Malenko/Hart

If Dean Malenko were taller and just a bit bigger, could he have been Bret Hart? They were both great ring generals, had great movesets, and weren’t great talkers.


So, hypothetically, let’s say Malenko is built like Hart. Could he have gotten there with everything else the same in his ability?

I think maybe he could have, especially because his ring work would have worked against Austin/Benoit/Jericho/Angle/HHH in the early 2000s. Maybe a manager could have pushed him over the top?

​I dunno, Bret Hart had a lot of natural charisma in the ring right from the start, plus a lot of experience headlining Stampede Wrestling as a singles star before he ever made it to the WWF. ​Malenko’s background was as a tag team guy with his brother and it took a lot of time and development for him to get comfortable at a level above cruiserweight champion. I just don’t see it.