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 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 o ...

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 wrestling office existing from 1961, when Eddie Graham first bought into the promotion, until 1987, when it closed down. It is also referred to as ...

and Big Time Wrestling in the 1960s and 1970s as a Russian heel. He was the father of professional wrestlers

Joe Malenko Jody Simon (born June 4, 1956) is an American pharmacist and retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Joe Malenko. He is the son of Boris Malenko and the older brother of Dean Malenko. Professional wrestling career Japan M ...

and

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

Early life

Simon was born in Newark, New Jersey and raised in

Irvington, New Jersey Irvington is a township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 61,176. The township had the ninth-highest property tax rate in New Jersey, with an equalized rate of 4.890% in 2020, compared to 2.82 ...

. As a teenager, Simon competed at amateur wrestling in

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams (philanthropist), Georg ...

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 or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

Professional wrestling career

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

Eastern United States The Eastern United States, commonly referred to as the American East, Eastern America, or simply the East, is the region of the United States to the east of the Mississippi River. In some cases the term may refer to a smaller area or the East C ...

. In 1957, he joined the

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

-based promotion Big Time Wrestling under the ring name "Crusher Duggan", winning the

NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship The NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling title that has existed since the 1930s. Though its exact date of creation isn't known, it is among the oldest championships used in professional wrestling today. The title has us ...

later that year. On July 19, 1961, Simon unsuccessfully challenged Buddy Rogers for the

NWA World Heavyweight Championship The NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship is a world heavyweight professional wrestling championship owned and promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), an American professional wrestling promotion. The current champion is Tyrus, who is i ...

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

. In September 1961, Simon joined in the

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

-based American Wrestling Association. He adopted the persona of "Otto Von Krupp", a German wrestler who wore

jackboot A jackboot is a military boot such as the cavalry jackboot or the hobnailed jackboot. The hobnailed jackboot has a different design and function from the first type. It is a combat boot that is designed for marching. It rises to mid-calf or high ...

s and a swastika 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 establish ...

with Bob Geigel, 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 Minneapoli ...

in November 1961, holding it until Simon left the promotion in January 1962. In 1962, playing upon Cold War tensions, Simon adopted the persona of "Boris Malenko", an agent of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

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

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

for "little", or as "Dr. Malenko" or "Professor Malenko". He built his career in South Florida, where his gimmick made him a hated heel among the

Cuban Cuban may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Cuba, a country in the Caribbean * Cubans, people from Cuba, or of Cuban descent ** Cuban exile, a person who left Cuba for political reasons, or a descendant thereof * Cuban citizen, a perso ...

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, USA 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 C ...

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, ...

once, the

NWA Southern Tag Team Championship (Florida version) The Florida version of the NWA Southern Tag Team Championship was a top tag team title in the National Wrestling Alliance's Florida territory, Championship Wrestling from Florida. It existed from 1960 until 1971, when the title was abandoned. Ti ...

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 Championship Wr ...

eight times. His main rivals included

Eddie Graham Edward F. Gossett (January 15, 1930 – January 21, 1985), better known as Eddie Graham, was an American professional wrestler. He was also the promoter and booker for Championship Wrestling from Florida and President of the NWA in the 1970s. ...

Wahoo McDaniel Edward Hugh McDaniel (June 19, 1938 – April 18, 2002) was an American Choctaw-Chickasaw professional American football player and professional wrestler better known by his ring name Wahoo McDaniel. He is notable for having held the NWA Unite ...

Johnny Valentine John Theodore Wisniski (September 22, 1928 – April 24, 2001), better known by his ring name Johnny Valentine, was an American professional wrestler with a career spanning almost three decades. He has been inducted into four halls of fame fo ...

, Joe Scarpa, and

José Lothario Guadalupe Robledo (December 12, 1933 – November 6, 2018) was a Mexican professional wrestler, best known by the ring name of José Lothario. He performed for such promotions as the NWA and the WWF. Professional wrestling career Lothario st ...

. In an angle in 1966, after Malenko bloodied

Sammy Steamboat Samuel K. Mokuahi (May 4, 1934 – May 2, 2006) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Sammy Steamboat. Early life Mokuahi grew up in Honolulu, attending President Theodore Roosevelt High School, where he play ...

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, and are supported by the surrounding soft and hard tissues of the oral cavity. Conventional dentures are removable ( removable partial denture o ...

out of his mouth, then crushed them. In 1970, Malenko returned to Big Time Wrestling, where he held the

NWA American Heavyweight Championship The WCWA World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship promoted by the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex area–based World Class Wrestling Association (WCWA). The championship was originally created in ...

and the

NWA Texas Tag Team Championship The WCWA Texas Tag Team Championship was the secondary professional wrestling tag team championship promoted by the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex area-based World Class Wrestling Association (WCWA). The championship was originally known as the NW ...

. He had a heated feud 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, also known as the Houston Astrodome or simply the Astrodome, is the world's first multi-purpose, domed sports stadium, located in Houston, Texas. It was financed and assisted in development by Roy Hofheinz, mayor of Houston ...

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 Robert Michael Roop (born July 22, 1942) is an American retired amateur wrestler and professional wrestler whose career spanned high school, college, the United States Army, amateur and professional wrestling. He was an American heavyweight Gr ...

defeated

Bearcat Wright Edward M. Wright (January 13, 1932 – August 28, 1982) was an American professional wrestler who became popular in the late 1950s and 1960s. Despite racial tension in the United States, he became wildly popular as a babyface. Wrestling in either ...

and

Bobby Shane Robert Lee Schoenberger (August 25, 1945 – February 20, 1975), better known as Bobby Shane, who also wrestled as Bobby Schoen and as The Challenger, was an American professional wrestler known for his time in NWA Florida in the late 1960s and e ...

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 () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...

. 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 Japanese professional wrestling promotion established on October 21, 1972 when Giant Baba split away from the Japanese Wrestling Association and created his own promotion. Many wrestlers had left with Baba ...

in 1973 and

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Puroresu, Japanese professional wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion based in Nakano, Tokyo. Founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, the promotion was sold to Yuke's, who later sold it to Bushiroad in 2012. TV ...

in 1974. During his time with NJPW, Malenko wrestled a number of high-profile bouts with Antonio Inoki. In the late 1970s, Malenko wrestled for the

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state' ...

-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 Wr ...

, winning both the

NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship (Northern Division) The NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship (Northern Division) was a major title in the NWA's Alabama territory known as Southeastern Championship Wrestling. It existed from 1972 until 1988 when the promotion became the Continental Wrestling ...

and the NWA Southeastern Television Championship in 1978. He became the

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

Jerry Blackwell Jerry Blackwell (April 26, 1949 – January 22, 1995) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name "Crusher" Jerry Blackwell. Blackwell competed in the 1979 World's Strongest Man contest, but withdrew early in the competi ...

after it was claimed he had acquired the

mortgage A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law jurisdicions 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 to raise funds for any ...

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

angle In Euclidean geometry, an angle is the figure formed by two rays, called the '' sides'' of the angle, sharing a common endpoint, called the '' vertex'' of the angle. Angles formed by two rays lie in the plane that contains the rays. Angles a ...

ended after

Ron Garvin Roger Barnes (born March 30, 1945) is a Canadian former professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, "Rugged" Ronnie Garvin. He is best known for his appearances with Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federatio ...

paid off the mortgage, freeing Blackwell to attack Malenko. Malenko retired in 1980 and opened a training school in Florida with his sons

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 Titles * ...

and

Joe Joe or JOE may refer to: Arts Film and television * ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle * ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage * ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971 * ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...

Wrestlers trained

* Kane *

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, su ...

