promotion in January 1962. In 1962, playing upon

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

tensions, Simon adopted the persona of "Boris Malenko", an agent of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. He was occasionally billed as "The Great Malenko"; a pun, with "Malenko" being

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

for "little", or as "Dr. Malenko" or "Professor Malenko". He built his career in

South Florida South Florida, sometimes colloquially shortened to SoFlo, is the Regions of the United States#Florida, southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the two others are ...

, where his gimmick made him a hated

among the Cuban population. Over the next decade, he held the

NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship The NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship was a major title in Championship Wrestling from Florida and is now the major title in NWA Florida Wrestling Alliance. It started in 1937 and was abandoned in 1949. It was picked back up in 1966 by CWF an ...

twice, the

NWA Florida Tag Team Championship The NWA Florida Tag Team Championship is the primary tag team title in NWA Florida Underground Wrestling. It started out in 1968 as the main tag team title in Championship Wrestling from Florida Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF) was ...

twice, the

NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (Florida version) The Florida version of the NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship was the major singles professional wrestling championship in the National Wrestling Alliance's Florida territory, Championship Wrestling Florida. It existed from 1962 until 1987, w ...

once, the NWA Southern Tag Team Championship (Florida version) once, and the

NWA Brass Knuckles Championship (Florida version) The Florida version of the NWA Brass Knuckles Championship was a secondary professional wrestling championship defended sporadically in the National Wrestling Alliance's Florida territory, Championship Wrestling from Florida. As its name suggests, ...

eight times. His main rivals included

Eddie Graham Edward F. Gossett (January 15, 1930 – January 21, 1985), professionally known as Eddie Graham, and Rip Rogers was an American professional wrestler. He was also the promoter and booker for Championship Wrestling from Florida and President of ...

, Wahoo McDaniel, Johnny Valentine, Joe Scarpa, and José Lothario. In an angle in 1966, after Malenko bloodied Sammy Steamboat by biting his ear, Eddie Graham stormed the ring and punched Malenko's

dentures Dentures (also known as false teeth) are prosthetic devices constructed to replace missing teeth, supported by the surrounding soft and hard tissues of the oral cavity. Conventional dentures are removable ( removable partial denture or comp ...

out of his mouth, then crushed them. In 1970, Malenko returned to Big Time Wrestling, where he held the NWA American Heavyweight Championship and the NWA Texas Tag Team Championship. He had a heated

feud A feud , also known in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, private war, or mob war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially family, families or clans. Feuds begin ...

with Wahoo McDaniel, with McDaniel defeating him in a hair versus hair match in July 1970. A bout between the two in the

Astrodome The NRG Astrodome, formerly and also known as the Houston Astrodome or simply the Astrodome, was the world's first multi-purpose, domed sports stadium, located in Houston, Texas, United States. It seated around 50,000 fans, with a record atte ...

set a longstanding attendance record. In December 1970, McDaniel defeated Malenko in a loser leaves town match, marking his departure from the promotion. During his time with Big Time Wrestling he was managed by Lord Charles Montegue. On May 9, 1972, Malenko and Bob Roop defeated

Bearcat Wright Edward M. Wright (January 13, 1932 – August 28, 1982) better known by his ring name "Bearcat" Wright was an American professional wrestler who became popular in the late 1950s and 1960s. Despite racial tension in the United States, he became wi ...

and Bobby Shane to win the

, and six days later, Malenko defeated Wright in singles competition to win his eighth and final Florida Brass Knuckles title in

Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...

. On June 24, 1972, Malenko and Johnny Weaver defeated Mike Webster and The Professional for his second run with the Florida Tag Team titles. Malenko toured Japan with

All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW/AJP) or simply All Japan is a Puroresu, Japanese professional wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on October 21, 1972, by Giant Baba after he left the Japanese Wrestling Association to create his own promotion. Ma ...

in 1973 and

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Puroresu, Japanese professional-wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, and based in Nakano, Tokyo. It is currently majority owned by card-game company Bushiroad, with TV As ...

in 1974. During his time with NJPW, Malenko wrestled a number of high-profile bouts with

Antonio Inoki (born ; 20 February 1943 – 1 October 2022) was a Japanese professional wrestler, Glossary of professional wrestling terms#school, professional wrestling trainer, martial arts, martial artist, politician, and Promoter (entertainment), promot ...

. In the late 1970s, Malenko wrestled for the

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...

