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Carl Malenko

Carl Ognibene is an American professional wrestler, freestyle wrestler, and mixed martial artist who is best known as Carl Malenko. In professional wrestling, he performed for Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi, Battlarts, and All Japan Pro Wrestling; in mixed martial arts (MMA), he competed in the Pride Fighting Championships and Real Fighting Championship.

Professional wrestling career
Trained by Boris Malenko, Ognibene was transformed into a top flight worker like Malenko's own sons Joe and Dean. Ognibene made his professional wrestling debut in 1993 for Japanese promotion Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi (PWFG) using the ring name Carl Greco. In 1996, he made his debut for PWFG's succesor Battlarts. In 1999, he changed his ring name to Carl Malenko in tribute to his trainer. Ognibene was used as one of Battlarts' top gaijin wrestlers in the promotion's later years, being pushed prominently as a tag team specialist. Ognibene began wrestling for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) in 2003 as Carl Contini. While in AJPW, Ognibene won the Junior League tournament. Ognibene wrestled his final Battlarts match in 2008. In 2011, Ognibene made his debut for Definitive Wrestling International, an American independent promotion in Florida, participating in a battle royal as Masked Superstar. He retired from wrestling in 2014. In 2026, after almost 12 years away from wrestling, Ognibene, under the ring name Karl Greco-Malenko, returned to defeat Matt Mako during an Action Wrestling event on February 28. On April 17, Ognibene defeated Mad Dog Connelly during Action Wrestling's WrestleMania Week event. ==Championships and awards==
Championships and awards
All Japan Pro WrestlingJunior League (2003) • Battlarts • Tag Battle (1997) - with Yuki Ishikawa • Battlarts Tag Team League (1999, 2000) - with Katsumi Usuda ==Mixed martial arts record==
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