Al Perez Al Perez (born July 23, 1960) is a retired American professional wrestler. He held 16 titles during a 20-year career, including the WCWA World Heavyweight Championship. Professional wrestling career Early career Perez began wrestling as an amat ...

Norman Smiley Norman Anthony Smiley (born February 28, 1965) is an English-American retired professional wrestler and vocalist specializing in Gregorian Chants. He is best known for his appearances with the Mexican promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre fro ...

* Gangrel *

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

X-Pac Sean Michael Waltman (born July 13, 1972) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE under a legends contract. He is best known for his appearances for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) under the ring names 1–2– ...

* Bobby Blaze *

Bob Orton Jr. Robert Keith Orton Jr. (born November 10, 1950), better known by the ring name "Cowboy" Bob Orton, is an American semi-retired professional wrestler. He is the son of professional wrestler Bob Orton Sr., the brother of professional wrestler Bar ...

Buddy Landel William Fritz Ensor (August 14, 1961 – June 22, 2015) was an American professional wrestler better known by the ring name "Nature Boy" Buddy Landel. He was best known for his work in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) territories. Early lif ...

Chris Champion Christopher Dennis Ashford-Smith (February 17, 1961 – August 22, 2018), better known by his ring name Chris Champion, was an American professional wrestler. He primarily worked for various National Wrestling Alliance member territories, inclu ...

Eddie Sharkey Eddie Sharkey (born February 4, 1936) is an American professional wrestling trainer. He is often called "The Trainer of Champions". He has been instrumental in training some of the biggest names in the sport. He was also the owner of Pro Wrest ...

Horace Hogan Michael Allan Bollea (born October 21, 1965) is an American retired professional wrestler. The nephew of fellow wrestler Hulk Hogan, he is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling in the late 1990s under the ring name Hora ...

Marc Mero Marc Mero (born July 9, 1960) is an American former amateur boxer and professional wrestler, as well as a motivational speaker. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) under his real name and with ...

Perry Saturn Perry Arthur Satullo (born October 25, 1966) is an American retired professional wrestler known by his ring name, Perry Saturn. Since debuting in 1990, Saturn wrestled for promotions including Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), World Champions ...

Van Hammer A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and bigger than a common car. There is some varying in the scope of the word across ...

* Carl Malenko * Bob Cook * Frank Reyes * Debbie Malenko

Personal life

Simon, who was Jewish, had two sons,

and Jody, both of whom became professional wrestlers. He died in September 1994 from

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in 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) * American Wrestling Association **

( 1 time) - with Bob Geigel *

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

( 1 time) **

(

2 times "2 Times" is a song co-written and recorded by British Italian-based singer Ann Lee. It was released in 1999 as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999). The single entered and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. Outside ...

) - with

(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

* National Wrestling Alliance **

NWA Hall of Fame The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) Hall of Fame is an American professional wrestling hall of fame maintained by the NWA. It was established in 2005 to honor select wrestling personalities, mostly alumni of the NWA. Inductees receive commemora ...

(Class of 2016) * NWA Big Time Wrestling **

( 1 time) **

( 1 time)* **

( 1 time) - with

Killer Karl Kox Herbert Alan Gerwig (April 26, 1931 – November 10, 2011) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name of Killer Karl Kox, who competed in the National Wrestling Alliance as well as international promotions such as All ...

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

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vari ...

WWE Hall of Fame The WWE Hall of Fame is a 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 André the Giant was posthumously i ...

(

Class of 2018 ''Class of 2018'' is a 2018 Filipino teen suspense–thriller film directed by Charliebebs Gohetia. It stars Sharlene San Pedro and Nash Aguas. The film was produced and distributed by T-Rex Entertainment. It premiered in the Philippines on Nove ...

)

''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 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 Professional wrestling trainers Sportspeople from Newark, New Jersey WWE Hall of Fame Legacy inductees 20th-century American Jews 20th-century 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)