text: Early career (1979–1994) Malenko was born into a wrestling family, and his father Boris Malenko was a prominent wrestling figure. He started out as a referee in the Tampa area and even worked briefly as a referee for the WWF in the mid-1980s. He has wrestled all over the world and has spent much time wrestling in Mexico and Japan. He wrestled with his brother Joe Malenko from 1988 to 1992, forming a tag team working in Puerto Rico, Japan, and Australia until his brother retired. On January 24, 1992, Malenko defeated "The Superstar" for the Suncoast Pro Wrestling (SPW) Southern title in Palmetto, Florida. Malenko defeated Jimmy Backlund for the ICWA Light Heavyweight title on March 12, 1992, in Tampa. Then, Malenko teamed with his brother losing to Ricky Steamboat and Nikita Koloff at Clash of the Champions XIX.
  Eastern Championship Wrestling / Extreme Championship Wrestling (1994–1995)
  On August 27, 1994, Malenko debuted in Eastern Championship Wrestling (ECW) as a heel participating in a professional wrestling tournament for the vacant NWA World Heavyweight Championship. He defeated Osamu Nishimura in the quarterfinals before he ended up losing to the eventual winner Shane Douglas in the semifinals. Malenko became known as "The Shooter" and was given a gimmick similar to an Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter (due to his resemblance to Royce Gracie). On November 4, 1994, he defeated 2 Cold Scorpio to win his first ECW Television Championship.
  In the beginning of 1995, Malenko formed a faction called the Triple Threat with Chris Benoit and Shane Douglas. On February 25, 1995, at Return of the Funker, Benoit and Malenko defeated Sabu and Tazmaniac for the ECW Tag Team Championship, making Malenko a double champion. A month later at Extreme Warfare, Malenko dropped the Television title to 2 Cold Scorpio. On April 8 at Three Way Dance, he and Benoit lost the tag titles to The Public Enemy (Johnny Grunge and Rocco Rock).