Deborah Killian (born March 10, 1971) is an American

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

. She is best known for her work in ''

joshi puroresu is the predominant style of professional wrestling that has developed in Japan. The term comes from the Japanese pronunciation of , which is shortened to puroresu. The term became popular among English-speaking fans due to Hisaharu Tanabe's ac ...

'' organizations such as

All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling , nicknamed Zenjo (全女: 全 meaning "All", 女 meaning "Woman") was a '' joshi puroresu'' ( women's professional wrestling) promotion established in 1968 by Takashi Matsunaga and his brothers. The group held their first card on June 4 of tha ...

Professional wrestling career

Early Career (1990)

Malenko was 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 mɐlˈɛnko, pron), was an American professional wrestler and professional wrestling trainer. ...

in her home state of Florida. In 1990 she made her debut in Florida working for Professional Wrestling Federation.

All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (1991-1993)

Malenko signed with

in 1991. She feuded with

Kyoko Inoue is a Japanese female professional wrestler. She has held the WWWA World Single Championship three times, and is the first woman to win a men's title in Japan. Inoue performed in the World Wrestling Federation at Survivor Series 1995 in an ...

. On August 31, 1991 Malenko lost to Inoue for the vacated

IWA World Women's Championship The IWA World Women's Championship was a major women's professional wrestling title in All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling. It had its origins with Stampede Wrestling in Calgary, Alberta in 1987. Title history See also * List of professional wr ...

. On January 5, 1992, Malenko and Sakie Hasegawa won the

AJW Tag Team Championship The AJW Tag Team Championship was the secondary tag team title in the Japanese professional wrestling promotion All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling. The title was introduced in 1986 and was retired in April 2005 when the promotion closed. Title his ...

defeating

Mariko Yoshida is a Japanese professional wrestler better known by the ring name . She is best known for her work with the ARSION professional wrestling promotion, where she was also head trainer. Professional wrestling career Yoshida debuted for All Japan W ...

and

Takako Inoue is a Japanese professional wrestler. She wrestled primarily for the All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling promotion, and held several championships, primarily in tag team wrestling. She was well known as one-half of the tag team Double Inoue, wh ...

. They dropped the titles back to Yoshida and Inoue. Also in 1992 they worked in various Japanese promotions and in Mexico for

Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre Co., Ltd. (CMLL; , "World Wrestling Council") is a ''lucha libre'' professional wrestling promotion based in Mexico City. The promotion was previously known as ''Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre'' (''EMLL'') (''Mexi ...

. Malenko won the

AJW Championship The AJW Championship was a tertiary belt in All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (AJW) promotion. The first champion, in 1980, was Rimi Yokota. During the title's history, no one held the belt more than two times. The belt was abandoned in 2005 after ...

defeating

Kaoru Ito is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist currently working as a freelancer and is best known for her tenure with the Japanese promotions All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling and JWP Joshi Puroresu. Professional wrestling c ...

on February 10, 1993. During her title regain she feuded with

Aja Kong is a Japanese professional wrestler better known by her ring name . She is the founder of the Arsion all-women professional wrestling promotion and has won several championships in both singles and tag team divisions throughout her career, pri ...

and Terri Powers. Her active wrestling career ended suddenly when she injured her right ankle in a tag with Sakie Hasegawa against

Manami Toyota is a retired professional wrestler, best known for her work with the All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (AJW) promotion. She is considered to be one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time. Following AJW's closure, she continued to work ...

and

Toshiyo Yamada is a retired Japanese female professional wrestler. In the 1990s, Yamada wrestled for the All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling promotion (AJW). Professional wrestling career All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling Early Career and Dream Orca (1987–19 ...

on March 11, 1993. During the match Toyota did a plancha (dive) from the top rope to the outside landing on them. Malenko fell awkwardly backwards and her knee and ankle twisted snapping her leg right above the ankle. She vacated the AJW Championship and retired.

Sporadic appearances (1999-2017)

Originally in 1999, Malenko was supposed to make a in-ring return when

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling promotion and former professional wrestling governing body operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA began as a governing body for a ...

was supposed to have a Women's Pay Per View. However, it never happened. On November 25, 2001, Malenko had her first match in 8 years facing against Bionic J at

ARSION Arsion (full official name Hyper Visual Fighting Arsion; frequently styled as ARSION) was a ''joshi puroresu'' (women's professional wrestling) promotion established in 1997 by Aja Kong. The first event took place on February 18, 1998 and was cal ...

Carinval ARSION 2001. The match ended in a draw. On November 19, 2017, Malenko wrestled at Mariko Yoshida's Retirement show in Tokyo teaming with Kaoru Ito and

Jaguar Yokota (born July 25, 1961) is a Japanese professional wrestler and later wrestling trainer, who wrestled under the name . She is widely considered one of the greatest female wrestlers of all time, and, during her heyday in the early 1980s, was consid ...

losing to Yoshida, Kyoko Inoue and Takako Inoue.

Return to Wrestling (2021-present)

On August 9, 2021 it was announced that Malenko will participant in the NWA Women’s Invitational Cup At

NWA EmPowerrr NWA EmPowerrr was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and held on August 28, 2021, as the first of two PPV events to take place from the Khorassan Ballroom of the Chase Park Plaza in St. L ...

. Her first match back was in the battle Royal at NWA EmPowerrr which was won by

Chelsea Green Chelsea Anne Cardona (born April 4, 1991) is a Canadian professional wrestler, stuntwoman and model. She is best known for her time in Impact Wrestling where she is a former impact Knockouts champion and Impact Knockouts World Tag Team Champion ...

. On October 9, Malenko won a battle royal at 50 years old at Twisted Wrestling in Port Charlotte, Florida. On April 15, 2022, Malenko wrestled against

Masha Slamovich Ann Khozine (russian: Анна Хозина, ''Anna Khozina''; born 18 June 1998), known by her ring name Masha Slamovich, is a Russian-American professional wrestler currently signed to Impact Wrestling. Early life Ann Khozine was born in M ...

at West Coast Pro Wrestling's Pro Game Related event in San Francisco, California. Slamovich won the match.

Championships and accomplishments

( 1 time) :*

– with Sakie Hasegawa

References

External links

joshicity.comwrestlingdata.comvoicesofwrestling.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Malenko, Debbie Living people 1971 births American female professional wrestlers Professional wrestlers from Florida 21st-century American women