At its core, skilled wrestling is a family business. Not only by way of the audience for a corporation like WWE, however the very foundation of the industry itself is built on the backs of families just like the McMahon’s, the Hart’s, the Guerrero’s, and so many more. We have seen our fair proportion of second and third generation wrestlers carry on their family names contained in the ring through the years, and the most recent family to boast a 3rd generation star is the Malenko family as Marie Malenko has made her wrestling debut.
Daughter of former WWE, WCW, and ECW star and current AEW producer Dean Malenko, the niece of Joe Malenko, and the granddaughter of the legendary Boris Malenko, Marie Malenko debuted for Pro Wrestling NOAH in Japan on February 2, and in response to Dave Meltzer in the most recent edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, she showed real promise in her debut match. Meltzer claimed that Marie bumped well, moved around with confidence, and had good facial expressions, but as a result of her debut match being a 3 way tag team match, there wasn’t enough motion to make a final judgment on whether Marie shall be any good or not.
Since her debut, Marie has wrestled in two singles matches for Marigold on the taped February 7 and eight shows in Tokyo and Saitama respectively, which is able to air on the Wrestle Universe streaming service on February 10 and 11. Marie faced Seri Yamaoka and Rea Seto, and these matches will give viewers a significantly better idea on how much potential the third generation star truly has. Meltzer also noted that Marigold is affiliated with Pro Wrestling NOAH, meaning that Marie has the prospect to get more work there if the chance arises, and each Marigold and NOAH have worked with WWE lately, meaning that if Marie makes a very good impression on people, there may be a natural pathway to WWE.