Carl Ognibene (born January 25, 1970) is 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 ...

freestyle wrestler Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling. It is one of two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games, along with Greco-Roman wrestling, Greco-Roman. scholastic wrestling, High school wrestling and men's collegiate wrestling in the U ...

and

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

who is best known as Carl Malenko who competed in

Battlarts , more commonly referred to as simply Battlarts (also stylized as BattlARTS) was a professional wrestling promotion founded in 1996 by Yuki Ishikawa following the mass exodus he led from Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi (PWFG) amidst the financial st ...

Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Group (''Purofesshonaru-resuringu Fujiwara-Gumi'', プロフェッショナルレスリング藤原組) was a shoot style professional wrestling promotion based in Tokyo, Japan, operating from 1991 to 1996. It was formed b ...

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 ...

and

Pride Fighting Championships PRIDE Fighting Championships (Pride or Pride FC, founded as KRS-Pride) was a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion company. Its inaugural event was held at the Tokyo Dome on October 11, 1997. Pride held more than sixty mixed martial arts even ...

Professional wrestling career

Trained by

Boris Malenko Lawrence J. Simon (June 28, 1933 – September 1, 1994), better known by the ring name Boris Malenko ( rus, Бори́с Маленко́, p=bɐˈrʲis mɐˈlʲenkə), was an American professional wrestler and professional wrestling trainer. He i ...

, Carl Contini was transformed into a top flight worker like his step-brothers Joe and

Dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean * Dean Sw ...

. Malenko made his professional wrestling debut in 1993 for

in Japan using the name Carl Greco. In 1996, he made his debut for

BattlARTS , more commonly referred to as simply Battlarts (also stylized as BattlARTS) was a professional wrestling promotion founded in 1996 by Yuki Ishikawa following the mass exodus he led from Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi (PWFG) amidst the financial st ...

. In 1999, he changed his name to Carl Malenko during his time in BattlARTS and formative years, when he became the top

gaijin is a Japanese word for foreigners and non-Japanese citizens in Japan, specifically being applied to foreigners of non-Japanese ethnicity and those from the Japanese diaspora who are not Japanese citizens. The word is composed of two kanji: a ...

for BattlARTS in its later years, mainly pushed as a tag wrestler. Malenko changed his name to Carl Contini in 2003 while working for

. His final match for BattlArts took place in 2008. In 2011, Malenko made his debut for the independent promotion in Florida, Definitive Wrestling International in a battle royale as the Masked Superstar. He retired form wrestling in 2014.

Championships and awards

* AJPW Jr. Champion Carnival (

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

) **Battlarts Tag Team League (1999, 2000) - with Katsumi Usuda

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 6–4 , Danny Babcock , Submission (armbar) , Real Fighting Championship 15 - Throwdown , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:46 ,

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

, , - , Win , align=center, 6–3 , Tony Sousa , Submission (punches) , Real Fighting Championship 11 - Revenge of the Warriors , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:06 ,

, , - , Win , align=center, 5–3 , Mike Van Meer , Submission (arm-triangle choke) , Real Fighting Championship 7 - Night of Champions , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:14 ,

, , - , Win , align=center, 4–3 , Joe Kennedy , Submission (punches) , Real Fighting Championship 6 - Battle of the Bay , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:59 ,

, , - , Win , align=center, 3–3 , George Allen , Submission (americana) , Real Fighting Championship 3 - battle of the Bay , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:19 ,

, , - , Win , align=center, 2–3 , Edwin Aguilar , Submission (arm-triangle choke) , Absolute Fighting Championships 9 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:31 , Ft. Lauderdale,

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

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Allan Goes Allan may refer to: People * Allan (given name), a list of people and characters with this given name * Allan (surname), a list of people and characters with this surname * Allan (footballer, born 1984) (Allan Barreto da Silva), Brazilian fo ...

, Submission (arm-triangle choke) , Pride 8 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 9:16 ,

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

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Wanderlei Silva Wanderlei César da Silva ( , , ; born 3 July 1976) is a Brazilian former mixed martial artist who competed in Japan's Pride Fighting Championships and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He holds the record for the most wins, knockouts, ...

, Decision (unanimous) ,

Pride 7 Pride is a human secondary emotion characterized by a sense of satisfaction with one's identity, performance, or accomplishments. It is often considered the opposite of shame or of humility and, depending on context, may be viewed as either vir ...

, , align=center, 2 , align=center, 10:00 ,

Yokohama, Kanagawa is the second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a population of 3.7 million in 2023. It lies on Tokyo B ...

, , - , Win , align=center, 1–1 ,

Egan Inoue Egan Inoue (, born June 4, 1965) is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner, former mixed martial artist and racquetball competitor. A two-time International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Champion, Inoue is a two-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world ...

, Decision (unanimous) , Pride 6 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, , - , Loss , align=center, 0–1 , Ronald McSwain , N/A , World Fighting Council , , align=center, N/A , align=center, N/A , N/A ,

References

External links

Wrestling Data profile

Sherdog profile

Ognibene profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Malenko, Carl 1970 births Living people American male professional wrestlers American male sport wrestlers American male mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing freestyle wrestling People from Tampa, Florida People from Winter Haven, Florida 20th-century American sportsmen