-based promotion

Southeastern Championship Wrestling Continental Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion based in Knoxville, Tennessee, and Dothan, Alabama, from 1985 until 1989, owned by Ron Fuller. The promotion evolved out of the NWA-affiliated Southeastern Championship W ...

, winning both the NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship (Northern Division) and the NWA Southeastern Television Championship in 1978. He became the

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

of Jerry Blackwell after it was claimed he had acquired the

mortgage A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law (legal system), civil law jurisdictions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners t ...

to Blackwell's family farm, forcing him to fight on his behalf. The

angle In Euclidean geometry, an angle can refer to a number of concepts relating to the intersection of two straight Line (geometry), lines at a Point (geometry), point. Formally, an angle is a figure lying in a Euclidean plane, plane formed by two R ...

ended after

Ron Garvin Roger Barnes (born March 30, 1945) is a Canadian former professional wrestling, professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, "Rugged" Ronnie Garvin. He is best known for his appearances with Jim Crockett Promotions, Mid-Atlantic Champi ...

paid off the mortgage, freeing Blackwell to attack Malenko. Malenko retired in 1980 and opened a training school in Florida with his sons Dean and Joe. He died of leukemia in Tampa Florida at age 61 in late 1994.

Wrestlers trained

* Joe Malenko * Kane *

Bart Gunn Michael Polchlopek (born December 27, 1965) is an American retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from 1993 to 1999 under the ring names Bart Gunn and ...

Tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

* Al Perez * Norman Smiley * Gangrel *

Barry Horowitz Barry Horowitz (born March 24, 1959) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, best known for his time in the WWE, World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Early life Horowitz attended Florida State University, where he studied spo ...

* X-Pac * Bobby Blaze * Bob Orton Jr. * Buddy Landel * Chris Champion * Eddie Sharkey * Horace Hogan * Marc Mero *

Perry Saturn Perry Arthur Satullo (born October 25, 1966) is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler known by his ring name, Perry Saturn. Since debuting in 1990, Saturn wrestled for Professional wrestling promotion, promotions inclu ...

* Van Hammer * Carl Malenko (not related) * Bob Cook * Frank Reyes *

Debbie Malenko Deborah Killian (born March 10, 1971), known under the ring name Debbie Malenko, is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. She is best known for her work in ''Professional wrestling in Japan#Female wrestling, joshi puroresu' ...

Personal life

Simon, who was Jewish, had two sons, Dean and Jody, both of whom became professional wrestlers. He died in September 1994 from

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

Championships and accomplishments

*All-Star Wrestling Omaha **Nebraska Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *

( 1 time) - with

** NWA Brass Knuckles Championship ''(Florida version)'' ( 8 times) **

( 1 time) **

( 2 times) - with Bob Roop (1 time) and Johnny Walker (1 time) ** NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship ''(Florida version)'' ( 1 time) ** NWA Southern Tag Team Championship ''(Florida version)'' ( 1 time) - with Johnny Valentine * George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame **Trainers Award (2023) *

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and governing body owned by Billy Corgan and operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA be ...

** NWA Hall of Fame (Class of 2016) * NWA Big Time Wrestling ** NWA American Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) ** NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time)* ** NWA Texas Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) - with Killer Karl Kox *

** NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship ''(Northern Division)'' ( 1 time) ** NWA Southeastern Television Championship ( 1 time) *

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

WWE Hall of Fame The WWE Hall of Fame is a List of halls and walks of fame, hall of fame which honors professional wrestlers and professional wrestling personalities maintained by WWE. Originally known as the "WWF Hall of Fame", it was created in 1993 when An ...

( Class of 2018)

''Luchas de Apuestas'' record

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Malenko, Boris 1933 births 1994 deaths 20th-century American male actors American male professional wrestlers Deaths from leukemia in Florida Faux German professional wrestlers Faux Russian professional wrestlers Jewish American sportspeople Jewish professional wrestlers People from Irvington, New Jersey Professional wrestlers from New Jersey Professional wrestling promoters American professional wrestling trainers 20th-century American Jews 20th-century male professional wrestlers 20th-century American professional wrestlers AWA World Tag Team Champions NWA Florida Heavyweight Champions NWA Florida Tag Team Champions NWA Southern Heavyweight Champions (Florida version) NWA Brass Knuckles Champions (Florida version) NWA World Tag Team Champions (Florida version) NWA Texas Heavyweight Champions WCWA World Tag Team Champions Sportspeople from Newark, New Jersey WWE Hall of Fame Legacy inductees