For the first time since January, Pacific Rim has returned.
Debbie Malenko is back wrestling after an injury ended her career nearly 30 years ago. Fumi Saito was one of the key people who helped the then-19-year-old Debbie as she started with All Japan Women. She couldn’t even speak a word of Japanese.
Listen to two old friends Debbie and Fumi talk about the matches, her opponents, her injury, and why she’s back and wrestling Saturday, May 28 in PODER CUATRO in Las Vegas as part of F4W Convention weekend.
Debbie Malenko has been added to the NWA Women’s Invitational Cup that will take place at NWA Empower.
The NWA confirmed this afternoon on social media that Malenko will be a part of the event, which will take place on August 28 at The Chase in St. Louis, Missouri.
“We’re proud to announce, with her recent return to #prowrestling, @DebbieMalenko has entered the NWA Women’s Invitational Cup,” they wrote. “Trained by the great Boris Malenko — from AJW to MMA, battling through injury and a major return, NOBODY demonstrates what #EMPOWERRR is about more!”
Tootie Lynn, Jamie Senegal, Chelsea Green, Bianca Carelli, and Lady Frost have already been announced for the Women’s Invitational Cup. The winner will challenge the NWA Women’s Champion the next night at the NWA’s 73rd Anniversary show.
Malenko is best known for her run in All Japan Women’s wrestling from 1991 through 1993, where she held the AJW Tag Team titles and the AJW title once. She had to vacate the AJW title after suffering a knee injury that largely ended her in-ring career. However, she has made sporadic appearances in recent years, including a match against Marina Tucker at a CWF event last month.
Left My Wallet returns with former All-Japan Women’s star Debbie Malenko in her first interview since making her MMA debut in May and returning to the ring in July.
Debbie talks about her journey leading up to each event and what led her to step into the MMA world for the first time in her 40s. She also talks about her training, the challenges of preparing for the fight on short notice, and how her surgically repaired ankle felt.
She then talks about her return to the wrestling ring, this time for good. She goes through her mindset before walking through that curtain for only the third time in the last 20 years, how she felt, her training for her return, and whom she would love to step in the ring with.
We then talk about what her favorite match of all time was, training with Boris Malenko and Karl Gotch, Championship Wrestling from Florida, incorporating MMA into her pro wrestling, and many of the working aspects of the sport. Debbie is back wrestling and she’s here to stay!
Enjoy this very fun and candid interview with one of the most famous female workers from the AJPW glory days.
This week on the Pacific Rim Pro Wrestling podcast, we talk with co-host Fumi Saito’s good friend Debbie Malenko.
Trained by Professor Boris Malenko, Debbie was talented enough that he allowed her to take the Malenko name. Not long after wrestling school, she was off to Japan to compete for the legendary All Japan Women’s company. She was there at the beginning of the Japanese women’s wrestling boom, so if you want to learn more about Japanese culture and what it was like to continually train and work all over the country, this is the show for you.
Hear about her time and experiences working with Bull Nakano, Akira Hokuto, Kyoko Inoue, Mariko Yoshida, language barriers, and a stern lecture she got for doing the unthinkable: talking with Dave Meltzer.
