Professional wrestling legend and AEW Senior Producer Dean Malenko recently appeared as a guest on an episode of Chris Jericho’s “Talk Is Jericho” podcast, where he discussed his battle with Parkinson’s. Dean Malenko said what happened was he is 60 years old and they say usually around 60 is the age when you start to get it.
Malenko also said he got it about six-seven years ago and about a year ago, he was at Starrcast in Chicago, and he was asked to do a Q&A session with Tony Schiavone.
Dean Malenko then said when you have Parkinson’s, you are like trying to hide it because it is a very difficult thing to cover up and it looks like you are freezing cold.
This is what Dean Malenko said:
“What happened was I’m 60 years old. They say usually around 60 is the age when you start to get it.” “I got it about six – seven years ago. About a year ago, I was at Starrcast in Chicago, and I was asked to do a Q&A session with Tony Schiavone. And I got a little nervous and a little scared because I was going to be out in front of people. I haven’t really been in front of crowds a lot. Of course, at work, which is a different environment, but you get nervous sometimes because you don’t want people to know what you got.”
“You’re like trying to hide it. Parkinson’s is a very difficult thing to cover up. It looks like you’re freezing cold. I don’t want people to think that, and that’s one of reasons why I asked you to do this. And that day, when I started talking, I realized the microphone was really light, and what I mean by that is things that are very light, like silverware, if there’s no weight to it, I’ll shake more. It’s very interesting the way all that works.”
“So I had Tony and the people there actually get me a stand and put the stand up and the microphone in there. I didn’t have to use my hands. I almost felt like Stevie Wonder playing on the piano. I just kind of blurted out, ‘Damn, Parkinson’s,’ and a couple of people caught it, and kind of got on social media and ran a little bit but nothing really big.”
Dean Malenko then talked about comparing having Parkinson’s to having a roommate as both never leaves because every morning, you wake up, you have this other person with you. Dean Malenko also said it is either not going to let you get out of bed really easy, going to make a shake, and kind of takes over your body. Malenko then said so that could be a little crazy at times, but he’s kinda getting used to it and he has really tried to laugh things off.
This is what Dean Malenko said:
“I compare having Parkinson’s like having a roommate that never leaves because every morning, you wake up, you have this other person with you.” “It’s either not going to let you get out of bed really easy, going to make a shake and kind of takes over your body. So that could be a little crazy at times, but I’m kinda getting used to. I’ve really have tried to laugh things off.”
“My 15-year-old, if I’m shaking, she’ll come over and put her hand on me and then she starts shaking and just have fun with it. There’s nothing you can do about it. I am not going to get rid of it. It’s always going to be there. Hopefully, with modern medicine and going forward, they can slow this down at one point, and if not, I’ll deal with it whenever.”
Dean Malenko also talked about a couple of guys in the pro wrestling business knowing what he has and one of them is Rey Mysterio. Malenko said Rey’s been just a great guy about it and he’s always trying to find stuff for him and has been a real good friend to him. Malenko also said Rey is been trying to get him literature on the stem cells because he has used it several times.
This is what Dean Malenko said:
“There’s a couple guys in the business that know what I have, Rey Mysterio being one of them.” “Rey’s been just a great guy about it. In fact, he’s always trying to find stuff for me and real good friend. He’s been trying to get me literature on the stem cells because he’s used it several times. He’s gone several times and always calls me and says, ‘Whenever you’re ready, I’ve already talked to this doctor, and there’s been a lot of success.’ Problem is a lot of stuff has to be approved by the FDA. You got to be careful what you take too because you don’t know what the side effects are or if there is any.”
Dean Malenko then talked about Rey Fenix’s in-ring skills and said that he really understands the art of selling and letting things digest with the audience and that when Fenix first made his way to AEW, he was all over the place, but now he is slowly but surely starting to grasp what is going on.
This is what Dean Malenko said:
“He really understands the art of selling and letting things digest with the audience. When he first came here, he was all over the place. He’s slowly but surely starting to grasp that when you’re writing something, with every sentence there’s a period or a coma so you can stop and digest what happened and go on to the next thing where before he was just one long, without periods, and the words all got jammed together.”
You can check out Dean Malenko’s comments in the video below:
